2016 – Page 3

November 17, 2016December 23, 2016

Salsa Verde Chili

I was shopping the other day, thinking about chili. I had a can of Bush’s Chili beans in white so I thought they might work with chicken and salsa verde. IT DOES! Really delicious and I made it in the crock pot to boot. Easy-peasy! They key to getting a good texture is to layer the ingredients so the chicken cooks as a whole layer. Then you break up the chicken and you have a nice chunky texture.

Salsa Verde Chili
1 pack ground chicken (about 1.25#)
1 tsp salt
.5 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp white pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp chili powder
pinch ground coriander
1 can Bush’s chili beans, white (or any white bean, but you’ll need to up the cumin)
1 sm can diced green chiles
1 onion, diced
1 red or green pepper, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried arbol chiles, broken in half (optional)
1 tbl flour, to thicken, optional
3/4 to 1 cup salsa verde (I like Herdez because it has a bite to it.)
Chicken stock
sour cream and pickled peppers for garnish

Crank up the crock pot to high. Dice up the veg. Mix all the spices in a small bowl and sprinkle on the chicken. Break up chicken a bit to get spices into it – don’t work it too much, tho, or it will get dense.

Put a little oil in the bottom of the crock pot and spray with cooking spray for easy cleanup. Put the onion, garlic and pepper on the bottom. Sprinkle with flour (for thickening). Then put in chicken as a layer and poke some holes in it so the liquids can reach the bottom. Add can of chiles with juice. Add beans with juice. Add salsa verde to cover everything. Add a splash of stock to help the veg in the bottom cook.

Cook on HI for about 4 hours – until the onions are cooked. Stir occasionally. If you cook on the stove, add chicken and cook on med hi for about 5 mins. Turn down to med, add veg and cook the veg until translucent, then add all the other ingredients and let simmer slowly for an hour or so. Remove the dried chiles before serving.

Serve with sour cream and pickled peppers if you’ve got them!

November 17, 2016November 17, 2016

Chicken Roulade w/ Wensleydale Cheese

I bought a block of Wensleydale Cheese w/ cranberries at Costco the other day on a whim and that stuff is AMAZING! It’s a mild, crumbly, white cheese that comes in several flavours, with cranberry for the season. The cranberry one is mildy sweet and totally addictive! I had some small chicken breast thins thawed, so I decided to try making roulades with the cheese. Worked great! I also had some cranberry juice, so I made a cranberry glaze as well. The rainbow carrots were simply cooked down with butter and honey. Easy recipe with a big WOW factor! Enjoy!

Chicken Roulades
1 pack thin chix breast (larger ones are easier to work with)
s/p
ground sage (or whole fresh if you have it)
Wensleydale Cheese with cranberries

Honey Glazed Carrots
rainbow carrots (baby or cut to 2″ pieces, about the same size)
water
salt
2Tbl butter
1Tbl honey

Cranberry Glaze
3/4 cup cranberry juice (no sugar kind)
splash red wine (optional)
2 Tbl butter
pinch salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch slurry

Preheat oven to 350-375F. The thin chicken breast cuts I used were the smallest of a pack I’d split up. Larger ones would be easier to work with, but you don’t want them too large or too thick. You’ll need to pound out the chicken so they are all about the same thickness. Once that’s done, lay them smooth side down and season the top with S/P and ground sage.

Cut pieces of the cheese to fit the size of your roulade and place in center as shown (put a piece of whole fresh sage here if you’re using it). Roll up the chicken around the cheese and secure with a toothpick. Heat an oven proof skillet over med hi heat and put the roulades in seam side down. Brown on all sides then put in the oven to finish.

While the roulades are finishing, put about a half inch of water and 1 tsp salt into a skillet and add the carrots. Bring water to a boil, cover and let carrots cook until the water starts to evaporate. Add butter and cook until water is almost gone then add honey, bring heat down to Med and let carrots finish in the glaze. You may need to add more water if your carrots need to cook longer. It will take about 15 minutes.

While the carrots are cooking, get a small saucepan and add cranberry juice. Bring to a boil and let reduce to about half. NOTE: if you have a lot of chicken, you may want to double this recipe. It’s only enough for about 3 roulades. Once the cranberry juice is reduced, add wine, butter, salt, pepper and sugar. Reduce a few more minutes. To give the glaze some body, make a cornstarch slurry with a bit of cranberry juice and 1 tsp of cornstarch and add to glaze. Cook at a boil for 2-3 more minutes or until the consistency is satisfactory.

The roulades should be a nice golden brown and register a temp of about 160-170F when done. Hopefully you’ll have very little cheese oozing out – I had just a little bit. Serve with glaze on the chicken and the glazed carrots.

November 9, 2016

Surprised? Nope. Just Disappointed.

I had a feeling this would happen. There are FAR more hillbillies in this country than we’d like to think there are. The stupid, homophobic, racist, misogynist masses have spoken.

I am ashamed to be an American.

I saw this on twitter, but I can’t verify the numbers. Feels right, though.

These are the official results from CNN. Notice that Clinton won the popular vote. The Electoral College once again interferes with our choice for President.

What else is there to say? Murica is full of horrible people. Until the old white people die off, this country will be a terrible place to live.

I’ve looked into The Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and Canada today. Ireland is pricey (1000 Euros to apply!), New Zealand always seems to want people, but it is REMOTE, and Canada seems like a good choice, but you must take the IELTS test first, which is to test your English (or French) abilities. The test costs $235 here in Atlanta, so again, not cheap. But worth it if we can gtfo of here. Actually, many countries require the IELTS, so you may as well take it. Once Nick’s job ends, we can leave. We’ve no kids to hold us back. I can find a home for the cat. It’s doable. NOT EASY, but doable.

I’ve seen this coming and I’ve wanted to live elsewhere for literally most of my life.

I didn’t want to believe that America was dominated by people like the E TN racists that I know. But it is. The hate spewed towards non-whites, non-straights and non-Christians here is right on par with sharia law in the Middle East. It’s the SAME ATTITUDES, just towards different people.

Germany did not start off with gas chambers. First, Hitler was elected and the fires of HATE were fanned…

Any of my friends who voted for Trump, you can now consider yourself NOT MY FRIEND. Your vote for HATE affects pretty much everyone we know AND US. We are NOT Christians. We are NOT straight. At least we are white, so we can fly under the HATE RADAR for a while. But our brown friends? Not so much. If you think that Trump represents a “better America”, then please just leave me alone. Just leave. I promise I won’t miss you.

I am truly heartbroken that my country has failed us. Again.

October 28, 2016November 6, 2016

Spicy Beef and Andouille Chili

Found a recipe while digging around and made it my own! This is a lovely beefy chili with the spice of andouille and various chile powders. This recipe is medium hot. It’s economical because you use cheap cuts of beef. Even better the next day and it freezes well!

Spicy Beef and Andouille Chili

2# braising beef (Top round, bottom round or chuck. I used chuck and top round.), cut into 1″ dice
Canola or vegetable oil (for high heat searing)
S/P
1 pack of Andouille sausage (14oz; I use Kroger brand Medium Andouille, precooked), diced will cook down and practically disappear, leaving only beef chunks, or slice on the bias if you want it to remain in chunks; I prefer diced.
1 med onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp ancho powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 Tbl chile powder
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry cilantro
1 12oz bottle of lager beer (I used Sam Adams Boston Lager.)
1 28oz can fire roasted tomatoes, crushed, with juice
1 small can fire roasted green chiles
1 cup chicken stock
1 15.5oz can black beans, drained (you can double this or add kidney beans as well if you like a more beany chili)

Toppings
Shredded cheese (I like Mexican blend OR queso fresco is delicious)
Sour Cream (I used Mexican crema)
Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Fresh lime wedges
Tortilla chips
Scallions, sliced thin on the bias

In a large Dutch oven, heat 2-3 Tbl veg oil over medium high to high heat. Make sure the beef is dry then season liberally with S/P. Sear the meat in batches to get a good brown on it; set it aside as you go. Add oil if pot gets too dry. When beef is done, add the andouille. When the andouille is browned, lower the heat to medium and add in the onions and garlic and cook for about 4 mins until softened. Add beef and any juices back to pot, and add all six spices and herbs. Stir for a minute or so. Then add the beer to deglaze the pan. Stir up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Then add tomatoes, chiles and stock and stir. Bring to boil, then drop down to a slow simmer and let this go for 1.5 hours, with lid just barely ajar. Stir occasionally.

After the chili has simmered for 1.5 hours, stir in the beans, check your seasonings and let simmer for another 30 mins or so.

Serve with garnishes of your choice and enjoy!

This makes about 2.5 quarts and freezes very well. It might work in a crock pot, but I’d still sear the meat first. If I test it in a crock pot, I’ll update this post.

October 24, 2016

Sumac Marinade for Lamb

I had this 2# lamb shoulder roast in the freezer and I decided I wanted to roast it. I’d read about sumac and got some from the Farmers Market and I wanted to use it on the lamb somehow. I’d used it on chicken and it was OK, but I wanted more punch. I read a few marinade recipes and came up with this one that is VERY flavourful! It’d probably work for chicken, beef or pork, too.

Sumac Marinade

This is for about 2# of meat. Double if you have a larger roast.

2 Tbl EVOO
1 Tbl sumac
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
3 bay leaves, broken up
2 Tbl white wine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Mix together in a ziplock with the roast (if your roast is too big for a ziplock, then use a vessel that it fits in tightly and rotate it every hour). Ensure that the roast is covered and press all air out of the bag when you seal it. Let rest in the fridge for at least 2 hrs, up to 8 hr for lamb, pork or beef. No MORE than than 2 hours for chicken or it will get mealy.

Roast lamb at 325-350F for 25 mins per pound to get medium rare (145F at the thickest point). Do not cook lamb more than medium or you’ll rob it of its flavour!