White Chicken Chili

It's finally Fall.  Who cares if it's ninety degrees outside?  There's football on the television, and that dictates certain kinds of food.  This Saturday, it dictated white chicken chili.  One of my favorites!

Ingredients:

2 large chicken leg quarters
4 cans of great northern beans, drained
2 cans original Ro-tel (no salt)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
5 small green jalapeno peppers, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. black papper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
4 c. chicken broth

*Warning:  This dish is very spicy.

1.  Start with grilling the chicken over low heat, on the second rack, for about an hour.  Flip after 30 minutes.  This will give it a good grilled flavor, but not burn it.  Then, set it aside to cool while you put the rest of the chili together.

2.  Heat vegetable oil in big soup pot and sautee onions, jalapenos, and garlic until onions are translucent.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

3.  Sprinkle in seasonings - chili powder, black papper, white pepper.


4.  Add beans and Ro-tel.  Return to a boil, hen reduce to simmer.  Simmer for 15 minutes and taste to see if you need to add more seasonings or more water, depending on your heat tolerance. Then boil another 15 minutes.

5.  While vegetables and seasonings are simmering together, remove the bones, cartilage and skin from your cooked chicken and discard.  Chop meat into bite-sized pieces.  Add the chopped chicken to the simmering vegetables and seasonings for the last 5 minutes.


6.  Top with sour cream and chopped chives, and serve.

Notes:

* Normally I cut up a chicken breast and sautee it in the pan with onions, jalapenos and garlic.  I will not do that again.  The grilled leg quarters really added a nice flavor to the chili.

* Please do not use the jalapenos if you are not tolerant of the heat.  And, if you wear contacts, remember to wash your hands thoroughly before touching your eyes.

* I use the no salt added varieties and don't factor salt into this recipe at all.  You may need to add it to suit your tastes.

* I like the great northern beans because of the size and texture, but you could use any white bean you prefer in their place.

* I cooked enough to make sure I had left overs.  If you're just looking for dinner for two, you could cut the recipe in half.

Ratings:

Sandy's rating:  5.0 stars

I love chicken chili, but the grilled chicken in this really made it something special.  It gave it a bit of a smoky flavor that went really well with the chili powder.  Can't wait to have it again.

Tony's rating:  5.0 stars

Not your moms chili. The grilled chicken gave the chili a nice smokey flavor. Sandy always makes it spicy, too. Perfect for cooler weather and football.

Cost: under $15
Ro-Tel - $1.44/can
great northern beans - $0.91/can
onion - $0.69/lb.
vegetable oil - $2.99
chicken leg quarters - about $5 for a 10 lb. bag

We grew the jalapenos, and the remainder of the ingredients are staples in our home.

Italian Stuffed Steak

For this week's Food Adventure we went digging through Southern Living's Annual Recipes for 1988 and found this treasure of a recipe in October's section.  It isn't a quick fix recipe, but it is something you could make on the weekend and freeze to reheat later in the week.

Ingredients:

2 (3/4 lb.) lean, boneless top round steaks
1 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. uncooked risotto
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
vegetable cooking spray
1/2 c. diced onion
1/2 c. diced green pepper
1/2 c. diced sweet red pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/4/ tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 (8 oz.) cans no-salt added tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. dried whole fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

1.  Trim fat from steaks; place each piece of meat between two sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound to 1/4 inch thickness, using a meat mallet.  Overlap edges of meat to make one large piece.

2.  Combine water, risotto, and turmeric in medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25-30 minutes or until tender; set aside.

3.  Coat a skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot.  Add onion, diced green and red pepper, and minced garlic; saute until tender.  Remove from heat.

4.  Add risotto, minced parsley, and next 3 ingredients; stir well.







5.  Spread stuffing mixture in center of meat within 1 inch of sides.

6.   Roll up jellyroll fashion, starting with the long side.  Secure at 2-inch intervals with string.  Place seam side down in a shallow roasting pan.





7.  Combine tomato sauce and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well.  Pour over steak roll.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, basting occasionally.  Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes, basting occasionally.

8.  Transfer steak to a serving platter.  Let stand 15 mintes; remove strings, and slice steak roll.  Spoon remaining sauce over meat and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Yield:  6 servings

Notes:

*  The top round steaks we bought were already trimmed of fat and sliced thin so we did not do step one.

*  We didn't use real risotto, instead we sauteed some garlic and onion with rice in butter and gradually added water and milk to get the creamy consistency.  It worked well.  I would probably make some extra to have a a side with the dish.

*  We rolled the steaks individually, not as one large roll.  I think it was more interesting this way, but it only made 7 due to the number of steaks in the packaging.  There are 3 in the freezer for a later date.

*  Because we rolled each small steak individually, we used toothpicks, which are much more manageable than string.

*  I don't buy Italian seasoning.  I didn't have everything that is usually in it, but I substituted half oregano and half basil for any amount of Italian seasoning.

*  We used a lot more garlic than it calls for.

Rating:

Sandy's rating:  4.0 stars
I really enjoyed this dish.  It tasted very much like meatloaf.  The meat was more tender than I expected after cooking for that long.  I think I would like a little more stuffing in it next time, possibly some spinach added to the stuffing as well.  I don't think I would ever make this as one roll like the recipe suggests, but I do think I would make it again.  It's definitely something you need to have the time to make.

Tony's rating:  4.5 stars
It tasted like meat loaf. The best meatloaf I ever had, but meatloaf none the less. I am interested in trying different variations. Maybe an Asian version with ginger and teriyaki or maybe a Italian version with cheese and garlic.

Cost: ~$15

top round steaks ~ $8
rice - $1.09
onion - .69
sweet red pepper - 1.99
green bell pepper - .99
tomato sauce - .89 a can

The remainder of the ingredients are staples in my kitchen and we didn't need to purchase them this time.

Artisanal Black Olive Bread

Hey Foodies! Well the store was completely out of bread because people are freaking out over the hurricane. Well, lucky me, that means I get to make my own bread. Tons of yeast and flour at ye olde Publix and I had a can of olives at the house. So, let's rock this shit before the power goes out. I present to you the incredible Artisanal Black Olive Bread.

Good thing I got all day, because this literally takes all day. So, get up early and get started. First, let's make the sponge starter. You will need:

1 cup of bread flour
1 cup of water (between 100 and 110 degrees)
1/4 oz of rapid rising yeast.

Mix that up real good and let it sit covered for 2 hours.


Now let's make our dough. add the rest of the ingredients:


2 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
2 tablespoons of honey
4 cups of bread flour
1 cup of sliced black olives
2 cups of warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees) Not too hot!  You don't want to kill your yeast. It is a living thing. You want that dough to rise, yo!

Mix it up! For about 5 minutes, and let it sit covered for 3 hours.

Now, it's time to turn it out. Pour the dough on a lightly floured surface and turn out into a round shape. I used my pizza tray for this experiment. Press gently with your palms of your hand to release the gas in the yeast. Give it some love.  =) And, let it sit for another hour and a half. I told ya it was going to take all day.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle your bread with olive oil to make it crispy and dust with flour to make it pretty. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Check often not to over bake. Let Cool 20 minutes before serving. It's hot. You don't want to burn your mouth. It's done! Lets eat.

Tony's Rating: 4.0
What can I say, it's the best bread I've made yet. Perfect with soup or salads, but good on its own. We just tore it apart with our bare hands and started chowing. So good! Comfort food of the highest order and it only cost about 4 dollars to make. We had to buy the bread flour.

Sandys Rating: 5.0 stars
This is the best bread he's made to date.  It was both pretty to look at and yummy to eat!  It really hit the spot on a cooped-up, rainy day!

Time to hunker down. Till next time.. All Men Must Dine!

Rubbed Boston Butt

The first weekend of Alabama football simply has to start with a little Saturday morning meat rubbing, so this week's food adventure is a dry rubbed pork Boston butt.

Everybody has their own take on what should go in a rub, but for us, it mostly depends on the mood and the meat.  We wanted our pork to have a little bit of a barbecue-y type flavor and heat while still tasting like pork, so we put it in a pan and sprinkled generous amounts of oregano, garlic, rosemary, cayenne, black pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, cumin, thyme, and *Shannon dash on it, massaged it into the meat, flipped and repeated until all sides were covered.  Then, we stuck it in the refrigerator to sit until its time to cook.

When the time comes to cook the meat, preheat the grill to high, put the meat on the top rack, fat side up, turn the temperature down, and close the grill.  Grill on low for an hour per pound or until the inside temperature is 160 degrees.  Carve and serve as meat plate or on sandwiches.

Notes:

* Publix seems to have pork shoulder and Boston butt on sale often.  I grab them when I see them even if it is just to stick it in the freezer.  And, this is just one of the ways they're good.
*  Shannon dash is a specialty item a friend makes and sends me.  You won't find it in any grocery store.  Suffice it to say, it's hot, and you really have to like things hot to enjoy it.  We love it, and it goes great on pork.
*  We forgot to turn the heat on the grill down when we first put the meat on, and rushed out a few minutes later to find it engulfed in flames.  The outside was seared, but the inside was still cold.  We adjusted the cooking time a little, but left it on the grill over low heat.  The seasonings turned into a crunchy outer crust on the meat, and the insides were incredibly juicy.

Sandy's rating:  5 stars
I love grilled pork, and I loved the crunchy, flavorful pieces that got seared.  This was the most tender and juicy pork roast I have had from a grill.  And, we won the game, so it was the perfect victory meal.

Tony's rating:   4.5  stars
I don't know how I could have made it better. The meat was juicy and cooked to perfection. Never dry. The spice was bang on and it is about the easiest thing in the world to make. Can't wait to have the left overs.

Cost:

3.91 lb. pork shoulder boston butt - $7.78 (on sale $1.99 lb.)