Chicken with Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomatoes, Creamed Corn and Baked Potatoes

I know it's Monday night but today was a holiday and it felt like Sunday dinner time so I decided to try this chicken idea I've had for my upcoming bunco. I like to test the recipes first for taste and presentation. I'm not the best presenter as of yet but I will get there. I took 6 boneless chicken breasts with the skin on and sliced some goat cheese and placed it under the skin with julienned sun-dried tomatoes. I drizzled some really good olive oil on top and just added salt and pepper roasted the chicken in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes until the skin was golden brown. I also threw in some potatoes in the bottom oven and made homemade creamed corn - not the kind we remember from the can. Creamed corn is so easy to make and wow - so good and simple. Just take a small bag of frozen corn and place in pot with 1 cup cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and add 1 cup milk shaken with 2 tablespoons flour. Stir to another boil and turn off heat and continue to stir until thickened. I'm telling you, the can will be a distant memory. The chicken turned out very moist and delish. I'd give this one a try again but will need to think about whether I can 'present' this for bunco. Everyone here loved it and plates were all clean!

Risotto with butternut and leeks and fresh basil

Wash and skin 1 medium butternut squash. Dice the flesh into about 1/4 - 1/2" dice. Wash 2 leeks, slicking little discs about 1/8" from the white end to the light green. Clean a large handful of fresh basil. Have 1 tablespoon thyme ready. Shred parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 cups (maybe about 6-8oz?)

Heat up a 28 oz box of chicken broth. Have aside.

In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil.. Add the squash and stir and cook 5 minutes. Remove the squash. Add the leeks and thyme, cook for a few minutes, the discs will separate. Remove these.

In the pot, you might need to add another tablespoon of olive oil, depends whether you left any behind when you removed the veges. Up to you. Add 1 1/2 cups arborio rice. Stir about 3-4 minutes, the rice will become a little toasty. Add 1/2-3/4 cup of dry white wine (Chardonnay works). Cook and stir until the wine is absorbed. Now start adding the hot chicken broth, 1 cup at a time, cooking and stirring while the chicken broth absorbs. Continue adding cupfuls one at a time, cooking and stirring between additions, until all the broth is gone and the rice is tender. This takes about 25 minutes.

When it's tender, put the squash and leeks back in, stir and heat up a bit, then add most of the cheese and most of the fresh basil, keeping a bit for topping the individual servings. Andiamo!

When I'm single, it will be beans all the way,

I love beans. I love every bean that God in His wisdom ever made. Childhood memories of Navy Beans and Hamhock tickle me pink. My dad liked beans and I visualized sailors in whites eating these.

Last weekend, I made up the following recipe. If I were an empty-nester, this would have lasted me a week...but Tim had strapping friends over on Sunday night, helping in the garage, so i served this thick soup with homemade biscuits and it was gone in one sitting.

Anyway, quick soak 1 1/2 lbs navy beans. If you don't know how to do this...rinse and clean beans, put into stock pot with water, bring to boil, boil 2 minutes. Turn off, let sit 1 hour. Pour off water and rinse again.

Put the beans into a stock pot, covered with water 2 inches above top of beans. Added 2 packages of frozen (thawed) chicken thighs (from Costco), 2 cubes of caldo de pollo or bouillon cubes, about 1 tsp of marjoram, 1 tsp of thyme, 2-3 bay leaves, some fresh ground pepper. No salt, the caldo do pollo is salty enough. Bring to boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. Add water if it cooks down to threatening low level.

Fish Tacos, Two Ways

Fish tacos were on my mind on the drive home, mostly because I had defrosted three talapia fillets and didn't want to serve "fish".
So, based on DNA memory, I stopped at the market and bought ingredients for fish tacos.
Red sauce: a bit of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. Chop a bit up finely, and mix with regular salsa. Makes a spicy red sauce.
White sauce: plain, nonfat yogurt(1/2 cup) mixed with about 2 tablespoons mayo.
Chopped red cabbage
Tortillas Eden likes flour, so broke tradition for the sake of peace in the mid-eastern part of San Diego.
Fish: here's the two ways: a bag of Gortons fish fillets with beer batter cooked according to directions, and the three aforementioned talapia fillets sprinkled with seasoned salt and smeared with a bit of butter. Cook the talapia on the same cookie sheet as the Gortons fillets. Used a bit of parchment paper to make clean up easy.
Whoever invented parchment paper deserves to be knighted by the Queen Mum.
Very successful dinnertime.

Panama Honey Microlot

Oh my goodness!!! I stopped by to see Robin yesterday and she roasted a coffee bean from Panama that, as she describes it, 'has cinnamon caramelized pear and brown sugar notes'. I brewed a pot this morning and I immediately found those notes! I'm not a connoisseur of any kind but I'm finally understanding all of the knowledge that she has kindly passed along to me. You must go see her. This cup of coffee was so smooth and not too sweet or over-powering. I'm bummed that I only took one cup with me for my ride to work and can't wait to get home and brew another pot. Wow!  That good.

White Bean Chili

4 (15 ounce) cans white beans

1 (15 ounce) can green chilies

1 (16 ounce) package frozen corn

1 (15 ounce) can vegetable broth

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon chipotle pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1 (16 ounce) container plain nonfat yogurt

Cilantro

Pour beans, green chilies, corn and broth into large stock pot. Add the onion, 2 tablespoons cilantro and garlic and season with spices. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and spices if necessary. Can be made in the crock pot and simmered on low for 4 hours. I added additional cumin and chili powder.  Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with nonfat yogurt and cilantro.  For non-vegans – add Annie’s Buffalo Chicken Tenders!

Game Day Chili!

2 pounds ground beef

1 (64 ounce) can baked beans, undrained

1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans

1 (15 ounce) can white kidney beans

1 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 green chili peppers, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon chipotle pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

1 (16 ounce) container sour cream

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground beef into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.

Pour in the chili beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion and chili peppers. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and chipotle. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. The baked beans give it a sweeter taste while the spices give it a little kick and the chipotle and paprika gives it a smoky flavor.  Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with sour cream and shredded Cheddar cheese.