Chicken and White Bean Chili

Recipes #17: Chicken and White Bean Chili
Recipe #18: Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Muffins

I love green chiles, so when I saw this recipe for chili with chicken, cannellini beans, and green chiles, I had to make it immediately.

I made the chili exactly as the recipe stated, except I reserved about a tablespoon of the jalapenos for my corn muffins, and only used 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. I was glad I made those modifications, because the chili was super spicy (or maybe I am just a wuss).

I made some corn muffins to go along with the chili. I am not sure if this should count as one of my recipes, but I'm in charge and I'm behind in my posts, so I am counting it!

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Muffins
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP diced jalapenos
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Bake at 350 for 15 min.

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Recipe #12: Neopolitan cupcakes
Recipe #13: Golden Brussels Sprouts.

Matt and I have a rule that every time we go to Costco we make a stupid purchase. In the past, the stupid purchases have been treats of some sort. Ex: cream puffs, frozen cookie dough, a case of muffins, a frozen cheesecake sampler, and the case of Tootsie Pops that currently resides at my desk.

But today, we really outdid ourselves, and purchased something I've been wanting for years.

Here we are together. Isn't she lovely? I only wish I had this beauty when I baked 12 dozen mini-cupcakes as Christmas gifts.

Naturally, I had to break in my new toy by making a batch of cupcakes. Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I made some Neapolitan cupcakes--vanilla/chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting.

The cake part is from two box mixes--one chocolate, one vanilla. Using a boxed mix in a new mixer is sort of lame, but I was feeling a little lazy. I was more excited about making some frosting!

This may sound conceited, but my frosting is the shiznit. There's nothing special about it, but whenever I make it people ask for the recipe. I think it's because they're used to the canned frosting.

My recipe is based on this one, but I usually end up adding one more cup of powdered sugar. 

For the strawberry frosting, I just added about 3/4 cup of pureed strawberries to my trusty buttercream recipe and an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and the result was a smooth strawberry frosting that tasted like strawberry ice cream. I contemplated adding some strawberry JELL-O to give it the strawberry flavoring. The Utard (Utahan? Utahite?) in me likes JELL-O with a little vodka in it. (Fun fact: JELL-O is the official "state snack" of Utah.) If it's good enough for Bill Cosby, it's good enough for me. But, in the end I decided to go all purist on these cupcakes, and used real strawberries. 


I wrote this recipe out myself, so forgive me if it sounds like a third-grader wrote it.

Strawberry Buttercream
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream (I think this is about right; I just sort of poured some in until I liked the consistency)

1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup pureed strawberries

Cream butter using mixer. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add the cream, the vanilla, and strawberries. Mix well. Add the rest of the powdered sugar. Add more cream or powdered sugar until it is the consistency you like.

After Matt ate five cupcakes (this is not an exaggeration), I decided to make some dinner, since it's not acceptable to eat cupcakes for every meal. Besides, everyone knows cupcakes are a breakfast food.

As my dinner sidedish, I decided to try my hand at cooking some Brussels Sprouts. Brussels Sprouts, or B.S. as I like to call them, get a bad rep at the dinnertable. Many a child has whined about eating them, but I actually think they are pretty tasty. Plus, you can pretend you're a giant eating heads of lettuce while eating them. No, I'm not drunk right now. 

I read up a little about B.S., then decided on this basic recipe: Golden Brussels Sprouts. I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on mine while they were cooking in the pan, because I like to live dangerously.

The result? Tasty B.S. with a carmelized side, sprinkled with fresh parmesan. I accidentally cut mine the wrong way, so they looked like little roses.

Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese and Panko breaded Chicken Strips

Recipes #1 and #2:  Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese and Panko breaded Chicken Strips

This past weekend I broke one of my own cooking rules*--I made some substitutions in a first-time recipe. I partially blame my local grocery store for not carrying a variety of cheeses (their most exotic cheese was monterey jack), but it was really my own fault because I was too lazy to drive to another store.

So, my first home-cooked meal of 2010 was Panko Chicken Strips and Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese.

It's the grown-up version of chicken nuggets and that nasty blue boxed crap Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The aforementioned substitution was the cheese in the Gnocchi Mac n' Cheese; I had to use cheddar instead of the decadent Gruyere and Fontina. I also used chicken strips instead of nuggets, because I wanted to make myself feel like I was making a meal for an adult, not a toddler.

The verdict? While it definitely wasn't the fanciest meal, Matt and I agreed that it was pretty tasty. The gnocchi was a lot fluffier than macaroni, and the sauce was really rich. The gnocchi, which I bought pre-made, is made of potatoes, so I expected it to be really dense and sort of like potatoes au gratin, but they were very soft and surprisingly noodle-like.

The chicken was good, but not amazing. It is a good generic chicken tender/nugget recipe, but it might disappoint someone who wants more spice or something out of the ordinary, and they definitely needed some salt. The panko breading is a lot crunchier than your normal breadcrumbs, and the buttermilk made it very tender (I think? Or maybe something else made them tender?), but if I made this again I would use my mom's famous "meat rub" as the seasoning.

Now that I think about it, I probably should have made some sort of vegetable to balance out my fatty meal. But, since this is my first recipe post, you can cut me some slack. Comfort food is definitely needed every once in a while (or more often).

So, 2 recipes down, 98 to go! Here's hoping my cooking and photography skills improve!


*In case you were wondering, here are my cooking rules (subject to change as I learn more or get lazier):
1. Always pour yourself a glass of water (or other drink of choice) before you start cooking. It gets hot in the kitchen and you'll likely get thirsty after sampling your creation. I usually put a straw in my beverage so I don't have to touch my glass with messy hands.
2. Never try out a new recipe on guests, unless your guest is your 24-year-old brother. In that case, he'll eat anything.
3. When trying a new recipe, always follow it exactly (or as close as you can) the first time. You can tweak things and make substitutions the next time you make it.
4. Have a backup plan, and improvise if necessary. Your cake that stuck to the pan and came out in chunks? It's now a trifle.
5. Read the recipe all of the way through before you start. You don't want any surprises.
6. Wear an apron, even if you're just making some Rice Krispy treats in the microwave. If you feel fabulous, whatever you're cooking will seem extra-decadent.