Friday, November 7, 2008

The Recipe...for getting to know me

I'm taking a break from politics to discuss a subject I'm even more passionate about: FOOD! Maybe I'll start a tradition of talking about FOOD on FRIDAYS.

I love food and food loves me back! I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never have a taut stomach because I like food, wine and Skittles way too much. I'm a girl who eats beef at least 3 times a week. I love ball park nachos, Philly cheese steaks, and I dream about Frito pies.

Am I sounding double-wide to you?

If I wanted to get all fancy, I could tell you about my killer ceviche, but that's for another day.

Today I'm going to share, exclusively for my readers, the award-winning Chicken Chili that made me famous on Halloween. Everyone keeps congratulating me and telling me how much they enjoyed the chili (except my own MMA who refuses to acknowledge what a big deal I am.) And I am loving the spotlight!

...Not bashful about selling this chili; it's so good, it has its own motto:

Superstar's Chicken Chili*
"Share the spotlight!"

2 T olive Oil
1.5 lb chicken breast cut into large cubes
1 med onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can chicken broth
1 16oz jar Salsa Verde (I used La Sabroza brand)
2 cans Rotel tomatoes with Chili seasoning
1 sm zucchini peeled and diced
1 sm squash peeled and diced
pinch of oregano
pinch of ground coriander seed
pinch of cumin
1 can navy beans drained and rinsed
1.5 cups frozen corn
2 corn tortillas (processed into tortilla-meal)
1 T cilantro minced
optional vegetables to flavor broth

(This was my process, but it could be done the same day, cooking the chicken in the crock pot.) The night before: boil the cubed chicken in the broth and add optional vegetables to flavor (such as celery, onion, garlic and cilantro.) After the chicken is cooked, scoop out the vegetables and discard. Shred the chicken and return to the broth.

The next day: saute the onion and garlic until slightly browned. Put the chicken and broth in a crock pot on low 6-7 hours before it is needed. Add onion & garlic, Rotel tomatoes, salsa verde, cumin, oregano and coriander. 3-4 hours before serving time, add the squash, zucchini and cilantro and one cup of water if needed. One hour before serving time, add tortilla-meal and mix well. Then add the beans & corn (adding them after all the mixing keeps them from breaking up.) Turn up to high and allow the mixture to slightly boil...this will thicken the chili.

Garnish with sour cream, pico de gallo and tortilla chips. Serves 6-8.

(I didn't add any additional salt or spice and it was pretty spicy. I might try substituting one can of mild Rotel next time to make it more family -friendly. I also thought about adding some diced bell pepper for color but didn't have any.)

*I gleaned heavily from White Bean Chicken Chili found at Allrecipes.com. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions, especially if you try it out!

2 comments:

Girly Stuff said...

Yummy! I'll have to make this soon now that it is "chili weather."

Anna said...

I will try this recipe soon and let you know how my crowd likes it. BTW, we lived in Killeen, TX for 3 years and our neighbor introduced herself by saying "welcome to Texas, we have 2seasons, summer and January". I thought that was funny until I realized it was true.