White Chili...because every "chilly" queen needs a white chili "night" to the rescue!

Once upon a time, in a place far far away, there was a swishy caterer/food shop to the elite. Said caterer treasured their recipe for the new and cutting edge "white" chili more than any sapphire, emerald or ruby (or even pesto torte). Alas, they fell foul of a disgruntled employee...who, to extract vengeance upon the evil overlord employer, disclosed the secret of the "blanco"...the heroin of the tale. Through an accomplice, who shall remain unnamed, I share this white gem with you...a glistening diamond of a soup.

The deal with this chili...well, besides the intrigue surrounding the acquisition of the recipe...is that it's perfect for either chicken or turkey or pork. It is even perfect without meat, should you so desire.

White Chili:

1 pound white beans (or 5 cans, drained and rinsed)
6 cups chicken stock

Either simmer the beans in the stock until soft, adding stock as needed, or if using canned beans, proceed as follows.

1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped
4 4 ounce cans green chilis

Saute the garlic, onion and chilis in the oil until tender. Add the following:

4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp oregano leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4 cups cooked chicken, turkey or pork

Add to beans and spices and simmer one hour.

I used a pork roast for this version.

Covering the roast with water in a large stock pot, I added a whole onion, pepper corns, jalapenos, a head of garlic, bay leaves and some cayenne pepper:


The roast cooked until the meat fell from the bone. Remove the meat from the liquid, and "pull" into pieces (I take this opportunity to remove all fat):


Okay...so the cheats. Buy a couple of rotisserie chickens and pull the meat. Or, use your left over holiday turkey. Both are perfect.

Saute the onion, garlic and chilis and add spices:


Toss that mixture in with the beans and stock, add the meat and simmer one hour:



I fried up some corn tortilla strips and garnished the soup with some cheddar cheese, the chips, a dollop of salsa and some chopped green onions.

That's all there is to it! On a night when you'd like a white knight on a stead to rescue you from the gloom...inSTEAD, pull out this white chili; it'll warm your heart.

Paula

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Piccata and Peas, If You Please

I've done a post about Piccata before. It's found here. But, there can never be enough Piccata love in the world. Seriously. And this time, I did a different recipe (my own) and I've paired it with...Sherried Peas with Mushrooms! An absolute favorite of mine!

First the Peas. Can I tell you enough how much I love peas? Well, probably not. So you'll just have to take my word for it. Can I tell you how wonderful and easy these peas are? Well, I could. Should just try them for yourself? Yes. Now? Right now! Or soon.

This pea recipe is one that I discovered in the Junior League of Nashville cookbook, Encore! It has become a favorite. A serious favorite. I'm giving you the recipe as it appears in the book. For the purposes of tonight and just two of us, I cut it down.

Sherried Peas with Mushrooms:

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbs butter
2 10 ounce packages frozen baby peas
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbs dry sherry

In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms in the butter until tender, add marjoram, nutmeg and sherry.


Saute 2 minutes. Add the peas. Heat through. Done.

Chicken Piccata:

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
Juice of one lemon & a titch of zest
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 Tbs capers, rinsed
4 Tbs dry white wine

Dump some flour in a zip-lock bag. Add the salt and pepper. Shake. Toss in the chicken, seal the bag and shake again until the chicken is well coated with flour.

In a large skillet over medium/high heat, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.

De-glaze the pan by adding the lemon juice/zest, stock, capers and wine to the skillet, bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk.


Pour sauce over chicken and serve.


Piccata? Peas? Yes, please!

Paula

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Chicken Piccata with Lemon, Capers and Artichoke Hearts...An Early Taste of Spring

It's still winter, but spring must be near! My taste buds are telling me it is so! I got a hankering for something a bit more spring like, so I made Chicken Piccata with Lemon, Capers and Artichoke Hearts.


The recipe served this over rice and lima beans, but I paired the chicken with some lightly sauteed zucchini and grape tomatoes. It's easy, elegant and it was delicious.

The ingredients are here:


The recipe calls for 4 chicken breasts but these were Dolly Parton sized, so I just used two. The first step is to flatten them. I have an old, old, old meat mallet that is horrible, so I just used my (yes pink...it was a gift from a friend) silicone rolling pin. If you don't have a meat mallet or a rolling pin, just smash the chicken with a heavy pan. Just about anything heavy will work. Putting the chicken in a zip lock bag makes for easy clean up and the bag comes in handy later.

Once the chicken is 1/4 inch thick, it looked like this:


The recipe called for the chicken to be salted and peppered and then coated in the seasoned flour, but I just dumped the salt and pepper right in there with the flour.


There is also lemon zest in this recipe; the zest of lemon holds the essential oils and is very fragrant and wonderful. Zest is just the finely grated rind. I use a micro plane to zest, but I have zesting tools too. You can use a very fine cheese grater or a sharp paring knife. When you zest you only want to get the top colored layer, not into the white pith, which is bitter. You can buy dried zest, but it's not the same as fresh.


All of the spices and the flour and lemon zest are added into the plastic bag with the chicken and tossed together to coat the chicken well. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the floured chicken (just shake it off a bit first). Saute it for a few minutes on each side until it is golden brown and cooked through.


Once the chicken is browned on each side, add the lemon juice, wine and stock.

That will simmer until the sauce thickens from the flour that has coated the chicken. While that is happening, slice up some zucchini and toss it in a skillet with 2 tsp olive oil, a pinch of garlic powder and salt/pepper. I also added a hint of the lemon zest. Normally fresh garlic is preferred but I was doing a super quick saute and it wasn't really enough time to sweeten the fresh garlic.


Now, both skillets are ready for the final ingredients. The chicken gets quartered artichoke hearts (I buy them quarted, so I don't have to cut them) and the capers. The zucchini gets some grape tomatoes that I halved.



Then, just plate it and serve.


Spring is coming! Join me as I dine!

Paula

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