Green Chili with Pork (FP takes a crack at Pozole)

The bulk of the inspiration behind this warming, hearty and slightly spicy dish came from a recipe I clipped out of Gourmet last year. The recipe is inspired by Pozole, a dish originating in South America and Mexico and popular in the Southwest. I added the Shiner and the lime, which I think adds a bit of a Texas twist to the more traditional recipe.

My husband and I are both obsessed with this recipe. We both love that it’s a relatively healthy, one-pot (plus one blender) meal. For the record, the reason he loves that is because he does the dishes.

• 2 medium white onions, quartered


• 5 fresh jalapeños, seeded, stemmed and quartered (leave some seeds if you want more kick)


• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed


• 1 bottle of Shiner Bock


• ½ cup + ½ cup of chicken broth


• 1+2 tbs. Canola Oil


• 2 lbs ground pork


• 2 teaspoons ground cumin


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 (14- to 15-oz) cans white hominy, rinsed and drained


• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro


• Juice of two limes

Purée onion, chiles, and garlic with 1/2 cup chicken broth in a blender.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown pork, stirring and breaking up clumps with a fork, just until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pot and heat over moderately high heat until hot, then carefully add purée (it will spatter), cumin, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and most of liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Add pork, hominy, remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, and Shiner and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and liquid reduces by about half (30-45) minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice and serve.

I have found the best way to serve it is with cornbread and sour cream. It makes four to six servings, depending on how large you want them to be. Yum!

Are You Ready For Some Football (Food)?

In my house, football season is greeted with the same excitement usually reserved for kindergarteners on Christmas morning. Every weekend we anticipate the Longhorn’s and Cowboys’ match-ups, and catch as many games our Fantasy Football players are playing in (yes, I play Fantasy Football) as possible.

Few foods pair as well with football and beer as chili. However, few foods make a room full of guys (and gals) as sluggish and let’s face it, gassy, as traditional chili. Over the years, I have cultivated a healthier chili recipe. It is satisfying, easy and deeply delicious - if a little unconventional - and pleases any football fan (and even those who aren’t - just ask C&S).

Robin’s Four Pepper Turkey Chili

2 tsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 tsp. salt (preferably kosher or sea salt) + 1 tsp. salt
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded (or not, if you like it uber-spicy) and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. of lean ground turkey (93/7 is good)

28 oz. can of tomato sauce

28 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes (drained)
28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

15 oz. can of Rotel tomatoes, drained
2 tbs. chili powder
2 tbs. cumin
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
6 oz. can of tomato paste
15 oz. can of hominy, drained

In a large non-stick pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and poblano pepper and sprinkle with 1 tsp. of salt. Sauté for 5-7 minutes or until the onions start to get translucent. Add the jalapeños and sauté for another minute. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Transfer the pepper mixture to a plate.

In the same pot, add the turkey breast and brown. Once cooked through, add the peppers back to the pot and combine. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, 1 tsp. salt and the rest of the spices. Bring to a slight bubble and add the tomato paste until completely incorporated. Add the hominy last, reduce the heat to medium low, and cover. Cook for at least an hour or as long as you can stand it.

Serve it with:
Cilantro
Sour cream
Fritos

Baby, It's Cold Outside

When it’s cold outside, there is nothing I love more than a good soup. There's just something about a nice warm bowl on a cold day that makes you feel all better.

My husband and I both like variety, so we love to try new recipes, and rarely repeat something unless it’s really special.





Ladies and gentlemen, these recipes are really special. I give you Spicy Beef and Barley Soup and Chicken Soup with Cheese Tortellini. We have made both of these recipes at least three times—in the last month alone.


Spicy Beef and Barley Soup
I found this recipe in Cooking Light a couple of months ago, and it is divine. My husband is the one who’s actually done the cooking on this one when we’ve had it, and he’s made a few adjustments to “ramp it up” as he likes to say.

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 (1 ½ pound) eye-of-round steak, cut into one inch pieces (you could also use cubed stew meat if you’re not interested in the “light” aspect of the recipe)
1/2 teaspoon + ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon + ½ teaspoon salt
1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cups baby carrots
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup red wine
8 cups beef broth
¾ cup uncooked pearl barley
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 sprigs of thyme
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
1 bay leaf

Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle beef evenly on all sides with salt and pepper (1/2 teaspoon of each). Add beef and onion to the pan, sauté 5 minutes until the meat is browned on all sides. Remove beef mixture from the pan; place in an electric slow cooker.

Add carrot and mushrooms to the pan, and sauté 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and garlic, and sauté two more minutes. Add red wine to pan, and bring to a bubble. Add the carrot mixture, barley, basil, crushed red pepper, tomatoes, bay leaf, paprika, cumin and thyme to the slow cooker and stir well to combine. Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low and cook for 6 hours. Discard thyme sprigs before serving.



Chicken Soup with Cheese Tortellini
This soup is so warming and hearty. The chicken totally falls apart, and it makes your house smell divine. It tastes great on a cold night, and if you don’t like tortellini (which seems impossible to me, but you never know) it also tastes great over rice or quinoa.

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 leek finely sliced (optional—I love leeks, but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea)
1 yellow onion, finely sliced
1 and ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cups sliced mushrooms (or just one of those pre-packaged deals from the grocery store)
2 cups baby carrots
6 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of dry white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
12 cups chicken broth
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon salt + ½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 package cheese tortellini

In a large sauce pot or dutch oven, heat the canola oil over medium high heat. Add the celery and leeks and sauté for five minutes. Add the onions, mushrooms and ½ teaspoon of salt and and sauté for three more minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for two minutes.

Add the white wine and bring to a bubble, let simmer for three to five minutes and then add the chicken, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat.

Simmer gently for an hour. Add the carrots and simmer for another ½ hour. Shred the chicken with two forks (it will be falling apart, so this will be really easy). Bring the soup back to a boil and add the tortellini. Cook until the tortellinis are done. Cool a bit and serve.

A Bowl of Comfort

Today was the first cold day of the year. Not just crisp, with little red and golden leaves tripping to the ground on a light breeze – no, that was last month. Today was a bone-numbing 39 degrees with a wind chill of what-the-hell-am-I-doing-outside-anyway?

I would be fibbing if I said “It is on a day like this every year that my thoughts turn to soup again” or something like that. Truth is, I’m a soup girl all year round. On a wintry day, however, it’s a special kind of soup I want to snuggle with on my sofa. I want hot, hearty, comforting chicken noodle soup. Soup that tastes like home.

I don’t mind the stuff from a can. I even have a favorite brand that I keep in the pantry all the time. But soup for this sort of day is special, and there are certain characteristics it must possess: The broth must have a deep, well-rounded flavor and it should be slightly thickened, not by flour or cornstarch, but by cooking the noodles in the soup itself. The chicken must be shredded, not diced into uniform cubes, and finally, there should be a hint of freshness at the end, as if to promise that the warm sun will be back soon.

Tall order, huh? I’ll say. And most of the time, when I realize that I have to have this soup, the day is almost gone and I just can’t face plopping a whole chicken in a pot of water to start a soup from scratch. So, over the years I’ve experimented with ways of creating a homemade taste in far less time. Different stocks, noodles, chicken preparations – I’ve tried it all. The following recipe is the result of this quest. The key is the combination of stocks (Imagine brand is available at Whole Foods and it’s worth an extra trip if necessary), and the addition of herbs after it simmers. Tarragon and chicken are culinary soulmates and it’s this herbal embrace that elevates the soup from a meal to a memory.


Chicken Noodle Soup


Ingredients:


3 medium-to-large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper

2 32 oz. boxes Imagine Chicken Cooking Stock
1 32 oz. box Imagine Creamy Chicken Soup
¾ cup carrots, ½” dice
¾ cup celery, ½” dice
2 bay leaves

5 dashes Tabasco, or to taste
Salt and pepper
6 oz. wide egg noodles

¼ cup chopped tarragon leaves
¼ cup chopped parsley


Directions:

1. Season chicken breasts lightly with salt and pepper and roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool and shred with fingers (much better than dicing with a knife – trust me).

2. Combine all stock and soup in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add carrots, celery, bay leaves and shredded chicken and reduce heat. Maintain a bare simmer for 30 minutes to one hour.

3. Remove bay leaves and season the soup to taste with salt, pepper and Tabasco. Add noodles and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

4. Just before serving, stir in tarragon and parsley.

NOTE: If making soup the day before, take it to the point of removing the bay leaves and then cool down and refrigerate. On the second day, return the soup to a simmer and continue with remaining steps.