The End Is Near

The Resolution finish line is in sight!!!!!!  

Here is recipe #21 that I made yesterday and an extra old standby recipe:

Hearty White Chili

Table of Contents:

- 3 c. cooked, shredded chicken (I used a package of 5 chicken thighs)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large can chopped green chiles
- 1 pound dried Great Northern beans, rinsed
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 whole Jalapeno, sliced (I did not use)
- 1-½ T. ground cumin
- ½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoons Cayenne pepper
- Salt to taste
- white pepper, to taste
-1 c. milk
- 2 T. Masa (corn flour) OR cornmeal ( I actually had some Masa)
- grated Monterey Jack cheese

How To:
Cook and debone chicken.  In a large stock pot  saute onions and garlic over medium heat for 2 minutes; add chopped green chiles.  Pour chicken broth into the pan and add rinsed beans.  Add sliced jalapenos. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook for 2 hours or until beans are done. Halfway through the cooking add cooked chicken.  When beans are tender, mix milk with masa (or cornmeal) and pour into the chili. Cook for an additional ten minutes to thicken. Check seasoning and adjust to taste, adding cayenne pepper and paprika if desired.  Add some Monterey Jack cheese to the pot and stir to melt. Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, extra cheese—even pico de gallo and guacamole, if desired. 

The Outcome:
As I was cooking this and tasted the broth, I thought I was not going to like the seasonings in this chili.  But in the end, as all of the spice flavors blended, it was delicious and we will definitely have this soup again. (Probably tomorrow - lots of leftovers!) I ate mine just topped with a little cheese, but The Drummer Guy likes a little extra kick.  He added a little Cayenne red pepper to his.  I had to refill his drink when I refilled his bowl.

 

I served this up with my favorite cornbread recipe:

Quick and Easy Cornbread

- 1 pkg. Jiffy cornbread muffin mix

- 1/2 pkg. yellow cake mix (whatever is cheapest works fine)

- 3 eggs

- 3/4 c. milk

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.  Pour into greased 2 quart baking dish.  Bake 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  (May need to cover with foil for last 10 minutes to prevent top from over-browning.)  This is a delicious cake-like texture cornbread. 

New Recipe Night!

My good friend Debbi makes this fantastic Tomato Bisque. I’ve asked her for the recipe 2 times and now I can’t find it. She created the recipe based on a soup a local restaurant serves. As best I can remember, here is the basic recipe:

Tomato Bisque Soup
4 cans tomato bisque soup
1 can Rotel Tomatoes
Velveeta cheese
6 T of rice
Onion
Carrots
Celery
Milk or water to desired thickness

Mark likes a soup with a little meat/chicken in it, so here is my spin on Debbi’s recipe:

KICKIN' CHICKEN & TOMATO BISQUE

Table of Contents:
2 cans Tomato Bisque soup
1 can Rotel Tomatoes (I used original)
1 medium onion – diced
6 oz. cooked chicken
EVOO
1 cup milk
2 oz Velveeta
3 T Minute Rice

(I didn’t take any pictures of the ingredients because when I first started cooking the onions I still had no idea what I was fixing for dinner.)

How To:
In medium size pan, heat EVOO over medium high heat; sauté onion until golden brown. Add chicken and cook together for a few minutes. Stir in canned soup, Rotel tomatoes and milk. Bring to boil and add rice. Decrease heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to cook rice. Stir in Velveeta cheese to melt.

The Outcome:
You will note the original recipe used 4 cans of the soup with 1 can of Rotel. I only had 2 cans of the soup but still used the whole can of Rotel. (I couldn’t waste it!!) When I tasted the first spoonful of this, I thought, “Oh, tomato-y”. Then my brain caught up with my taste buds and I said, “Whoa, that has a kick!” (That’s when I added the “Kickin” to the name of the recipe.) Mark and I both really like this soup and I will definitely make it again. I asked Mark for a quote about this recipe, but he was sweating and had to go get a cold drink. I’ll take that as a compliment!

It is only the end of April and I am half way through The Resolution with my new recipe I made for supper tonight!! I just might see this through!

(Check out other great recipes at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday!)

Recipe #4 - Red Beans with Andouille Sausage

I haven't had much time to cook lately, at least not new stuff. It seems like we have been gone a lot over the past few weeks. But I have been diligently searching for new recipes. I have several picked out to try and Mark thought this one sounded good for a cold, snowy, wintery day (which, by the way, is the first day of Spring!)

You may recall in my list of criteria for recipes, I have to be able to pronounce the ingredients. Believe it or not, I actually can pronounce Andouille! Finding it was harder. I had almost decided that I would have to figure out some different type of sausage, when I spotted a man working in the meat department at the grocery store. So I asked him and he said that they had just started carrying it. He found it for me, and I was on my way! So here it is:

RED BEANS WITH ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE

Table of Contents:
-2 tsp. EVOO
-1 pound Andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (I used the minced stuff in a jar!)
-1 pound dried, small red beans, soaked per pkg instructions and drained
-Salt, pepper

How To:
In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage; cook until fat is released and sausage is slightly golden in spots, approx 10 minutes. (This sausage smells fantastic cooking!)

Remove sausage from pan. Add onion and garlic to pan; cook until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add beans and 4 ½ cups water; bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, partially cover, and cook until beans are tender; 1-1 ½ hours, adding more water if necessary. Stir in sausage and heat through. Season to taste.

The Result:
Yum!!! This was spicy and fantastic. It was sooooo good served up with a little cornbread on the side. This recipe is a keeper. Or, if nothing else, the sausage will make another appearance. But we can't eat it too often - 19 gms of fat in a serving of Andouille sausage. Ouch!!

(I just noticed as I was posting this - all of my new recipes that I have made so far have been served up in a bowl!)

Recipe #3

Today was a hot time in the ol’ kitchen for me. Did some bulk cooking and it was also new recipe day!! I decided to cook up a 5 lb package of ground chuck and a 3 lb package of chicken and bag it up in meal-sized packages. One hour and 15 minutes later I had 6 packets of chicken and 8 packets of hamburger (kept some hamburger out for the new recipe) and into the freezer it all went.

This will be so great for those days I’m too busy (lazy) to thaw, cut, and cook. And it looks so great up there in the freezer nestled up next to the Skinny Cows!

Next, I started on Recipe #3:

TACO SOUP

Table of Contents:
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans red kidney beans
2 cans corn
1 can tomatoes with diced chiles (I used Rotel – Original)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning (I used Taco Bell brand)
1 packed ranch dressing mix (this sounded weird, but tossed it in)
1 lb hamburger
Topping: shredded cheese, sour cream, corn chips (optional)

How To:
Brown hamburger, drain fat and place in crock-pot. Sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat. Drain and rinse beans and add to pot. Add corn and tomatoes (don't drain). Stir all together; cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream.

The Result:
This recipe was a little disappointing. I was expecting to taste something more taco-y, but it really just tasted like chili. But, at least it was very good chili. Another thing, looking back, what was I thinking making a recipe that used 8 cans for just Mark and me??? We’re going to be eating this stuff forever!

Recipe #2

Today was new recipe day!!! I love to make soup and have never cooked with tortellini, so this looked interesting. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.

TORTELLINI SOUP

The Ingredients:
7-8 cups chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes with onion and garlic)
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp. salt; ¼ tsp. pepper (does anybody really measure salt and pepper?)
1 pkg (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 ½ cups cubed cooked chicken (I used a pre-cooked 6 oz. pkg)

The Directions:
In dutch oven or soup kettle combine broth, tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

I did this and mixed it all together with a whisk. Having never cooked spinach before, I did not realize that this is what would happen:

What a mess -it took forever to clean all that spinach off the whisk! Is it any wonder that this is the expression I frequently wear when I cook:

Anyway, moving on. After getting out a big spoon for stirring from this point forward, simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors; add tortellini and chicken. Cook for 5 minutes or until tortellini is heated through. (If using frozen, follow pkg. instructions for cooking the tortellini.)

The Result:

I was a little nervous about this one with the cooked spinach. I've never been a big fan of the looks or texture of the stuff, but decided to go ahead and use it. The soup was excellent. We both liked it a lot, which is a good thing because we have a lot of leftovers. However, when I make this the next time, I think I will choose a different green vegetable!