Chili’s Calypso Cooler

Ever order one of those expensive specialty drinks

off the shiny, full-color restaurant table-stand

cards and wish you had a clone recipe? This is one

of those drinks, off of one of those cards. And here’s

the clone recipe.

1 1/4 ounces Captain Morgan spiced rum

1/2 ounce peach schnapps

4 ounces (1/2 cup) orange juice

splash Rose’s lime juice

1/2 ounce grenadine

Garnish

orange wedge

maraschino cherry

1. Fill a 16-ounce glass with ice.

2. Pour all ingredients over ice in the order listed. Don’t stir.

3. Garnish with an orange wedge and a cherry on a toothpick. Serve

with a straw.

Makes 1 drink.

Chili’s Boneless Buffalo Wings

This clone of Chili’s new menu items gives us the

zesty flavor of traditional Buffalo chicken wings

without the bones or skin. That’s because these “wings”

are actually nuggets sliced from chicken breast fillets

that are breaded and fried, then smothered with the same

type of spicy wing sauce used on typical wings. If you

like Buffalo wings, you’ll love this recipe. Serve these

babies up with some celery sticks and bleu cheese dressing

on the side for dipping. Now you can actually eat Buffalo

wings with a fork!

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 chicken breast fillets

4-6 cups vegetable oil

1/4 cup Crystal or Frank’s Louisiana hot sauce

1 tablespoon margarine

On the side

bleu cheese dressing (for dipping)

celery sticks

1. Combine flour, salt, peppers and paprika in a medium bowl.

2. In another small bowl, whisk together egg and milk.

3. Slice each chicken breast into 6 pieces. Preheat 4-6 cups

of vegetable oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees.

4. One or two at a time, dip each piece of chicken into the

egg mixture, then into the breading blend; then repeat the

process so that each piece of chicken is double-coated.

5. When all chicken pieces have been breaded, arrange them on

a plate and chill for 15 minutes.

6. When the chicken is done resting, drop each piece into the

hot oil and fry for 5-6 minutes or until each piece is browned.

7. As chicken fries, combine the hot sauce and margarine in a

small bowl. Microwave sauce for 20-30 seconds or just until the

margarine is melted, then stir to combine. You can also use a

small saucepan for this step. Just combine the hot sauce and

margarine in the saucepan over low heat and stir until margarine

is melted and ingredients are blended.

8. When chicken pieces are done frying, remove them to a plate

lined with a couple paper towels.

9. Place the chicken pieces into a covered container such as a

large jar with a lid. Pour the sauce over the chicken in the

container, cover, and then shake gently until each piece of chicken

is coated with sauce. Pour the chicken onto a plate and serve

the dish with bleu cheese dressing and sliced celery on the side.

Serves 2-4 as an appetizer.

CHI-CHI’S CHICKEN FAJITAS

Categories: Mexico, Restaurants, Poultry

Yield: 1 Servings

From: Brett Jones

In the last 17 years, I’ve worked for a LOT of restaurants My

favorite trick was from Chi-Chi’s [ha! I NEVER signed that

non-disclosure agreement] …. the absolute best marinade for chicken

(we used it for our fajitas) is margarita mix. Yes, just go out and

find your favorite margarita mix (Mr & Mrs T’s is good) or a little

sweet & sour, put the chicken breasts in a shallow pan and cover with

the mix. Marinate at least overnight, preferably for 24 hours.

Chi Chi’s Mild Salsa

Recipe By : Gloria Pitzer

Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:15

Categories : Salsas Copycat

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method

——– ———— ——————————–

1 Cn Stewed Tomatoes (14 Oz.) — sliced

2 Large Green onions — snipped*

1 Large Ripe Tomato — cored and diced

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

1 Ds Tabasco=AE Sauce — or to taste

Cut up stewed tomatoes and combine in saucepan with onions, fresh tomato,

salt and pepper. Bring just to a boil. Boil hard 1 minute and remove at once

from heat. Put half of mixture through blender just to mince fine but not to

puree. Return to remaining half of mixture. Cool and refrigerate in tightly

covered container to use with a few weeks. Freezes well to use within 6=

months.

NOTE-For hot salsa, add 1 ts canned green chopped chilis or to taste,

freezing unused chilis to use in other recipes.

With this secret recipe from the latest TSR low-lat book,

it isn’t necessary to cook the chicken over a mesquite

grill as they do in the restaurant chain. Sure, you could

get some mesquite wood chips and throw ‘em on your barbecue

or you can use that charcoal that has mesquite in it.

But an easier way to get the flavor of mesquite–especially

if all you’ve got is a gas grill–is to soak the chicken

in a marinade made with mesquite-flavored liquid smoke.

In the restaurant these puppies are made with red chili

tortillas. Since these type of tortillas can be a drag to

track down, especially in fat-free versions, we’ll use plain

fat-free tortillas for our tasty reduced-fat clone.

Mesquite Marinade

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon mesquite-flavored liquid smoke

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash ground black pepper

Spicy BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup Bull’s-Eye Original BBQ Sauce

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

dash chili powder

1 boneless chicken breast

1/3 cup sliced red bell pepper

1/3 cup sliced green bell pepper

1/3 cup sliced Spanish onion

2 large (12-inch) fat-free flour tortillas

1 1/3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Prepare the marinade by combining the ingredients in a medium

bowl. Add chicken breast fillet to the bowl, cover, and chill for

one hour.

2. When the chicken is finished marinating, preheat your grill to

high temperature.

3. As grill is heating, prepare the spicy BBQ sauce by mixing the

ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Throw the chicken on the grill and cook it for 4 to 5 minutes

per side or until it’s done. When the chicken is done cooking, chop it into bite-size pieces.

5. Spray a light coating of nonstick cooking spray on a medium

skillet over medium heat. Saut? the sliced peppers and onion in

the pan for 4 to 5 minutes or until the veggies start to brown.

6. Set a large skillet over medium/low heat.

7. Put one flour tortilla in the skillet and sprinkle 1/3 cup

of cheese over half of the tortilla. Spoon half of the vegetables

over the cheese, followed by half of the chicken.

8. Spoon a generous portion of the spicy BBQ sauce over the chicken,

followed by another 1/3 cup of cheese.

9. Fold the other side of the tortilla over the filling, and press

down so that it stays in place.

10. By this time, the cheese on the bottom should be melted. If not,

wait another minute or so, then flip the quesadilla over and heat

for another couple minutes or until all of the cheese has melted.

11. Slide the quesadilla onto a plate and slice it into 4 pieces.

Repeat for the second quesadilla and serve immediately with salsa

on the side.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size ? 2 pieces

Total servings ? 4

This easy-to-clone dish comes with many of the tasty

entrees at the restaurant chain or can be ordered up,

pronto, on the side. It’s a nice clone to have around

since it goes well with so many dishes, Mexican or otherwise.

Just give yourself the time to bake and cool the potatoes.

Be here at TSR next week for a big clone request from the

same “always fresh ingredients” Mexican food chain. It’s

for that muy delicioso salsa, baby! Si, si, si. See you then.

4 medium/large russet potatoes

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3-4 cloves)

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup cream

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Bake the potatoes by first rubbing them lightly with oil

and then baking them in the preheated oven for 1 hour until

they are tender. Cool.

3. Mash potatoes and remove about half of the skin. You want

to leave the rest in.

4. Melt the butter in a large suacepan over medium heat, then

add garlic and saute for 5 minutes.

5. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and cook for 5-10

minutes while stirring often until garlic mashed potatoes are

very hot.

Serves 4.

Whip out the food processor and fire up the grill

because you?ll need these essential tools to clone

one of the best restaurant salsas in the business.

The key to recreating the flavor of the real deal

is to fire roast the tomatoes and the jalapenos,

and to add a little mesquite-flavored liquid smoke.

The restaurant chain uses a mesquite grill, so these

steps are crucial to getting the same smoky flavor

as the addictive restaurant version. Chevys uses chipotle

peppers, or smoked red jalapeno peppers. But unless you

grow your own jalapenos, it may be difficult to find the

riper red variety in your local supermarket. For this recipe,

the green jalapeno peppers will work fine.

6 medium tomatoes

10 jalapenos (red is best)

1/4 of a medium Spanish onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons mesquite-flavored liquid smoke

1. Preheat your barbecue grill to high temperature.

2. Remove any stems from the tomatoes, then rub some oil over

each tomato. You can leave the stems on the jalapenos.

3. Place the tomatoes on the grill when it?s hot. After about

10 minutes, place all of the jalapenos onto the grill. In about

10 minutes you can turn the tomatoes and the peppers. When almost

the entire surface of the peppers has charred black you can remove

them from the grill. The tomatoes will turn partially black, but

when the skin begins to come off they are done. Put the peppers

and tomatoes on a plate and let them cool.

4. When the tomatoes and peppers have cooled, remove most of the

skin from the tomatoes and place them into a food processor.

Pinch the stem end from each of the peppers and place them into

the food processor as well. Toss out the liquid that remains on

the plate.

5. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and puree

on high speed for 5-10 seconds or until the mixture has a smooth

consistency.

6. Place the salsa into a covered container and chill for several

hours or overnight while the flavors develop.

Makes approximately 2 cups.

Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic

Louisianna chef Paul Prudhomme, America’s number

one Dom DeLuise look a like, hit it big in supermarkets

with his magical brand of Cajun spice blends. Chef Paul

developed his seasonings after years of making little

batches and passing them out to customers in the restaurants

where he worked. Now his Magic Seasoning Blends come in

several varieties and are produced in a whopping 30,000-

square-foot plant by 38 employees. Fortunately, it’ll take

only one of you in a small kitchen to make a clone of one

of the most popular versions of the blend. Use it when you

barbecue, roast, grill, or saut? your favorite chicken, turkey,

duck, or Cornish game hens.

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage

dash cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Store in a covered

container. Sprinkle on any poultry to taste.

Makes 4 teaspoons.

Carl’s Jr. Ranch Crispy Chicken Sandwich

We’ll use elements of the Carl’s Jr. Bacon Swiss

Crispy Chicken Sandwich clone recipe to whip up one

of the other Carl’s Jr. crispy chicken sandwiches,

because I always say you can never have too much crispy

chicken. This fried chicken breast sandwich includes

lettuce and tomato, and is slathered with a clone of Carl’s

tasty ranch dressing. Use the recipes together and you

can easily serve up two different sandwich clones for

different tastes, with little extra effort. And you diners

will be so impressed.

Ranch Dressing

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon parsley

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

dash dill weed

dash garlic powder

dash ground black pepper

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

6 to 8 cups vegetable shortening

1 egg

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken breast fillets

4 sesame seed hamburger buns

4 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

1. Preheat 6 to 8 cups of shortening in a deep fryer to 350

degrees. If you don’t have a deep fryer, you can also pan

fry using a large frying pan, and just a couple cups of shortening.

2. To prepare the ranch dressing, combine all of the ingredients

except the water and gelatin in small bowl. Mix the water with

the gelatin in a small cup until all of the gelatin is dissolved.

Add this gelatin solution to the other ingredients and stir.

Cover and chill the dressing until it’s needed.

3. Beat the egg and then combine with 1 cup of water in a small,

shallow bowl. Stir.

4. Combine the flour, salt, paprika, onion powder, and garlic

powder in another shallow bowl.

5. Pound each of the breast fillets with a mallet until about

1/4-inch thick. Trim each breast fillet until it is round.

6. Working with one fillet at a time, first coat each fillet

with the flour, then dredge it in the egg and water mixture.

Coat the chicken once again in the flour and set it aside until

all of the fillets have been coated.

7. Fry the chicken fillets for 8 to 12 minutes or until light

brown and crispy.

8. As chicken is frying, prepare each sandwich by grilling the

face of the hamburger buns on a hot skillet over medium heat.

Spread about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the ranch dressing on the face

of the top and bottom buns.

9. On the bottom bun, stack a leaf of lettuce and a tomato slice.

10. When the chicken is done frying, remove the fillets from the

fryer and drain on paper towels or a rack for a couple minutes.

11. Stack one fillet on the bottom of the sandwich (on top of

the tomato), then top it off with the top bun. Repeat the

stacking process for each of the sandwiches.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Carl’s Jr. Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken Sandwich

If you love crispy chicken sandwiches – and especially

if you don’t live in the West – you’ll want to try out

this clone of the tasty Carl’s Jr. creation. The recipe

makes four of the addicting chicken sandwiches from the

California-based chain, but will also come in handy for

making a delicious homemade ranch dressing. Try using

some lean turkey bacon, fat-free Swiss cheese, and fat-free

mayonnaise if you feel like cutting back on the fat.

Then you can eat two.

Ranch Dressing

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon parsley

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

dash dill weed

dash garlic powder

dash ground black pepper

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

6 to 8 cups vegetable shortening

1 egg

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken breast fillets

4 sesame seed hamburger buns

4 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

Kraft Swiss cheese Singles

8 slices bacon, cooked

1. Preheat 6 to 8 cups of shortening in a deep fryer to 350

degrees. If you don’t have a deep fryer, you can also pan

fry using a large frying pan and just a couple cups of shortening.

2. To prepare the ranch dressing, combine all of the ingredients

except the water and gelatin in small bowl. Mix the water with

the gelatin in a small cup until all of the gelatin is dissolved.

Add this gelatin solution to the other ingredients and stir. Cover

and chill the dressing until it’s needed.

3. Beat the egg and then combine with 1 cup water in a small,

shallow bowl. Stir.

4. Combine the flour, salt, paprika, onion powder and garlic

powder in another shallow bowl.

5. Pound each of the breast fillets with a mallet until about

1/4-inch thick. Trim each breast fillet until it is round.

6. Working with one fillet at a time, first coat each fillet

with the flour, then dredge it in the egg and water mixture.

Coat the chicken once again in the flour and set it aside until

all of the fillets have been coated.

7. Fry the chicken fillets for 8 to 12 minutes or until light

brown and crispy.

8. As chicken is frying, prepare each sandwich by grilling the

face of the hamburger buns on a hot skillet over medium heat.

Spread about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the ranch dressing on the face

of the top and bottom buns.

9. On the bottom bun, stack a leaf of lettuce and a tomato slice.

10. When the chicken is done frying, remove the fillets from the

fryer and drain them on paper towels or a rack for a couple minutes.

11. Stack one fillet on the bottom of the sandwich (on top of the

tomato), then stack a slice of the Swiss cheese onto the chicken.

12. Arrange the bacon, crosswise, on top of the Swiss cheese, then

top off the sandwich with the top bun. Repeat the stacking process

for each of the remaining sandwiches.

Makes 4 sandwiches.