White Bean Chicken Chili

(concept from Eating Well)

Chili in June? Yes, if it's in the low 60s and raining! The husband and I were totally on the same page today - he came home thinking of soup, I came home thinking of chili, and here we are!

I grew up with chili made with kidney beans, ground beef, and tomato sauce - served over rice - which was always delicious. This is a nice variation on that - plus, I believe it's what the pros call a "one-pot meal". (Look at me, using the lingo.) It's also really easy to vary - spiciness, veggieness, etc. For example, tonight I added yellow bell peppers for the first time, which turned out pretty good.

So, here's what goes in your one pot:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped baby carrots
1 bell pepper, halved and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 4oz cans chopped green chiles
1 15oz can great northern beans, rinsed
2 15oz cans cannellini beans, rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Cumin
Cayenne pepper
1.5 habaneros
1 cooked rotisserie chicken (thighs, breast, drumsticks - skin removed), torn up/chopped (which is great, because you can eat it as you go...er, I mean...)
1 lime

In a dutch oven or stew pot, drizzle olive oil into the bottom of the pan and turn the heat to medium-high. Add carrots and cook for a few minutes, then stir in onion and cook until softening, adding a pinch of the cumin and cayenne pepper, and a little squeeze of lime juice. Once softened, stir in the chiles, the bell pepper (add the bell pepper earlier, with the onion, if you want it softer), the beans, and the chicken broth. Sprinkle on more cumin and cayenne, and crush in one habanero with a garlic press. Add another squeeze of lime juice. Bring to a boil then turn low to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and the .5 habanero, if it needs more spice. Squeeze in half a lime. Stir and cook for about 5 more minutes.

(Also, this dutch oven, which I love, was a wedding gift from my Thrive crew! Woo hoo!)

Simplest Tomato Sauce

(pug not included)

(blatantly stolen from Smitten Kitchen, which adapted it from Marcela Hazan (!!))

This is truly the simplest of simple recipes. I mean, I'm all about minimalizing ingredients for maximum enjoyment, and this is on another level all together. Combine that with the fact that it's pretty delicious - very sweet - and you have a winner. This would also make a great base for amatriciana, where the only real difference would be the addition of pancetta. But it was good on its own, too.

Also, these noodles were too fun.

Here's all it takes:
28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
1 lb, er, "telephone cord" pasta
1 yellow onion, peeled and halved
1/2 stick butter
Salt as needed/to taste
Parmesan cheese for serving

And here is all you do: Dump the tomatoes, the butter, and the onion in a pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat to allow it to simmer gently for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, and mash the tomatoes against the side of the pot to break them up.

And that is it. I mean, you can throw a pinch of salt in there if you need it. And I used parmesan cheese liberally. It was great heated up for lunch today, too.

Did I mention that was it?

Pasta Salad with Tuna; Fruit Salad

Summer weather usually calls for minimum stove time (although I generally find myself craving excessively hot food in the summer, and cold stuff in the winter), and this is the perfect recipe for that. Alls ya gotta do stove-wise is boil water for the pasta and the hard-boiled eggs. This was also a summer favorite my mom used to make when I was growing up. And just cuz we were feeling extra-healthy, Joef made a fruit salad for dessert, to boot.

PASTA SALAD WITH TUNA
1/2 farfalle or other similar pasta
1 handful snow peas
1 handful grape tomatoes, halved
1 small package baby carrots, cut into thin rounds
1 handful frozen peas, defrosted
2 hard-boiled eggs, halved and sliced
2 cans albacore tuna
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Grated parmesan for serving

Start the water for the pasta boiling at the same time as you start to boil the eggs. In the meantime, prep the ingredients, patting veggies dry as you wash them. Combine in a bowl and add the tuna. When the eggs are ready, run them under cold water to cool (before and after peeling), then slice and add to the other ingredients. When the pasta is ready, run it under cold water and drain well. Combine everything together and drizzle with olive oil, then add balsamic (I added about 2 capfuls - always less balsamic than olive oil). Add salt to taste, mix to combine. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

FRUIT SALAD
Bananas, apples, blueberries, and nectarines, sliced and topped with a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Fettucine with Meat Sauce (Bolognese)

This sauce always reminds me of home - sitting on the floor of my room doing my homework, getting the call from my dad to come taste the sauce off the spoon. I'm probably not doing it full justice, but I have to say this was delicious, even on a hot night (OK, we had the A/C on).

I used fettucine tonight, as you can see, but rigatoni is a favorite, or shells (!), or penne - anything with ridges or with holes/pockets for the sauce to get into.

Here's all it takes:

1 lb pasta
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 small handful or so baby carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, trimmed and sliced
Pinch dried "Italian Seasoning" (actually, I think the mix I have called it "Pasta Sprinkle"...in any case, just oregano works, plus a little basil if ya got it)
1 lb lean ground beef
A splash or two white wine
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
Grated cheese for serving - parmesan and/or romano

Start the water boiling for the pasta (this sauce actually takes longer than the pasta takes to cook, which is different than usual, but it doesn't hurt to have the water ready to go).

In a sauce pot, make a sofrito: drizzle olive oil into the pan over medium-high heat, add the carrots, celery, and garlic, and a pinch of your choice of "pasta sprinkle". Mix the ingredients together in the pan as they become aromatic. When the ingredients start to soften, add the ground beef and mix in to begin to brown the meat. When it's about halfway-3/4 browned, add a splash or two and let the alcohol cook off. When the meat is browned, add the tomato sauce and stir. When the sauce starts to boil, turn the heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally. Lick the spoon.

Let the sauce simmer for a minimum of 10 minutes, then cook up the pasta. Drain, add sauce, and serve with grated cheese - parmesan is good, romano is better, and the two together are best. Lick the plate.

Tequila-Lime and Lemon-Mustard Chicken Marinades

Wow, I have been lazy, haven't I? This is the only problem with a food blog - it keeps track of how well I'm doing at making my own food rather than ordering Thai or driving to Chipotle.

In any case, after weeks of forty-degree weather, Madison finally jumped right into the 90s today, and the 80s last night, which is when we grilled chicken on our friends' penthouse rooftop (ooh, sounds fancy). We finally found some time to actually marinate chicken (about 3-4 hours), and I say "we" because Joef and I each made our own marinades, according to our tastes. Yes, you guessed it, Joef's had habanero, and mine had garlic. Actually, Joef says he would have "quadrupled" the amount of habanero, and for once I agreed with him that it wasn't overly spicy (it was just about right, really, in my opinion). In any case, these (as always) can be adjusted to your own personal taste.

We each marinated a pound of chicken tenders (man, those things shrink on the grill) by mixing the sauces, adding the chicken, and letting the flavors blend in a bowl or ziploc bad in the fridge for about three hours.

We also both approximated the quantities as we went, so unfortunately our record-keeping in that area is a little sketchy. My sense is, though, that you could vary the quantities according to your taste, just making sure that there's enough sauce to cover all the chicken.

TEQUILA-LIME MARINADE (on the right)
Chili paste/sauce
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 habanero, chopped
Tequila
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Soy sauce

LEMON-MUSTARD MARINADE (on the left)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
Dijon mustard
Olive oil
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Rosemary leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
Ground pepper
Salt (optional)

Devil's Food Cupcakes

(from Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes")

I think - no, I know - this was the first time I had cupcakes (by choice) on my birthday. What is this brave new world? The only catch with these was that the icing just didn't come out as planned at all. I mean, it was gooey and delicious, but something must've gone wrong somewhere, because it didn't look like cupcake icing. I'd recommend the icing I used for the Devil's Food Chocolate Layer Cake.

(Makes 12 cupcakes - for easier measurements, and more cupcakes, double the amounts below)
3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/8 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
5/8 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp
(Plus frosting)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. Melt the butter with the sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Turn your electric mixer to medium-low speed and beat until mixture is cooled. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating until just combined after each addition.

3. Divide the batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through cooking. At about 20 minutes, use a piece of spaghetti to test if the cupcakes are done by inserting it into a cupcake and seeing if it comes out clean.

4. Remove cupcakes from oven and allow to cool before spreading cupcakes with frosting.

Empanadillas

(from "Tapas: Seasonal Small Plates from Spain", by Joyce Goldstein)

This cookbook (an engagement gift from our friends Shauna and Maher) is one of my favorites. We had friends over for lawn games and grilling, and these are neither of those, but they were yummy. I'd make a few changes the next time - for example, I had some trouble with the dough - I used the water they recommended and it was much too dry, so I added some beer to moisten it up. I'll just include what the cookbook says in case I did it wrong - if it gets too dry, just add some more liquid till it feels right. I'd also cut the rounds bigger so I could fit more of the delicious filling in each one. (The filling, of which there was about a ton left over, is good on a french bread sandwich the next day.) Finally, I replaced the ham the recipe called for with pancetta - good choice - and added just a dash of paprika to the filling, near the end with the pepper.

And here we go:

DOUGH
2 cups flour
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup whole milk, water, or beer
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(plus one egg, lightly beaten and set aside)

FILLING
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (that was messy)
2 cloves garlic, minced
About 4 oz diced pancetta
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper and paprika

To make the dough, put the flour in a bowl and make a well in its center, adding the oil, shortening, water (or milk or beer), baking soda, and salt to the well. Use a wooden spoon to gradually work the wet ingredients into the flour, mixing until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a bit till it comes together, then shape it into a ball, cover it, and let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temp.

While the dough is resting, you can make the filling. Heat the oil over medium in a saute pan, then add the onions and cook until they soften and turn a pale gold (stir occasionally). Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes juices have evaporated (5-8 minutes). Add the pancetta and cook until its cooked through. Remove from heat and add the eggs. Season to taste with pepper and a pinch of paprika. Let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 and come back to the dough. Roll out the dough until its about 1/8 of an inch thick or less, then use a glass (wide as you can - recipe says 3 inches, but I'd say larger) to cut out rounds. Once you have all of your rounds, spoon the filling into each one, using the egg to dampen the edges of the dough. Fold the dough over the filling in a half-moon shape, using the tines of a fork to press the edges together.

Put the pastries on a baking sheet and brush with egg, then bake until golden, about 20 minutes.