Chili Blanco

It is time for another recipe swap, hosted by Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking.  The theme this time was Blogger's Choice and I received Dawn's blog: Simple Gourmet Cooking.

 

While looking through Dawn's blog, I discovered an old favorite: Mexican Stuffed Shells, so I made that one night.  Then, I was looking around her blog and came across this chili.  I have been looking for a good chile recipe that isn't a red-base chili, so I thought I'd try this one as my swap recipe. 

Chili Blanco
slightly adapted from Simple Gourmet Cooking
Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken or ground turkey
1 pound lean ground pork
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 Knorrs Concentrated Chicken Broth tubs
1 can Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
2 15-oz cans Great Northern Beans, undrained
1 15-oz can golden hominy,  undrained
1 4-oz cans diced green chile peppers, undrained
4 large fresh jalapeno chile peppers, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Directions
1) In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook chicken, pork, onions and garlic over medium heat until pork is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.
2) Stir in concentrated broth, enchilada sauce, beans, hominy, green chile peppers, jalapeno peppers, lime juice, cumin, and white pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 40 min, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro.

When going through my cupboard for ingredients, I realized that I only had one can of green chiles, but I had an extra can of green chile enchilada sauce.  So, I added that in addition to everything.  Apparently the commissary on base doesn't like stocking different types of peppers, so they only had jalapeno peppers instead of poblano, so I just grabbed more of those instead. 

While it isn't as white as Dawn's, due to the enchilada sauce, I decided to keep the name.  I thought this chili was fantastic.  Jacob said that it was different enough and good enough to enter into a chili competition, which in my mind is a huge stamp of approval from him.  I served this with an herbed cheddar bread that has the texture of cornbread.  It was great for some of the dreary weather we've faced the past couple of weeks.  Definitely put this on your menu if you're looking for a non-red chili.

Please check out the other great dishes from the Blogger's Swap below.

Chipotle Aioli Deviled Eggs

My first attempt at Deviled Eggs was a complete and utter disaster.  I spent at least an hour over my kitchen sink trying to gently peel the eggshell of the egg, but getting chunks of egg flesh on each piece of shell.  My mom makes amazing deviled eggs and I was hoping to follow in her steps, but I just remember being so frustrated that I swore no more deviled eggs would grace my table.

After that experience I talked to A LOT of people about deviled eggs.  How did they boil them, what kind of eggs did they use, did they rinse them or just let them cool on their own...etc.  A lot of talk about something that shouldn't be complicated...right?

Well, learned that everyone does eggs differently, and heard that everyone had their own horrendous egg peeling experience.  So, I definitely wasn't alone.  So now, I try to find a different deviled egg recipe every time I try.  I served these on Super Bowl Sunday and they were the easiest thing on my menu to make.

Chipotle Aioli Deviled Eggs
barely adapted from SteakNPotatoesKindGurl
Ingredients
Eggs and filling
8 Hard boiled eggs
4 tablespooons Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt

Chipotle Aioli
½ cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 large Adobo chili
Salt and pepper


Directions:
1) Hard boil the eight eggs and let cool to room temperature. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the yolk. Place into a bowl and break up with a fork until lumps are gone. Add the mayonnaise, mustard and salt. Whisk with a fork until creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Chill for one hour.
2) Add all of the aioli ingredients into a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Place into a container with a lid and refrigerate until ready to use.
3) Place the egg halves onto a platter. Put the egg yolk mixture into a piping bag and use the star tip to pipe into the egg halves (I just used a spoon instead of a piping bag) and add a tiny dollop of the chipotle aioli. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made these for my husband because I am unable to eat chipotle in adobo.  He said he liked the smokiness of the chipotle with the deviled egg.  SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl put crab on hers, but he wrinkled his nose at the thought of that, so I just stuck with the aioli.  This was the easiest dish at our super bowl party and everyone liked them. 

Artichoke Bread

I think that I've started to like football more than my husband.  He admits that he really only likes to watch the Packers play, but there is something comforting about lounging around on Sunday and watching football.

Part of football fun for me is eating something yummy.  Sometimes my husband just wants chips and dip to snack on, but sometimes I try to whip up something more.  When I saw this recipe on Closet Cooking, I instantly thought football.

Artichoke Bread
slightly adapted from Closet Cooking
Ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 loaf Italian bread, sliced in half lengthwise

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) Mix the artichoke hearts, green onions, garlic, cream cheese, mayonnaise, greek yogurt, mozzarella and parmesan cheese reserving some of the cheese.
3) Hollow 1/2 an inch out of the center of both halves of the bread.
4) Spread the mixture into the hole in the bread slices and top with the reserved cheese.
5) Bake in foil for 20 minutes.
6) Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

This bread was awesome.  It was a little messy, which fit with watching football, but mostly delicious.  The artichokes give this bread a lot more flavor than just normal cheese bread.  I think this dish will definitely make a showing at the Superbowl, and probably a few more times before then (we'll just be honest).  

BBQ Ranch Deviled Eggs

My mom makes deviled eggs all the time, and makes them seem super easy.  So, when Thanksgiving rolled around, it seemed like in order for it to be a traditional Thanksgiving, I had to make deviled eggs.  My husband was so excited because he loves them.  I started making regular deviled eggs on Thanksgiving morning, and it turned into a disaster: the eggs wouldn't peel without ripping huge chunks of egg flesh with them, the wet yolk mixture got everywhere and didn't really even taste that good, and they just looked horrible.  I vowed never to make them after that day again, telling my husband that he'd have to wait until we visited my parents to get them.

Here we are months later and I ran across this recipe for BBQ Ranch Deviled Eggs.  I thought they looked perfect for our Super Bowl party, so I told my husband that I would try them again.  He was ecstatic to say the least.  This batch was a hundred times better than the dreaded Thanksgiving set, and the best thing was is that people actually ate them this time around.

BBQ Ranch Deviled Eggs
adapted from Foodnetwork
Ingredients
8 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons ranch dressing
3 tablespoons prepared BBQ sauce
2 green onions, finely chopped

Directions

1) Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, putting the yolks in a medium bowl and the whites on a platter. 

2) Use a fork to mash the yolks and mix in the mustard and ranch dressing. 

3) Place the yolk mixture into a sturdy resealable plastic bag, push into one corner, and cut off the tip to make a pastry bag. Pipe the yolk mixture into the whites. 

4) Drizzle the BBQ sauce over the eggs using a squeeze bottle. Sprinkle with the green onions and serve.

To me, you couldn't taste the ranch in these eggs, so I revised the recipe and took out the mayonnaise and let the ranch be the creamy element in the yolk mixture.  I set this platter out, and by the end of the first quarter they were gone.  People kept asking if I had more, and I didn't.  The BBQ sauce really is the star player in this recipe.  It changes the whole flavor profile of the deviled egg.  I think this recipe will be a staple for many football parties to come. 

Frito Chili Pie

I remember watching my brothers play sports and eating frito chili pie from the concession stand when I was a kid.  It is perfect sports food, sloppy, but extremely delicious.  So, when the last games of the playoffs were coming up, I asked Jacob if he'd be up for some Frito Chili Pie and he said yes.  I have to say, it was the perfect meal for football.

Frito Chili Pie
adpated from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
2 pounds turkey
1/2 white onion
3 cloves garlic, minced 
1 can (12 To 14 Ounce) Tomato Sauce
1 can (10 Ounce) Ro-tel (diced Tomatoes And Chilies)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Oregano
1 tablespoon Ground Cumin
1 tablespoon Cilantro
1 can (14-ounce) Kidney Beans, Drained And Rinsed
1 can (14-ounce) Pinto Beans, Drained And Rinsed
2 tablespoons Masa (corn Flour) Or Regular Corn Meal
Bag Of Fritos
Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Diced Green Onions (Optional)

Directions

1) Brown ground turkey with white onion and garlic.  Transfer to crock pot.

2) Add tomato sauce, Rotel, salt, oregano, cumin, and cilantro, cover and turn crockpot on high.  Let ingredients simmer in crockpot for about an hour.

3) Add drained and rinsed beans. Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for another hour.

4) Add the Masa to the chili. Stir to combine and simmer for a final 30 minutes. Set aside.

Serve over fritos. Pile in chili and cheese, and diced onion if using.

I haven't had chili in about ten years due to some food allergies, but I finally found some ingredients that would work.  Jacob said he usually doesn't eat chili with beans, but I thought it was great.  I don't know if there would have been enough substance to the chili without the beans.  The chili worked really well with the saltiness of the Fritos (I love Fritos).  I thought the green onions were a great burst of flavor with the chili, but the original recipe calls for red onion.  Just garnish it however you want, and you'll have an amazing football/sports meal. 

Turkey Nachos

This season, I have watched more football and baseball than I have in probably the last ten years.  Being married has definitely changed what I watch on television.  But the positive side is that I'm starting to understand and like football now.

Because the world series and football are basically intertwined right now, I figured I would make a meal that was game-day friendly and wouldn't take much time to make.

 I ran across the Skinnytaste.com website not too long ago and have been trying to make more healthy meals.  She has a recipe for Loaded nachos that I decided to try out.  Nachos carry a lot of punch in such a convenient bite that it seemed perfect for our afternoon of sports.

Turkey Nachos
adapted from Skinnytaste.com
Ingredients
8 oz Baked Tostitos Scoops
1 lb 99% lean turkey breast
1 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons lime juice
salt and pepper
1 cup fat free Refried Beans 
1 1/3 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese 
2 cups fresh tomato salsa
1/2 cup light sour cream
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeno finely chopped

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 425°. Place chips on four oven-proof dishes or one large baking sheet.
2) Heat a large nonstick sauté pan over high heat. Add turkey and season with cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and lime juice and sauté until cooked through.
3) Spoon the turkey mixture over the chips and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake until cheese melts, about 6 minutes.
4) Remove the nachos from the oven, top with beans, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, and jalapeno. Serve immediately.

I was a little nervous using turkey just because beef seems more nacho appropriate to me, but they turned out fantastically.  The flavors all layered together for the perfect harmony in each bite.  The creaminess from the sour cream balanced the spiciness of the jalapeno.  The spices on the turkey made it bold enough to stand up to all the other flavors.  These nachos are so great and flavorful that you don't miss the pounds of cheese that are normally on nachos.

Definitely a great game day staple for any sport.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollups

The theme for this recipe swap was tailgaiting/apps.  I received Chicken Cordon Bleu rollups, and when I told my husband he was super excited...but then never sat down to watch football during the entire time I had the recipe.

So the night before this was due I decided to get on it.  I felt like this recipe had a lot of areas for adaptation: rolling the ingredients in a tortilla and making those kind of rollups, making the cream of mushroom soup from scratch, or just messing around with the ingredients.  In the end, I just decided to keep it pretty simple and just alter a few of the ingredients. 

These are fast and don't take many ingredients though, which in my mind makes them great football food.  The longest part was cooking them and even that didn't take too long.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollups
adapted from The Cookaholic Wife
Ingredients
1 package chicken tenders
2 packages of prosciutto
8 oz. package Swiss cheese
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons milk
salt, pepper, and garlic

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450.
2. Spray a large baking dish or pan with non-stick spray.
3. Season the chicken tenders with salt, pepper, and garlic.
4. Wrap each chicken tender in a piece of Swiss cheese then wrap with prosciutto.
5. Bake the chicken tenders for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
6. In a small saucepan, add sour cream, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup, and milk over medium low heat. Stir well until soup thins out and keep warm over low heat until chicken is done.
7. Drizzle cream of mushroom soup mixture over chicken cordon bleu roll ups.

I have never had prosciutto before, so I wasn't sure how these would turn out.  I thought that everything went well together.  The prosciutto turned really crispy in the oven and was great with the moist chicken tender.  The only thing that I found wrong was that I thought they were a tad salty.  If making them again, I'd just use pepper and garlic powder and skip the salting of the chicken.  I thought the sauce turned out great too.  Nice creamy component to the dish.

Pretzel Bites and Beer Cheese Dip

I'm still trying to like football.  I can make it through about half a game before my mind wanders to other things that I could be doing instead of watching football.  

I do like making food for football games though.  Pulled pork sandwiches, potato skins, nachos have all been part of my menu before, but I've never baked anything for a football party.  Since Thursday was the start of football and the Packers (my husband's favorite team) were playing, I decided to start the season off with these fun little pretzels and beer cheese dip.

I found them on the Sunny Side Up in San Diego Blog, which I seem to have an obsession with lately.  I followed a combination of her recipe and the allrecipes.com recipe though because I only dipped them in the water and the baking soda.

Soft Pretzel Bites

Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Sunny Side Up in San Diego 
Ingredients
4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water

Directions
1) In a bowl dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Set aside. (Mixture should become foamy, if it doesn't your yeast may be bad or your water too hot)

2)In the bowl of a standing mixture fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugars, and salt on low speed. Turn off the mixer and pour the yeast mixture and melted butter into the bowl. Turn the mixer on and knead for 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth. If the dough is too dry, add extra water, a tablespoon at a time.

3) Lightly oil a large bowl. Remove the dough from the mixer and shape into a ball. Place the dough ball in the bowl, cover with a clean towel, and allow to rise for one hour (*or until double in size).

4) Towards the end of rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees and prepare baking sheets with parchment paper and cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the hot water and baking soda.

5) After the dough has risen, punch down the dough and then knead with hands for one minute. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide dough into 12 even portions. Roll each portion into a snake then cut the snake into bite size pieces, about 1 1/2 inches in width.

6) Dip the pieces in the baking soda water and place on the baking sheet (dab the pretzels with a paper towel if they seem too wet) then sprinkle with kosher salt.

7)Bake for 7-8 minutes, until browned.


Beer Cheese Dip Directions
Sunny Side Up in San Diego 
Ingredients 

6 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup good quality beer
1 Tbsp horseradish
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2-3/4 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
1) Microwave cream cheese for 30-45 seconds until very soft. Stir in the beer, horseradish, and garlic powder. Microwave again for 30-45 seconds. Add the grated cheese and stir until smooth, microwaving again if necessary.



While they were cooking, I thought this was going to be a massive fail.  The bites looked and smelled like little biscuits which I thought meant that they weren't going to taste preztel-like.  When I pulled them out of the oven, I grabbed one off the pan and popped it into my mouth and thought they were amazing.  I don't usually like pretzels.  But these were great. 

We used Easy Street beer, a great wheat beer made close to us.  The beer was very prominent in the cheese, and I thought it tasted amazing.  It was too bad that these finished after dinner, so they were more dessert.  We were too full to eat all of them.  Any normal game they would have disappeared.