August 16th
Once again I busted out one of my favorite cooking appliances, the slow cooker. I have made about 10 different chili's in this thing, and sometimes it gets hard trying to figure out how to make one that's different. I have relied heavily on my Fix-It and Forget It cookbook for inspiration, but most of those recipes are meat heavy. Don't get me wrong, meat is good, but sometimes it's nice to make something a little lighter to bring to work for lunch. I perused my work establishment and discovered another book that has some very interesting chili recipes. What's neat about this book is that it requires fresh ingredients, which are fun to shop for, and also adds a side recipe for a great sauce to put on top. The book is 1001 Best Slow Cooker Recipes and has some great ideas. It also is pretty healthy stuff, no salt until the end, and that is just for taste. It also gives you some hints on how to thicken or thin a sauce in the slow cooker at the end of the cooking process. It's a great book and available at a Borders near you (shameless plug).
Now let's get this chili rolling . . .
Take 1 pound of chicken (breasts, thighs, whatever) and chop them up into .25 inch pieces. You don't have to bust out a measuring tape, just make sure they are bite-sized. Spray some Pam in your slow cooker and fire that chicken in there. Now add 2 cups of chicken broth, and two 15 oz cans of Great Northern beans that have been rinsed and drained of excess water.
Let's toss some veggies in there. Add to the crock pot 1 cup each of chopped green or red peppers (I used red) and onion. Now take 2 tsp each of minced garlic, ginger and jalapeno peppers. If you want your chili scalding, you can keep the seeds and stems of the peppers for some extra kick. The herb count is 1 tsp of dried thyme and oregano, toss it in. This is the base, and when all of the participants have convened in the pot, set it to low and cook for 6-8 hours.
Now let's make that tomatillo sauce. It's actually pretty easy, just take 12 ounces of tomatillos and put them in a pot and cover them with water. Bring that to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes until soft. In a food processor add .5 of an onion chopped, 1 tbs of cilantro, 1 tsp of jalapeno and garlic, .25 tsp of cumin, and 1/8 tsp of sugar. Once the tomatillos are soft, add to the processor and pulse until smooth. Taste it, and determine if it needs any salt.
When the chili is done and the chicken is cooked through, thicken it with 1 tbs of corn starch and .5 cup of chicken broth in the slow cooker while on high. Once it starts to bubble you will see the sauce start to become thick, should take about 15 minutes. You are done - just put the chili in a bowl, add a dollop of sour cream and the tomatillo on top.
Good eats.
Monday, August 16, 2010
White Chili with Tomatillo Sauce
August 16th
Once again I busted out one of my favorite cooking appliances, the slow cooker. I have made about 10 different chili's in this thing, and sometimes it gets hard trying to figure out how to make one that's different. I have relied heavily on my Fix-It and Forget It cookbook for inspiration, but most of those recipes are meat heavy. Don't get me wrong, meat is good, but sometimes it's nice to make something a little lighter to bring to work for lunch. I perused my work establishment and discovered another book that has some very interesting chili recipes. What's neat about this book is that it requires fresh ingredients, which are fun to shop for, and also adds a side recipe for a great sauce to put on top. The book is 1001 Best Slow Cooker Recipes and has some great ideas. It also is pretty healthy stuff, no salt until the end, and that is just for taste. It also gives you some hints on how to thicken or thin a sauce in the slow cooker at the end of the cooking process. It's a great book and available at a Borders near you (shameless plug).
Now let's get this chili rolling . . .
Take 1 pound of chicken (breasts, thighs, whatever) and chop them up into .25 inch pieces. You don't have to bust out a measuring tape, just make sure they are bite-sized. Spray some Pam in your slow cooker and fire that chicken in there. Now add 2 cups of chicken broth, and two 15 oz cans of Great Northern beans that have been rinsed and drained of excess water.
Let's toss some veggies in there. Add to the crock pot 1 cup each of chopped green or red peppers (I used red) and onion. Now take 2 tsp each of minced garlic, ginger and jalapeno peppers. If you want your chili scalding, you can keep the seeds and stems of the peppers for some extra kick. The herb count is 1 tsp of dried thyme and oregano, toss it in. This is the base, and when all of the participants have convened in the pot, set it to low and cook for 6-8 hours.
Now let's make that tomatillo sauce. It's actually pretty easy, just take 12 ounces of tomatillos and put them in a pot and cover them with water. Bring that to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes until soft. In a food processor add .5 of an onion chopped, 1 tbs of cilantro, 1 tsp of jalapeno and garlic, .25 tsp of cumin, and 1/8 tsp of sugar. Once the tomatillos are soft, add to the processor and pulse until smooth. Taste it, and determine if it needs any salt.
When the chili is done and the chicken is cooked through, thicken it with 1 tbs of corn starch and .5 cup of chicken broth in the slow cooker while on high. Once it starts to bubble you will see the sauce start to become thick, should take about 15 minutes. You are done - just put the chili in a bowl, add a dollop of sour cream and the tomatillo on top.
Good eats.
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