Cooking – Page 28

Sheng Jian Bao in (mostly) pictures

May 10, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking

The Missus's Parents were nice enough to watch over Da' Boyz while we were away on vacation. And my MIL brought along a "new wrinkle" on this trip, as we had mentioned in this post…. Sheng Jian Bao! After hearing how much I enjoy(and I'm not the only one) Sheng Jian Bao (aka Sheng Jian Mantou, aka "SJB"), my MIL set about experimenting. And by the time they arrived, the results were quite good!

So I thought I'd document our one SJB making session. There is one caveat however, much like my post on Her Jiaozi, these are made using the senses, and not any set recipe. I'm fairly certain that you can use your handy dandy Mantou recipe (like this one from Eat.Travel.Eat!) and start with that.

So without further ado…….of course it all starts with yeast (a half envelop Fleischmann's).

And some sugar to make it "happy".

The water should be warmed to about body temperature (assuming that you don't have swine flu, of course).

My MIL adds flour by hand, without the use of a measuring cup, until it "feels" right.

If I recall correctly, (and she'll correct me if I'm wrong) She uses a mixture of Arrowhead APF and Bread Flour.

After achieving the correct texture, she covers the bowl, and lets the dough rest in a mildly warm area for 15-20 minutes.

After that period, the dough is pounded down, kneaded again, and it's off to another rest period.

After which it's time to get "rolling"…….

The one area where I actually do have a clue, is in cooking the SJB. You should have a pan heated to medium high heat. Add about 2-3 tablespoons(or more) of oil to the pan and swirl it around to coat. Place the SJB into the pan, and gently coat the bottom of the Bao in the oil.

Fry until the bottoms of the Bao attain a light golden brown color.

To get the Bao steamed, pour about one-third of a cup of water around the rim of the pan. Do not pour on top of the Bao, as this will ruin the texture. Cover immediately(watch out for the splatter) and let steam until water has evaporated. Add another one-third cup of water in the same manner, and cover. From what I've read, you can make this a slurry with some cornstarch if you want the Bao to stick together. Once water has almost evaporated, you can check to see if the SJB is ready. Gently touch the SJB; if the dough springs back into shape, the SJB are ready. Also, check the bottoms of SJB to make sure you've attained the desired crispness.

On this occasion my MIL made two different fillings, a pork with chive and scallion, and a chicken filling. Of course, I enjoyed the pork much more. I'm thinking that next time, adding a bit of pork aspic to the filling (a la XLB), will make these even juicier.

So there you have it.

But wait, that's not all! Did you notice something interesting in one of the photos above?

Yes, that straw mat………

I was told it's a traditional Jiaozi mat, and the Missus's Aunt brought it all the way from QingDao on a visit last year.

I was also told that using this mat makes Jiaozi taste "even better"!

And if this batch of Jiaozi, that the Missus's Mother made right after the SJB is any indication, I think they're right. It was some of the best I've ever eaten!

You won't get any argument from me…….

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Mom’s Almond Cookies

May 9, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

A few weeks ago, I was organizing my huge mess of a cookbook collection, when this popped up. I've written about this very special spiral notebook before. I found it after my mom passed on in 1996. It's one of the very few things I have from my mother…..the two cases of MD toilet tissue she had hoarded away in her small closet is long gone. The notebook fell on the floor, and opened up to the page with an almond cookie recipe. As a child, I could never help myself when faced with the inevitable jar of almond cookies at the cashier counter of a Chinese Restaurant, or at the register at "Lau's Market", the small store on the corner of 8th Avenue and Waialae. A wave of nostalgia rolled over me……

Very few readers of our humble little blog know that the Missus is a pretty good baker. She bakes weekly, sometimes several times a week for Her co-workers. For some reason, She has never consented to have me do a post on Her cookies or cakes. But in this case, She decided to make this exactly as written.

So how did it turn out? Not bad, perhaps a little paler than I remembered, but more than enough to soothe the soul or break the resistance of a fourth or fifth grader.

Instead of typing out the recipe, I thought I'd let my Mom tell you, in Her own words:

You can click on the photo to enlarge.

As silly as it seems, there's a part of me that would like to believe Mom was telling me something?

Anyway, to all you Mothers out there, we'd like to wish you a wonderful day….not just tomorrow, but everyday.

Also from the little red notebook….how's this for a blast from the past?

1974!!!

$1 Wednesday?: Spicy Cucumber – Qiang Huang Gua

April 8, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

OK, so you may never read mmm-yoso again after this recipe…. The Missus and I were shopping at Zion Market, when I noticed good quality English Cucumbers priced at 2 for a buck! Suddenly the idea I had of doing a silly 3 dollar Thursday had gotten even better. I could try to bring this in at under a buck. Again I chose a recipe from Land of Plenty. And just like my Pan Fried Perilla with Cucumber recipe, I again stir fried cucumber(ever so briefly). I realize stir-frying cucumber may sounds strange to most folks, I know it was to me. I distinctly remember the first time I dug to the bottom of a wonderful hot pot, only to bring up a translucent mass of wilted iceberg lettuce. Over the years I've gotten used to it, and in many cases really enjoy vegetables that I ate raw growing up cooked. And those who really can't even think about eating a warm piece of cucumber, don't worry, you'll eat this dish the day after making it, chilled.

This recipe is so easy, and without nature's warning color, the bright and blazing red to warn you, the dish looks fairly benign, but it can be pretty "mala" (numbing hot).

Like most recipes, I've made a few adjustments to suit my taste, and I'm sure you'll do the same if you try this recipe out. I added some Clear Chinese Rice Vinegar and sugar, to help round out the rather straight-forward numbing-heat. I also found that due to the rather uncomplicated flavor of the dish, peanut oil should be used. This dish also uses whole Sichuan Peppercorn. Lastly, is this really a $1 dish….well, you figure it out, 50 cent cucumber plus ingredients, all of which I had in my pantry. I guess if cucumbers weren't on sale, it might be a 2 dollar Tuesday, or something like that.

Spicy Cucumber Salad

1 large English Cucumber
2 Tb kosher salt
2 Tb Peanut oil
6-8 Dried Red Chilies, with the top snipped and seeds removed
2 tsp whole Sichuan Pepper(not roasted)
1 tsp Clear Chinese Rice Wine
1/2 tsp white sugar
2 tsp Sesame Oil

– Peel the cucumber and slice into 2 – 2 1/2 inch lengths, Cut in half lengthwise, and remove seeds. Cut into quarters, than eighths lengthwise, into a baton shape. Place cucumbers into a colander set over a bowl and add salt. Mix well, and set aside for at least 2 hours to draw moisture out of the cucumber..
– After the salting period is complete, shake the cucumber and drain well. Dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
– Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Add the peanut oil, and swirl to cure the wok. Add dried red chilies and Sichuan Peppercorn and turn the heat to medium. When the chilies are scalded and fragrant add the cucumber.
– Stir fry the cucumber for a few seconds, add vinegar and sugar, and stir to coat, and dissolve sugar.This process should not last for more than 10-12 seconds. Do not brown the cucumbers.
– Remove the cucumber from heat, add sesame oil, and remove to a container. When the dish has cooled, place into the refrigerator overnight.

You can eat this like any cold dish or pickle.

Simple Sardine Linguine: Ed’s $5 Friday

April 3, 2009 ed fromyuma Cooking, Recipes, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Cathy's busy, Kirk's busy, so today it's ed (from Yuma) sharing a favorite recipe. And yes, ed sometimes cooks on a budget.

These days we are all looking for cheap and tasty eats when we can find them. Stuck out here in the desert, I crave seafood, but craving seafood on a budget these days is tough anywhere. Today, however, I'm going to share with you an inexpensive and tasty seafood dish that can be made in Yuma and darn near anywhere else in the world. And this week, the ingredients to feed two people cost me only about five dollars.

Here's what the ingredients look like:

I will use both cans of sardines in olive oil (on sale this week for $1 each), about two thirds of a pound of linguine (figure $.65 worth), a bunch of flat leaf parsley ($.79 if memory serves), one yellow onion and a head of garlic (around a dollar total), one lemon (this time of year, given away free), four anchovies and a little of their oil, less than a tablespoon of Korean style crushed red pepper, and three tablespoons of capers (together they should bring me up to around $5).

Here's the list of ingredients:

One medium onion (sliced into strips)
One head garlic (chopped)
One bunch flat leaf (Italian) parsley (destemmed and chopped)
3 TBs drained capers
Zest and juice of one lemon
2 cans sardines in olive oil
4 anchovy filets (and maybe some oil from can)
2 tsp crushed spicy red pepper
2/3 lb linguini or other pasta
Some pasta water

I begin by frying the onions in the oil from the sardines and anchovies:

After the onions are properly fried, I add the chopped head of garlic and the four anchovies, cut into small pieces:
Before too long, I put in the crushed red pepper, the destemmed flat leaf parsley, and the capers.

Toward the end of the process, I mash up one of the cans of sardines and break the other up into large pieces, adding them to the pan:

As soon as they are properly stirred, I dump in the zest of the lemon with about half of the lemon's juice:

If I've synchronized things correctly, at this point the linguine will be slightly aldente and ready to eat. I add the linguine and a little bit of its pasta water into the pan, turn off the heat, and mix everything together. Because of the fishy oils and the dissolved anchovy, even those noodles that aren't covered with fleshy bits are full of the flavor of the sauce.

When the sauce does not fully integrate with the noodles, I place a clump of noodles in the middle of the plate and put extra sauce across the top of it. The finished dish (this is about one quarter of the complete recipe) looks like this:
I don't like to brag on my own cooking, but doggone this is good. Even Tina likes it. The sardine taste is upfront, deep, and thorough. The lemon, red chili, capers, and abundant parsley contribute flavorful background notes. Of course, none of my recipes is set in stone. Heck, some aren't even written down on paper. If I want more hot spice, more salty fish flavor, more lemon caper tang, or even more green herby parsley, I know what to do. But no cheese never.

Feeling frugal, Tina and I accompanied the pasta with a bottle of Rene Barbier Mediterranean White, which was a nice match – though it doubled the cost of the meal :-( . But for the truly frugal, I'm sure that this dish would make a bottle of Charles Shaw Pinot Grigio taste better too.

Give this recipe a try. Then mangia!

Pan Fried Cucumber with Perilla – Zi Su Jian Huang Gua

March 31, 2009 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

Yep, we're still "veggin' out……" Here's another recent vegetable dish. I'm always on the look-out for something a bit different, perhaps the use of an ingredient that I'm familiar with, but had never thought of using in a type of cuisine. I saw a recipe in Fuchsia Dunlop's tome on Hunan cookery, The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, that caught my attention because it used Perilla. The original recipe uses zǐ sū (紫苏), purple perilla, but the only perilla I could find in the quantity I wanted and in good shape was Korean Perilla, which I substituted for purple perilla. What little info I could find on the use of Perilla in Chinese cuisine was a reference to Perilla Leaf Porridge as a remedy for common colds, and its many medicinal uses.

This turned out to be a remarkable dish. The cleansing flavor of the cucumber, along with the spice of dried chilies and chili oil (substituted for fresh chilies), the salty umami of soy sauce, along with a touch of sour from the clear Chinese rice vinegar. The vinegar also added a bit of sweetness to which I added a touch of sugar(my own addition), sesame oil added a nice rich nuttiness to the dish, which was all wrapped up with a good amount of minty-anise-herbaceous perilla, which really cut through the spice.

In her book Fuchsia Dunlap calls the cooking method used for this dish as "jian", pan-frying, versus "chao", stir-frying. And indeed to get the best result, you begin by laying the cucumber in a single layer in the wok to attain a nice golden color. Be aware that the yield is about 60% of what you started with.

As usual, I've taken a few liberties with the recipe.

Pan Fried Cucumber with Perilla

1 Large English Cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise, seeded, and cut crosswise into 1/4" slices
3-4 Cloves fo garlic chopped
2 tsp Premium quality light soy sauce
1-2 tsp Clear Chinese Rice vinegar
1/2 tsp white sugar
2 dried chilies deseeded
1 Tb Chili Oil w/flakes
1/3 Cup of perilla leaves, cut into a chiffonade
1 tsp Sesame Oil
3 Tb peanut oil

– Heat wok over high heat until smoking
– Add oil and swirl around wok. Add dried chilies and scald, but do not burn.
– Add the cucumber slices in a single layer around the wok and fry until the cucumber slices start turning golden brown
– Turn cucumber slices as necessary.
– Once slices start developing color, add sugar, garlic, and chili oil, and stir fry.
– When dish becomes fragrant, splash in soy sauce and vinegar, and mix well.
– Remove from heat and mix in perilla leaves. Stir in sesame oil and serve.

Dry Fried Green Beans – Gan Bian Si Ji Dou

March 29, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I've received emails in the past about various meals that have been posted. Most of those meals are family-style Chinese in nature, and those emails comment about the paucity of vegetable dishes. I'll let you in on a little secret….we love leftovers. The Missus also believes (perhaps a little misguidedly) that I can stir fry vegetables pretty well. And since we bought the Big Kahuna the Missus has problems with spending $$'s on vegetable dishes She believes we can do just as well at home. So we'll stretch our leftovers adding vegetable dishes along the way. Works well for us, so I thought I'd start posting on a few of those dishes, all of which are very simple, so I hope you don't mind.

Here's a dish that you don't need a Big Kahuna for, a classic Sichuan dish that you'll find everywhere, even in Americanized Sichuan Restaurants.

I've changed this dish a bit over the years. To be able to create this dish on i GreenBeans04 mpulse, without too much planning, I replaced the ground pork with dried shrimp. Also, instead of deep frying the beans, I've adopted the "dry-frying" technique that Fuchsia Dunlop uses in her wonderful cookbook, Land of Plenty. It takes a bit more time, but there's no wasted oil, and instead of adding more oil to the dish after dry-frying the green beans, I add my chilies and other ingredients directly to the remaining oil, and this creates even more flavor. I'm also pretty specific regarding a few other items in the dish. I'll use drinking quality Shaoxing wine, it has a mellower and smoother flavor. If you can find good Tianjin preserved vegetable, or really good Ya Cai (Sichuan pickled mustard green leaves), I'm sure it'll make this dish even better. I just used what I had in the cupboard, canned shredded Sichuan preserved vegetable. I've made the Sichuan Peppercorn optional, since the Missus doesn't care for the flavor in this dish. I've also made a similar dish using asparagus. I'll blanch the asparagus first, than do a brief "dry fry", before finishing the dish in the same manner as the green beans.

So here goes…..

Dry Fried Green Beans

3/4 Lb green beans, rinsed, trimmed, and de-stringed, cut or broken into pieces about 2" long.
3-8 Dried Chilies, deseeded
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 Tb Sichuan preserved vegetable chopped
2 Tb dried shrimp chopped (if necessary)
2 tsp Shaoxing wine – drinking quality
2 Tb Premium quality light soy sauce
1-2 tsp ground Sichuan Peppercorn (optional)
1-2 tsp (or more) Chili Oil (hopefully you make you own at home)
1 tsp Sesame Oil
3-4 Tb Peanut Oil GreenBeans03
Salt, if necessary.

1 – Heat your wok until it smokes.
2 – Add peanut oil, and turn heat down to medium.
3 – Add green beans and stir fry over medium heat(4-6 minutes) until the skins start to pucker.
4 – Remove the green beans with a slotted spoon(drain off excess oil) to a plate lines with paper towels.
5 – Add dried chilies to remaining oil and scald, add dried shrimp and stir fry until shrimps start to crisp.
6 – Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and stir fry.
7 – Add preserved vegetable, and stir fry until the vegetable is heated. Add Sichuan Peppercorn if desired.
8 – Toss the beans back into the wok and combine. Add chili oil. Taste, and adjust flavoring. Add salt if desired (you probably won't need to).
9 – Remove from heat and add sesame oil.

There you go…….

To tease your tastebuds a bit further, Wandering Chopsticks makes her own version of this dish. You can find that post here.

T & L Food Incorporated and Roasting Sichuan Peppercorns

March 7, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Markets & Grocers

A few years ago, FOYs CandiceW and Trent told me that T&L Food, a wholesaler on Engineer Road right off of Ruffner Street, did general sales to the public. The subject at that time was frozen dumplings. It's something I filed away, but had never had the chance to follow-up on. Late last year, the Missus and I were having dinner at Ba Ren. The subject of getting good Sichuan Peppercorns came up. The peppercorns we got from 99 Ranch Market were decent, but lost pungency quickly. The Missus asked Wendy, one of the Ba Ren's owners about Sichuan Peppercorns. And Wendy, always helpful, told the Missus to get the peppercorns from T&L Foods! We were told that they go through stock quickly, so the peppercorns are fresher.

Say no more…..

T&L is a food wholesaler and warehouse that does sale to the public.

If you need things in bulk, this might be an option.

And the variety of products is good….it reminded me a bit of TS Emporium in City of Industry.

A room in the back is stocked with woks and pots, cleansers, pots, pans, tea pots…you name it.

So just in case you need to add to your "generic Chinese Restaurant plate collection". This might be the place for you.

I didn't have much time to look around, but I'll be back. I want to check out the collection of pickled vegetables. You may want to check T&L out as well. There is no minimum purchase requirement, we just bought a bag of Sichuan Peppercorns. All the customers in front of us were buying stuff like rice, MSG, etc…..

T & L Food Incorporated
7373 Engineer Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Roasting Sichuan Peppercorns:

This is for FOY Dave, who emailed me something folks have commented on a few times. It seems that the Sichuan Peppercorns that Dave had purchased really didn't have much of the "ma la" (numbing – spicy) effect that he appreciates. The flavor was more bitter, with lots of hard "bits and pieces". When I inquired as to how he roasts the peppercorns, the response was, "just like on television, I start with a cold pan, crank up the heat, and toast them…."

I'm far from a expert on this, but I think I know what the problem is. It's cranking the heat up when roasting the Sichuan Peppercorns. I've had the best results starting with a cold wok, and than slowly coax the fragrance out of this little pod of the fruit of a species of prickly ash. I take my time time roasting the peppercorns. I also only make a small amount, perhaps 4-6 tablespoons of peppercorns at a time, which will yield about half the amount of ground Sichuan Pepper. Burning the Sichuan Peppercorns will make them bitter.

So here goes…..

– In a cold wok, place 4-6 tablespoons of whole Sichuan Peppercorns.
– Heat wok over low heat, stir frying for 5-8 minutes until the lemony-anise fragrance fills the kitchen. The peppercorns may smoke, but should not be actively "popping" (a little is ok), like you see on television. Do not burn it will make the Sichuan Peppercorn bitter.
– When the peppercorns darken, remove from wok and let cool.
– Once cool you may grind them in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. I tend to make a rough grind in the mortar, and sift twice to remove the unwanted branches and pieces. You'll end up with a 1/2 to 1/3 yield.
– Store in a airtight jar and use ASAP.

If I'm using it in dishes as "La zi ji" (Chicken with Chilies) or Ma Po Dofu, I like a rougher grind. If I'm using the Sichuan Peppercorn for Sichuan Pepper Salt, I'll further make a finer grind.

Oh, how were the Sichuan Peppercorns we bought at T & L? The brand was one that we regularly purchased, but these were much fresher. We did have to purchase a whole pound, which took us about 4 months to use up. It was very fragrant to the end…….

Quick Midweek Post

March 4, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking

The Missus's parents are scheduled to visit in a few months. And just to tempt me, they emailed these photos to us.

Now, you all know I love my Mother In Law's Jiaozi. But being the great Mother In Law that She is…once She found out that we enjoy Shengjian Bao…. This was their first attempt at making it. Like I always tell the Missus, dough is Her "destiny." So we're now counting the days…… I guess the entire family takes food photos now!

Sorta Coq Au Vin, or Half Coq’d Au Vin

February 15, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Like I mentioned in my "White Chili" post, I've been feeding the Missus and Her co-workers when She has to work on weekends. But there's just so much I can make before I hit the wall. I was wracking my grey matter trying to determine what to make….but while staring at some chicken legs, going for 49 cents a pound, I thought why not doa version of Coq Au Vin, the French chicken fricassee cooked in wine? When I told the Missus, She appeared skeptical, "isn't that French?"

Just keeping things fun, I decided to make this pretty much on the cheap. Not that Coq Au Vin is a fancy-schmansy dish mind you. After all, Coq Au Vin was originally a recipe that marked, ummm, the permanent retirement of a rooster. The chicken was just under 2 bucks, the pearl onions, just under 2 bucks…. the wine? You guessed it, 2 Buck Chuck….good ol' Charles Shaw. I thought of calling it "Chuck Au Vin", but that would've been a bit repetitive, right?

I'd made Coq Au Vin before, but looked for additional inspiration from various cookbooks I had lying around. And boy did the recipes differ! Anthony Bourdain's recipe in the Les Halles Cookbook did away with the flour dredge, and marinated the chicken in red wine overnight. Julia Child's classic recipe uses a brandy flambe, Mark Bittman in How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, uses porcini mushrooms for flavoring, and so on. Some other differences, many recipes use tomato, I didn't have any at home, so cross that out. Also, most recipes use the "blanching technique" for the bacon or salt pork(guess which I used) to remove excess salt and the smoky flavor. I thought my dish would need all the help it could get, so I bypassed it.

After reducing the wine and sauce, I added a little twist of my own. I added a tablespoon of Demi Glace along with some butter to fortify the sauce. I thought it turned out well, considering. I made buttered egg noodles just to cover my bases. It was also pretty quick, clocking in at a total of 40 minutes prep, one-and-half hours simmer.

Sorta Coq Au Vin

3-4 lbs Chicken parts rinsed and dried
1/2 lb small white mushrooms
1/2 lb Pearl Onions
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 carrots roughly chopped
1 medium onion roughly chopped
2 ribs celery roughly chopped
1/4 lb Bacon sliced crosswise (lardon)
1 Bottle red wine
1-2 Cups chicken stock (optional)
2 Tb Butter
1 Tb Veal Demi Glace (optional)
2 Bays Leaves
3 sprigs Thyme
1/2 Cup flour
Salt and Pepper
1-2 Tb Olive Oil

– Bring a pot of water to a boil. Chop root ends off of pearl onions. Place into boiling water for 1 minute. Allow onions to cool. You'll be able to pop those pearl onions out of their skin.
– Place chicken parts in a gallon ziploc bag. Add flour and shake to coat.Remove chicken from bag to a plate, shaking off excess flour.
– Brown bacon in a Dutch Oven or similar pot. When bacon is browned, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon.
– In the same pot, add pearl onions,add salt and pepper, and saute until slightly browned. Remove onions.
– Add olive oil if necessary, and brown chicken, working in batches. Remove the chicken when browned.
– Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and saute the mushrooms. Remove the mushrooms and set aside.
– Pour off excess fat, and add garlic, celery, onions, and carrots, and saute until vegetables are soft. Deglaze with 1 cup of the red wine, making sure to scrape up all those nice brown bits.
– Add the rest of the red wine, bay leaf, and thyme, and bring to a simmer.
– Add chicken back to pot and simmer; turning every 10-15 minutes until the chicken is done.
– When the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot, and strain cooking liquid.
– Pour strained liquid back into the pot and taste. Add chicken stock, salt and pepper if necessary.
– Reduce liquid by half. You may want to thicken with a classic Beurre Manie (a paste made with 1 tb each butter and flour made into a paste), or be like me and just add butter. I also added the Demi Glace because I had some.
– When sauce is thickened, add pearl onions and mushrooms back (and bacon if desired), and heat.

There you go Half Coq'd Au Vin

Serve with egg noodles.

White Chili

February 7, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Did you know I did requests? he-he-he…. On occasion the Missus has to work on weekends. Recently, it has been my habit to cook up a decent batch of food, for the Missus to take to work with Her. I'm kinda flattered that it has gone over rather well. But I guess that there's just so much Chili-Spaghetti, Soy Sauce Chicken, and deconstructed Loco Mocos that I can serve. Recently, one on the Missus's co-workers, and one of my favorite persons in the world "MP", asked the Missus if I could make "White Chili". The Missus, not knowing what White Chili was said, "no problem". The thing is, I didn't even know, nor had I ever heard of White Chili. In fact, I still don't know what White Chili is. So of course I scoured the Internet…. and really didn't find out much, other than it is a "chili" made with white beans and chicken. In fact, I still don't know what the origin of this "chili" (is it really a chili???) is. Ya' know, I admire folks who can whip out dishes they've never tasted, nor heard of, or use ingredients they really have never worked with. I'm not that person…….

I can truly say, I've never had a chance to even consider using Navy Beans….or even Cannelli Beans (white kidneys). I looked over a bunch of recipes, and to my surprise, we had most of the ingredients here at home. This turned out to be a good recipe for left-over rotisserie chicken, it seems that we often have some chicken left over, you know the parts with less flavor (i.e. breast). This usually ends up integrated into several dinners for Sammy and Frankie, but this time, I had use for it (sorry Boyz!).

I worked within what I knew about MP, not good with spicy, nothing to salty, etc……

On the way home from work, I picked up a can of Cannelli Beans, 2 cans of Navy Beans (on sale), and a can of diced green chilies.

When putting the recipe together, the first thing I noticed was how "flat" the dish was. Even with the green chilies, it was fairly bland. I added some cherry peppers, using only the green ones (to fit in the color scheme). When reading the recipes, it seemed like the chili was not hearty enough for my taste. Until I read one that used cannelli beans pureed with chicken broth as a thickening agent. In essence, a typical White Bean Puree was used to give the dish body. The dish also sorely needed some acid, which is why I ended up adding Pinot Grigio (nice and crisp), and some vinegar seemed to complete the equation. A dollop of sour cream also added to the dish, lime added more acid, and a palate cleansing citrus, and I thought that corn tortillas just seemed right…… funny how the mind works.

Enough with the verbage, I'm sure you want me to get on with the recipe. If you love heat, you can add jalapenos, or be like me when I had my one bowl, I added several dashes of hot sauce.

White Chili

3 Cups Rotisserie Chicken, shredded
2 15oz cans of Navy Beans, drained
1 15oz can of Cannelli Beans, drained
1 onion minced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tb Olive Oil
4 Cups Chicken stock/broth
1 4oz can diced green chilies
4-5 Green Cherry Peppers, diced
1/4 cup Pinot Grigio, or similar white wine
1 Tb white vinegar
2 tsp cumin seeds (remember to crush)
2 tsp oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnishes/Sides
1-2 Cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese
Sliced scallions
Cilantro leaves
Sour Cream
Lime
Tortillas
Hot Sauce

– In a food processor, combine Cannelli Beans and 3/4 cup chicken broth and process until smooth. Put aside.
– Heat a dutch oven or similar pot on medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, and garlic, and saute until fragrant and translucent.
– Add the remainder of the chicken broth, oregano, cumin, green chilies, and cherry peppers (or whatever chilies you want – but try to keep the color scheme in mind).
– Bring back to a simmer, and add wine and vinegar.
– Add bean puree to thicken.
– Bring to a simmer, taste and adjust seasoning.
– Simmer for 1-2 hours (or leave overnight, it'll taste even better), and serve with the sides and garnishes of your choice.

I'm guessing it'll taste even better with home made chicken stock. And geeez some nice cheese biscuits!

So maybe someone can tell me…… what is "real" White Chili supposed to be?

Next request……. quick Coq Au Vin…….

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8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28