White Chicken Chili

Today was the first time I heard the word "snow" as part of the sentence "Tonight it might..." October seems awfully early to me to be talking about flurries, but then again I'm still in the Texas mindset. So it seemed the only thing to do was to bring some Texas sensibility to the ridiculously cold weather. I needed some warm, spicy chili. My mother makes a traditional red chili that's a little on the mild side and includes some of those big red kidney beans. I'm not a personal fan of big beans, so I instead chose to make a white chicken chili with little white beans. I didn't really have a recipe; I mostly winged it. Luckily for me it was absolutely delicious. I used a whole jalapeño pepper for mine, and it turned out about medium Texas spicy. The amount of jalapeño can definitely be reduced or it can be left out all together. I served mine with avocado, sour cream, and cilantro. And of course I also topped it with cheese. You can use Monterey Jack, Cheddar, queso blanco, or anything else that catches your fancy. I personally used smoked Gouda because...well...I really like it. And I forgot to buy Monterey Jack.

White Chicken Chili

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 (15½-ounce) cans Goya small white beans or cannellini beans

2 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chiles (use Hatch chiles if you can find them)

1½ cups cooked rotisserie chicken, chopped

3 cups chicken broth

½ cup whole milk or half-and-half

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine onion, garlic, jalapeño, and butter in a large pot. Sauté for several minutes until the onion starts to soften. Sprinkle cumin on top to release the flavor. Add beans, green chiles, chopped chicken, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Once chili is heated through, add milk and stir in. Put cornstarch into a small bowl. Carefully ladle some liquid from the chili onto the cornstarch, and mix to form a thin paste. Pour the paste into the chili and allow several minutes to thicken slightly.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

The Recipe Girl: Chocolate-Chip Pumpkin Spice Bars

I'm a big fan of everything chocolate. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate. Chocolate and peanut butter. Chocolate and orange. Chocolate and chili pepper. But I hadn't seen any chocolate with pumpkin, at least not until recently. Then a delicious pumpkin cake with mini chocolate chips caught my eye. I knew in that moment that I just had to have it. And none of this whole wheat flour silliness. I wanted the full naughty experience, fluffy white all-purpose flour and all. Absolutely delicious. The rest is going to work with me tomorrow, as there is no way I could finish an entire cake. Although I might be inclined to try...

Chocolate-Chip Pumpkin Spice Bars

From The Recipe Girl blog

Cake:
1¾ cups pumpkin puree
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, measured then sifted
½ cup mini chocolate chips (for topping)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 10x15-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugars until combined.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves. Toss in mini chocolate chips and stir to combine. Add dry ingredients to the wet and stir until moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pan coated with nonstick spray. Bake until the center springs back when lightly pressed in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and place on wire rack to cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and mix until smooth. Frost bars and sprinkle with additional mini chocolate chips.

Smitten Kitchen and Gourmet: Pumpkin Muffins

Well, it's fall. And fall means cold nights, frost on my car in the morning, bags of apples at the grocery store, and pumpkin everywhere. It means cinnamon brooms by the door of the grocery store that make the whole place smell like spices. Getting into the spirit of the season means making at least a couple things out of pumpkin, and I am more than pleased to oblige, since I love pumpkin.

Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Gourmet magazine, November 2006, as adapted from The American Club in Kohler, WI

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
⅓ cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice OR ½ teaspoon cinnamon plus ¼ teaspoon ground ginger plus ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for topping OR unsalted sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in cups of a muffin pan. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, spice, and sugar in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. If desired, stir together cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture or sunflower seeds. Bake until slightly browned and wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack to cool.

Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: Applesauce

When I saw the fifty bags of Macintosh apples on display at the grocery store, it finally hit me. It's apple season. And I'm sitting in the middle of Appletopia. My apples come from right down the road. It would be sacrilege to not buy some and do something with them. So I folded under the pressure of the fantastic shiny orbs and bought a bag.

Then I had to figure out what to do with them. Apple pie? Hard to eat the whole thing if you're single. Apple crisp? Delicious, but only really at its peak the first night you cook it. Applesauce? Sure, I've never made it, but why let that stand in my way? After coring and peeling an infinite number of apples, I was actually able to make it through the rest of the recipe.  And this recipe makes a very delicious applesauce.  Lots of flavor and spice and a beautiful hint of vanilla.

Applesauce
From Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics

18 McIntosh apples (about 6 pounds), peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup apple cider
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground mace
½ cup granulated sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a large heavy-bottomed wide saucepan.  Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching, until the apples are broken down and saucy, 50 to 60 minutes.  Mash any large pieces of apple with a large wooden spoon to help them break down.  Season with more sugar and spices.  Remove the apple mixture from the heat, and let stand to cool completely before serving, discarding the cinnamon stick and vanilla pod.  The applesauce can also be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Makes about 7 cups

Food 2.0: Smoked Salmon Tartlets

Okay, who do I need to talk to?  Seriously.  If this is the way Googlers are eating on a regular basis, I need to get in line with my job application.  And here I thought snacks came out of the vending machine (or from the closest Starbucks).  A bit salty, but gosh, this is such a wonderful splurge.

Smoked Salmon Tartlets
From Food 2.0 by Charlie Ayers

6 large, rectangular sheets of phyllo pastry
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
4 ounces smoked wild salmon trimmings or slices, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces salmon caviar

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Brush a sheet of phyllo pastry with a little butter. Lay another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter again. Repeat with the remaining sheets of phyllo. Cut the phyllo into 12 squares.  Press the squares into the cavities of a muffin pan. Bake until crisp and golden, about 8 minutes.  Let cool.

Beat the cheese with the milk, chives, and lemon juice. Separate the pieces of salmon and mix in. Season the mixture to taste.

When ready to serve, spoon the salmon mixture into the phyllo cases and garnish each with a small spoonful of salmon caviar.

Makes 12 tartlets

Food 2.0: Mint-Chocolate Brownies

Mint brownie.  What an excellent idea.  It's like a York peppermint patty, except a brownie.  And all hot and fudgy and gooey and melty.  And it goes perfectly with ice cream.  Unless it's cold.  Then it's just perfect in all its warm yumminess.

Mint-Chocolate Brownies
From Food 2.0 by Charlie Ayers

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler or in a bowl set over, but not touching, simmering water in a pan. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a small bowl.  Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer until very thick and pale, and the beaters leave a trail when lifted out of the mixture. Mix in the melted chocolate and the peppermint and vanilla extracts at lowest speed. Fold in the flour mixture and the chocolate chips, mixing just until the batter is no longer streaky.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, about 35 minutes. The top should feel set, but the center should still be quite soft. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool and cut into squares when cold. Store the brownies in an airtight container.

Makes 16 servings

Egyptianfood: Mujaddara with Egyptian Tomato Sauce

I decided that since it was Ramadan, that I would make something fitting to break my fast with as a kind of acknowledgement. No, I didn't wait until the sun set, but it was still a delicious way to do it. The dish I chose is called mujaddara, and it's a combination of lentils and rice, served with carmelized onions. After looking around on the internet, it's apparently popular to serve an Egyptian-style tomato sauce with it, so I cooked that up to. I've got to say, for something so simple, it was delicious. Arabic home cooking maybe?

Mujaddara

Adapted from egyptianfood.org

7 to 8 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, sliced into rings

1 medium onion, chopped

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup dried green lentils

4 cups water
1 cup Basmati rice
3 teaspoons salt (to taste)

Egyptian Tomato Sauce

In a 12-inch frying pan, sauté onion rings in olive oil until they are soft and caramelized. Set aside.

In medium Dutch oven, fry chopped onion over medium heat in olive oil until soft and brown. Add cinnamon and allspice and let warm for one minute. Add lentils and water and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add rice and salt. Bring back to a boil and reduce heat to lowest simmer. Simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure to check rice towards the end of the cooking time to ensure it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pot.

Serve rice and lentils with sauce on top. Garnish with caramelized onions.

Egyptian Tomato Sauce
From Chef Zermane Dit Zermaki on food.com

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

5 to 7 cloves garlic, minced finely

2 cups tomato juice

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon white vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the sauce, sauté the onion over medium heat until quite brown. Add the garlic and cook shortly, about a minute. Add tomato juice and sugar. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the vinegar and seasonings, and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

The Omnivore's Hundred

There's a little meme that's been circulating the net, that I thought I would participate in. Basically it's a list of different foods, some strange, some not, that everyone should really try in their lifetime. Here's my list:

The Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB and J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The Pioneer Woman: Parmesan Crash Hot Potatoes

These little potatoes seem to be all over the internet lately, in various incarnations, care of your friendly neighborhood Aussies.  So this is my version.  Butter?  Check.  Cheese?  Check.  Salt?  Check.  Looks good to me.  You are cleared to enjoy a potato side dish that is both fluffy and crispy.  Thank you, Australia (I know sometimes we forget you're down there, but we really appreciate your continuing culinary efforts.)

Parmesan Crash Hot Potatoes
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman blog

1½ pounds small potatoes (about 15 potatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Dried parsley and savory (or other herbs of choice), to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the potatoes and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Sprinkle each potato with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, dried herbs, and Parmesan cheese.  Place a small pat of butter on the top of each potato.

Bake in a 425°F oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 6 servings

Dorothy Huang: Jie Lan Niu Rou (Beef with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce)

I think pretty much everyone's favorite Chinese food dish is beef with broccoli.  I'm more of an orange chicken girl, but I can definitely see the appeal.  It's a very non-threatening plate of food for anyone who is a little scared of what might be lurking in the kitchen of your local Chinese restaurant (chicken feet? intestines? dog?).  Oh, and that's probably also why they generally leave off the "in Oyster Sauce" part, too.  Luckily it's also really easy to make if you need something quick and tasty and you don't feel like waiting an hour for the delivery guy to finally show up with your partially cold and congealed food.

Note: Make sure your oyster sauce actually has oysters in it.  It should probably be the first ingredient.  Yes, there are some oyster sauces on the market with zero oyster.  Big foul in my book.

Jie Lan Niu Rou (Beef with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce)
From Dorothy Huang

½ pound beef steak, sliced very thinly (such as top sirloin, flank steak, or NY strip)

2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic

½ pound broccoli crowns, cut into small pieces
3 dried Chinese black mushrooms, soaked until soft and sliced into strips (optional)

Marinade:
2 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon tapioca starch
Dash ground white pepper

Sauce:
6 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Mix sliced beef with marinade and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Heat wok with oil and add ginger and garlic when ready. Sauté briefly, then add marinated beef and stir. After two minutes, add broccoli crowns and stir. After another couple of minutes, add mushrooms (if using) and sauce, stirring well. Serve with rice as soon as meat is cooked through.

Makes 2 servings