Sour cream is in the family with yogurt, cottage cheese and butter. The Food and Drug Administration sets standards for the butterfat content stating that it may not be less than 18 percent for products labeled as sour cream.
Savory King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Serves 16
Ingredients:
1 packet dry ranch dip mix
1/2 cup Daisy Sour Cream
1 cup chicken stock
12 6-inch yellow corn tortillas
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
10 ounce can green chilies, undrained
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Mix the dip mix and sour cream in medium bowl. Whisk in the chicken stock. Pour 1/2 cup of the sour cream mixture in the bottom of the baking dish. Layer 4 tortillas over the sauce in the dish, overlapping. Top the tortillas with 1/2 of the chicken.
Spoon 1/3 of the tomatoes with the green chilies over the chicken. Sprinkle the tomatoes with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat the layers and top with the remaining tortillas, tomatoes and green chilies.
Pour the remaining sour cream mixture over the top of the casserole. Let the casserole stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the casserole with the remaining cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted and browned. Let the casserole stand for 5 minutes before serving to make slicing easier.
Difference between sweet and savory is that one reflects a sugar sensation and the other does not. A salad is savory, but it could include sweet slices of strawberries or a sweet salad dressing, which makes the salad both sweet and savory. For the home kitchen cook, you want to include a little sweet with savory flavors in the meal to satisfy the tastebud senses. That usually means dessert.
Ombré originates from the Spanish word, "man." Card players would declare, o soy el hombre, "I am the man." I have no thought as to how that translates to a cake. It's interesting how names come to be, isn't it?
In fashion, the term ombré refers to the graduation of color in a garment. A green ombré dress may be deep green at the shoulder, but gets progressively pale green by the time the color of the fabirc reaches the hem.
No doubt, the eye-catching trend of "ombré" has spread from fashion to desserts.
Ombré cakes are unique cakes focused on graduating color from light to dark. It could be just the way the color of the outside frosting graduates, but the cake layers can also be treated with varying gradient colors. The finished cakes can appear just plain gorgeous or fun and amusing.
In this ombré cake, the cake layers as well as the frosting are tinted in gradations of orange. It's a perfect cake for all sorts of celebrations.
Sweet Orange Ombre Cake
Serves 16
For Cake:
1 package (2-layer size) white cake mix
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Orange Extract
McCormick® Yellow Food Color
McCormick® Red Food Color
For Frosting:
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 tablespoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
2 boxes (16 ounces each) confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
Prepare cake mix as directed on package, using whole eggs. Stir in extracts. Divide batter evenly into 3 medium bowls. Stir 24 drops (about 1/4 teaspoon) yellow food color and 12 drops red food color into first bowl, tinting batter dark orange. Stir 10 drops yellow food color and 4 drops red food color into second bowl, tinting batter medium orange. Stir 5 drops yellow food color and 1 drop red food color into third bowl, tinting batter light orange.
Pour each bowl of batter into separate greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans. Bake as directed on package. Cool cakes on wire rack.
For the Frosting, beat butter and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy. Place dark orange cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with medium orange cake layer. Spread with 1/3 cup of frosting. Top with light orange cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with a thin layer of frosting. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, divide remaining frosting into 3 small bowls. Stir 12 drops yellow food color and 6 drops red food color into first bowl, tinting frosting dark orange. Stir 6 drops yellow food color and 3 drops red food color into second bowl, tinting frosting medium orange. Stir 3 drops yellow food color and 1 drop red food color into third bowl, tinting frosting light orange.
Frost bottom third of cake with dark orange frosting. Frost middle third of cake with medium orange frosting. Frost top third and top of cake with light orange frosting.
(1/4 teaspoon of food color equals 20 to 25 drops.)
Sources: McCormick Sweet, Daisy Savory
When meal planning, choose a portion from each food group. Typically, most adults need 6 to 11 servings of grain products per day; 3 to 5 servings of vegetables; 2 to 4 servings of fruit each day; 3 cups of dairy products every day; and 2 or 3 ounces per day of meat which equals 2 servings.
Sensible portion sizes and limited number of servings keep even the most decadent sweet and yummy desserts part of a balanced diet.
I'm Alexandria Marx, the Yum Expert and everyday home kitchen cook on family friendly food that's easy to make and tastes good. After feeding three kids for more than a couple of decades, living with diabetes and blogging over 500 posts, I evaluate everything food, and write about how to Think Thin. Forward to a friend.