What's for Dinner? White Chicken Chili!

First thing's first...HAPPY NEW YEAR!  It's been a hectic holiday season, so I apologize for dropping off for a bit. We had my family all here for the first half of Christmas Week, and then Sully, Finn and I flew to New Orleans for the second part.  It was crazy, but a lot of fun.  We had some really good meals over the past few weeks and I have lots to share with you but I will start with our dinner tonight.

Here in the South, we have an "arctic air mass" rolling in.  Considering this past weekend it was 72 degrees and I was really hot (some of that MIGHT have been the pregnancy), it was a seriously rude awakening when the high today was 39 and the winds were gusting up to 30 mph. Brrrrrr!  It made me want chili and white chicken chili was it! This is a really good recipe that is perfect for a cold winter's night.  Give it a try and cozy up by the fire.  Here's to a great 2012!!

And by the way, if you cook any of my recipes, please let me know how they turned out!  Good or bad!  I love hearing what people made and any feedback is appreciated. Cheers!

White Chicken Chili
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 2 medium onions
• 3 chicken breasts (about 1 lb raw, diced in small pieces)
• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 4-oz cans diced green chilies
• 2 14.5-oz cans Cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained
• 4 cups chicken stock (I used low sodium)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (Monterrey Jack works well or I used low fat 4-cheese Mexican)
• 3 TBSP half and half (can delete this if you like, but it adds a nice touch of richness to the chili)
• cheese, green onion and sour cream for garnish

In a large soup pot, heat oil.  Add onion and sauté until they begin to soften.  Add in chicken and sauté until browned and cooked through.  Add garlic and cook one minute more.  Add in cumin, oregano green chilies and beans and mix together.  Add broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer over low heat for about one hour until chili starts to thicken. Add cheese and half and half and continue simmering until desired thickness is reached. Serve with garnishes and enjoy!

What's for Sides? Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread

This weekend, fall was in the air.  It was the perfect time for chili and cornbread!  My friend Greg got out his awesome chili recipe (which I will be posting here later) and I looked around for a few cornbread recipes.  I found this one that I adapted.  It was orginally supposed to be for corn sticks, cooked in a cast iron mold.  I know I have just about every kitchen/cooking gadget known to man, but shockingly, I do not own cast iron corn stick molds.  So...I adapted the recipe and it came out REALLY good.  The recipe had just a hint of the jalapeno flavor without being too hot.  If you want more heat...add more jalapeno!  You could even add crisp, crumbled bacon to this and it would be awesome!  This is a simple recipe sure to please. Try it and enjoy!

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
Serves 6

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
3 scallions, diced (white and green parts)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBSP butter or spread (I use Brummel & Brown)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (not self-rising)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425. In a small skillet, heat the butter until hot.  Add jalapeno, onion and garlic.  Saute 1-2 minutes until fragrant and they begin to soften.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.  Mix together and form a well in the middle.

In a small bowl combine egg and buttermilk.  Beat until combined.  Pour into well of dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined and a sticky dough is formed.  Add in pepper mixture and cheese.  Combine well.

Coat a 9x9 glass dish with cooking spray and add the dough mixture to it.  Cook for 20 minutes until bread is just starting to brown.  Serve hot with butter!

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What's for Dinner? Fall(ish) Chili!

It's the first day of September, and when I stepped outside this morning, there was a slight (dare I say) chill in the air!  It felt great and got me really excited for Fall.  So in honor of that, and it being the first night of college football (and Sully's Fantasy Football draft), I decided to make chili tonight (no mind that it ended up at 85 degrees out!).  I think chili is one of those things that is hard to mess up.  You really just throw a bunch of ingredients--whatever you like--in a pot, cook for a couple of hours, and it usually turns out pretty good.  This little concoction I came up with turned out great.  I used lean beef and hot italian sausage for a little kick, but you can use anything from beef to turkey to bison. Just cook for at least 2 hours, and preferably longer, to give it time for the flavors to meld.  You can even do it in the crock pot and set it to cook on low all day.  Be creative! I can't wait for Fall weather (and food), every day!!  Enjoy!

Fall(ish) Chili

Serves 6

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground beef (can use turkey or bison as well, at any fat level)
• 3/4 pound hot Italian sausage (can use turkey or chicken sausage instead of pork)
• 1 (15 ounce) can chili beans (or you can also use black beans)
• 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (28 ounce) cans diced or crushed tomatoes with juice
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ cup pureed pumpkin (NOT the pumpkin pie filling)* [this is my mom's secret chili ingredient--adds extra fiber and vitamins, but you can't taste it...promise!]
• 1/2 cup beer
• 2 tbsp powdered beef bouillon (or 2 cubes)
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• salt & ground black pepper to taste
• shredded cheese (for garnish)
• diced onion or green onion (for garnish)
• sour cream (for garnish) 

In a large stew pot, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onion, celery and peppers.  Saute for 5-7 minutes, until veggies begin to soften.  Add garlic and saute one minute more.  Pour into bowl and set aside.  In same pot add meat and brown over high heat.  Make sure to break up the meat in very small pieces.  When meat is browned, add back in veggies.  Add tomatoes in juice, tomato paste and pumpkin and stir to combine.  Add in beans and beer.  Add all spices.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook for at least 2 hours (the more, the better!).  Garnish with goodies on top (and tastes really good over spaghetti and/or with crushed Fritos on top...ohhhhh, yeah!).

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