Southwestern Egg Rolls

These taste like the southwestern egg rolls that you get from chili's. Now, I've never had them, but that is what everyone tells me. Really good as an appetizer, or just as finger foods. I served them when we had some friends over and at our potluck dinner at church, everyone loved them. I do not deep fry them, I baked them the first time and pan fried them the second time. I prefer them baked at 350 until they are browned and crispy. I used montery jack cheese with jalapeños the second time and it added a bit of spice to it. The dip really pushes it over the top, it is so good! It works on tortilla chips also, I just had one!! Don't worry about freezing them, unless you are going to deep fry. I cut out all the oil and just used cooking spray and it worked fine.

Southwestern Egg Rolls

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion
• 2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
• 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 tablespoons diced jalapeno peppers
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 5 (6 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 quart oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS

1. Rub 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over chicken breast. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook chicken approximately 5 minutes per side, until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in green onion and red pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until tender.
3. Dice chicken and mix into the pan with onion and red pepper. Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until well blended and tender. Remove from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.
4. Wrap tortillas with a clean, lightly moist cloth. Microwave on high approximately 1 minute, or until hot and pliable.
5. Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortillas, then roll tightly around mixture. Secure with toothpicks. Arrange in a medium dish, cover with plastic, and place in the freezer. Freeze at least 4 hours.
6. In a large, deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Deep fry frozen, stuffed tortillas 10 minutes each, or until dark golden brown. Drain on paper towels before serving.

Cilantro Cream Sauce

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 (7 ounce) can tomatillo salsa also called salsa verde
  
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, pepper, celery salt, cumin, garlic powder, cilantro and lime juice in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Place in a serving bowl.

I only added a little bit of cilantro, because that is not a flavor I am very fond of. Make the day before and refridgerate, it allows the flavors to blend and become spicy.

Praline Cheesecake

My first real cheesecake! *squeal* It was really good! I have dreams of cheesecake, it is my favorite dessert. If I could only have one food for the rest of my life...it would be cheesecake. So making this was a big deal. The only previous cheesecakes I have made are the ones that you don't bake. I didn't change anything except for the praline sauce. I added about 2 T of butter, to make it more praline like. The easy way to slice this is to use floss! Use the unflavored, waxed kind. Pull out a length long enough to wrap around your hands andpull tightly to slice through the cake, sawing back and forth slightly, when it is all the way through, pull out the other end, it crumbles the crust to pull it back up. Repeat, until you have as many as slices as you want!

Praline Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Praline Sauce:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Pat this mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan.

Make the filling: In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and granulated sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, and then beat in the vanilla. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the topping: In a bowl, mix the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Spread this mixture over the warm cake and return to the oven for 4 minutes. Let the cake cool to room temperature in the pan, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. At serving time, use a table knife to loosen the cake from the pan. Remove the sides of the pan and place the cake on a platter, leaving it on pan bottom. To make the praline sauce, in a small heavy saucepan stir together the brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the corn syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the nuts and vanilla. Cool slightly. Serve the cheesecake, passing the sauce in a bowl with a small ladle. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.