Spicy Chicken Wraps

For the past few months, I've been making chicken wraps. They're one of my favorite things to both  make and eat, but every time I made them I felt like I should write down the recipe for my blog. No time was ever convenient, however, and I kept putting off the task. Finally I decided that I was going to write down the recipe and photograph the process, and here we are.

These chicken wraps are very simple and pretty healthy; you can use whole wheat flour for the wraps, and you are cooking the lean white chicken breast in extra virgin olive oil. You can top the wrap with yummy spinach or some cheese, or just eat it plain. However you decide to devour this meal, I promise you one thing: you will be very full and satisfied when you are finished!

Cut your chicken into uniform sized pieces, between half an inch and an inch. Put the chicken in a small bowl and combine the spices and extra virgin olive oil, mixing them gently until the chicken is evenly coated in oil and spices. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for the time being.

 

As your chicken marinates, mix together your flour, salt, and water to flour a slightly stiff ball of dough. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. If you find that your dough isn't collecting into a ball, add water a teaspoon at a time until you have reached the desired consistency.

 

Once you have your ball of dough, set a frying pan on the stovetop to heat at medium-high. As you wait for the pan to heat, cut your ball into three equal balls.  Lightly flour the countertop and roll out the balls into flat, round wraps, about seven inches or so across. 

 

Once your wraps are done, place one in your heated pan and wait about a minute. Once your dough starts to bubble up a little, that side is finished. Flip the dough and repeat for the second side. Be careful not to leave the wraps on for too long, or they will burn and taste a little bitter.

 

Repeat for the next two wraps, placing the finished wraps into a closed plastic bag. The trapped heat will help the wraps stay soft and not get hard and crack when bent.

 

Clean out your frying pan, set it back on medium-high heat, and wait until a sprinkle of water makes your pan sizzle. Pour in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and once the oil hits the heat it should become more fluid very fast. When this happens, place your marinated meat into the pan carefully, so that you don't splash hot oil on yourself. Using a wooden spatula (that's what I used, but feel free to use something else) move the chicken around frequently so it doesn't burn. The chicken will cook quite fast, and in a few minutes you can remove a piece of meat from the pan and cut into the middle. If there is any pink whatsoever, the chicken isn't finished. Put the chicken back into the pan and keep checking every minute or so until the meat is white all the way through. At this point, remove the chicken from the stovetop and put the pan on a hot pad on your counter.

 

I like to angle the pan a little so all the oil flows to one side of the pan, letting the chicken drain a little as they sit on the higher side of the pan.

 

 

Yields 2-3 servings
Ingredients:

Wraps:
1 C. white or whole wheat flour
1/4 t. salt
1/4 C. and 1 or 2 t. water

Chicken Filling:
1 large chicken breast, thawed
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 t. chili pepper
Dash of black cracked pepper
2 T. extra virgin olive oil

An additional T. extra virgin olive oil for cooking chicken

Cut your chicken into uniform sized pieces, between half an inch and an inch. Put the chicken in a small bowl and combine the spices and extra virgin olive oil, mixing them gently until the chicken is evenly coated in oil and spices. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for the time being.

As your chicken marinates, mix together your flour, salt, and water to flour a slightly stiff ball of dough. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. If you find that your dough isn't collecting into a ball, add water a teaspoon at a time until you have reached the desired consistency.

Once you have your ball of dough, set a frying pan on the stovetop to heat at medium-high. As you wait for the pan to heat, cut your ball into three equal balls.  Lightly flour the countertop and roll out the balls into flat, round wraps, about seven inches or so across. Once your wraps are done, place one in your heated pan and wait about a minute. Once your dough starts to bubble up a little, that side is finished. Flip the dough and repeat for the second side. Be careful not to leave the wraps on for too long, or they will burn and taste a little bitter. Repeat for the next two wraps, placing the finished wraps into a closed plastic bag. The trapped heat will help the wraps stay soft and not get hard and crack when bent.

Clean out your frying pan, set it back on medium-high heat, and wait until a sprinkle of water makes your pan sizzle. Pour in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and once the oil hits the heat it should become more fluid very fast. When this happens, place your marinated meat into the pan carefully, so that you don't splash hot oil on yourself. Using a wooden spatula (that's what I used, but feel free to use something else) move the chicken around frequently so it doesn't burn.

The chicken will cook quite fast, and in a few minutes you can remove a piece of meat from the pan and cut into the middle. If there is any pink whatsoever, the chicken isn't finished. Put the chicken back into the pan and keep checking every minute or so until the meat is white all the way through. At this point, remove the chicken from the stovetop and put the pan on a hot pad on your counter.

I like to angle the pan a little so all the oil flows to one side of the pan, letting the chicken drain a little as they sit on the higher side of the pan. Take out your wraps and fill two or three of them with the chicken, and feel free to add spinach, cheese, or anything else that strikes your fancy. I've only ever eaten these hot, but I'm sure they'd taste great cold as well. Enjoy!

Heart of Italy Spaghetti Sauce

My great grandmother was Italian, and she had the best spaghetti sauce recipe in the world! It is rather sweet and popping with flavor! My grandma also used that family recipe, my mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, and I enjoy making it as well. For a recipe to have traveled four generations and still be going strong is proof of a good recipe!
Just to clarify, this is not my creation, but I thought since my family enjoyed it so much, I'd write it down for the world to use. This does take longer than just opening a jar of sauce and heating on the stove, but it's easy and well worth the extra bit of work!

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces.

 Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot.

Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined.

 

 Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

Yields enough to fill a seven quart crockpot
Ingredients:
4 lbs. thawed hamburger
1/2 and 1/8 C. garlic powder
1 6 lb. 9 oz. can tomato sauce
2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 C. sugar
1 C. parmesan cheese

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces. (I use a large fork and/or a Pampered Chef hamburger chopper.) Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot. (This recipe fills a seven quart crockpot, but I used an eight and a half quart crockpot.) Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined. Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

This spaghetti sauce is now ready to be served! You can serve it right out of the crockpot, or freeze it and use it another day. While it tastes fabulous fresh, I find that it tastes even better the longer it sits; it's one of those things that improves with time.