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Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Tart with Pecan Crumble – Chew Nibble NoshChew Nibble Nosh

via Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Tart with Pecan Crumble – Chew Nibble NoshChew Nibble Nosh.

“How come when everyone gets together I have to make dessert?”

“Because you make good desserts.”

“I don’t want to make the same thing. Find a recipe that has pumpkin in it but is lighter than pumpkin pie.”

“OK.”

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you cook.  A quick internet search usually produces a number of recipes worth trying.  Reader comments of course can be priceless.  I picked this recipe because I thought to myself, how bad can pumpkin, cream cheese, vanilla pudding, pecans, caramel, vanilla wafers and fresh whipped cream be?

 

 

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Poached Chicken

  • 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
  • 1 medium carrot, French cut style
  • 1 medium rib celery, French cut style
  • 1/4 large onion, thickly sliced
  • 1 T dried parsley
  • 2 T dried thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

  1. Place chicken in a pot just large enough to hold chicken breast halves and add enough water to barely cover.

  2. Add carrot, celery, onion, lemon, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, white pepper, and salt.

  3. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.   When the liquid is almost to a boil, reduce heat to low.  Cover and continue to simmer for around 20 minutes.  If the breasts are large, simmer an extra five minutes.

  4. After 20-25 minutes, turn off the heat.  Leave the cover on the pot and allow the chicken to cool in the broth for around 15-20 minutes.

  5. You’re done.  Remove the breasts from the broth.  Debone, skin, and slice.

I thought it would be fun to document my thought process when deciding upon what to make for a meal.  We were completely out of milk so I had to go to the store.  Note the date of this post.  We are less than a week away from November and the temperature was damn near 90 degrees.  It might have even topped 90.  Despite having reservations for brunch, we had to wait for our table today.

“Would you like a table outside?”

 

“Thank you but Hell No.”

I digress.  So I’m at the store and I pass by the bagged salad section.  Remember, it’s nearly November.  Stacked up and looking fresh were a bunch of salad kits seductively named Endless Summer.  I kid you not. 

Chicken breasts bone-in were on sale for $1.99 a pound.  Dinner. Done.

I guess the title of this recipe really should be Bagged Salad with Chicken.

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White Chicken Chili

“I’m not dressed.  Could you water the front patio plants?”

“Yes dear.”

It was rather cool outside this morning.  Fall is definitely in the air and the morning chill made me think of chili.  Since I had just finished breakfast, chili was not an option this morning.  We were leaving on a short road trip in about an hour.  No time to make chili.

I decided to add another chili recipe to the blog!  For years I’ve made a white chili culled from two different recipes.  One recipe definitely came from the NY Times while the source of the second is unknown.  One recipe called for tomatoes; the other recipe didn’t.  So in my grand tradition of never following recipes exactly I have had to pull out two separate recipes to make this chili.  Fading memories instruct me on what to put in and what to leave out.  Fearing the worst, I figured I better write this down before I forget.

Tips:

This chili tastes better without tomatoes but if you like tomatoes in your chili, add a can of diced tomatoes.  It won’t be white anymore.  It will be pink.  Pink chili???

I prefer boneless thighs to boneless breasts but either works well.  If you’re using fresh cilantro, add it as a condiment at serving time.

This chili, like most chili dishes, tastes better the second day.

This chili also tastes better when you drink a good craft beer while cooking it.

I’m serious.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 to 1.5 lbs boneless chicken cubed
  • 1/4 C seasoned flour (salt pepper)
  • 3 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large Sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
  • 1 green pepper, diced (optional)
  • 1 C chicken broth
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (optional)
  • 1 Tsp dried cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • red pepper flakes, dash
  • Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce, to taste (optional)
  • 1 16 oz can organic white kidney or Great Northern beans, drained
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Combine flour and salt, and pepper in a gallon size plastic baggie.  Add the chicken, close the bag, and shake well until all of the chicken pieces are well coated with the flour mixture.
  2. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large stock pot over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides.  Lower the heat to medium high to avoid burning the chicken.  You will get pieces of flour and chicken stuck on the bottom of the pan.  This is OK.  Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
  3. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add 1 T olive oil, onion, garlic green pepper, cilantro, cumin, and oregano.  Saute 5 minutes.
  4. Add chicken broth and scrape the brown pieces from the bottom of the pot.
  5. Add chicken, green chilies and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.  If the mixture starts to get too thick, thin out with more chicken stock.
  6. Five minutes prior to serving, add the beans.  Simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until the beans are warmed through.
  7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  8. Serve with your favorite hot sauce, peppers, grated cheese, etc.
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Craft Beer and Health

via Craft Beer and Your Health.

Before I continue I admit I’m thinking about beer and it’s only 10:00 am.  But for years I’ve used my Saturday mornings to catch up on medical and health news.  Last night The Boss went to The Mall after work so dinner got pushed back.  By the time The Boss got home it was like “why cook?” so we went out to an Italian place for a quick meal.  I managed to eat an entire half tray sized piece of lasagna and I started thinking this can’t be good.

I woke up Saturday morning and expected the worst when I approached the bathroom scale.  Friday I was 190.  This morning I was…190!  There was no damage from the half tray of lasagna.

Must be the craft beer.

So with that thought in mind I wondered if craft beer (in absolute moderation of course) could possibly be healthy.  Click through on the link (yeah, I know the research is self-serving) but I found the article enlightening and there are plenty of legit reference links.

Tonight our tiny town in Oklahoma is having its very first foodie/craft beer/food truck/pop up store/live music street festival.  Roughtail brewery Roughtail Brewing Company | Home. will be serving two of their near beers (3.2 ABV).

I am excited.

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The Tomato Plant – 2014 Final Update

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The final tomato.  As you can see, the plant has stopped budding, all flowers have fallen off, and there has been no new growth for some time.

2014 Summary – 6 total fruit, 3 edible.

(unless this little fella ripens…)

The two pots of basil also did not do well.  Some folks have no difficulties growing basil  I seem to have the opposite effect on herbs.  The purple basil died during a short heat spell.  The other sweet basil plant (you can see the tip of the plant in the SW corner of the picture) is anemic.

Reminds me of the summer I tried to grow cilantro.  It’s easier for me to pay fifty cents at the store when I want fresh cilantro.

Memo to Self – scratch “farmer” of list of possible second act careers.

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Gua Bao or Chinese Steamed Buns

Reading this post brought back vivid memories of my childhood. Funny how that works.

veggiezest's avatarveggiezest

Gua Bao9

During my stay in Toronto, I ate a lot of…..A LOT OF food out. Not because I didn’t have an access to a kitchen or  I didn’t have the time to cook – but because Toronto is a food mecca and there is an insane amount of vegetarian options available. I loved it! One of the places that I ate a lot at was Pho Hung in Chinatown. I love Vietnamese food and used to visit the restaurant very frequently for their stir fry, summer roll and pho. There was another placed that I went to – Banh Mi Boys on Queen street…I loved their sandwiches. Although there was only one option (vegetarian) for me (lemongrass tofu) I still enjoyed it very much and went there a few times to try the sandwich in different buns. One of my favorite was the steamed bun…..soft, airy and melt in mouth good. Ever since I had that…

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Stroke Rounds: Potassium Tied to Lower Stroke Risk

via Stroke Rounds: Potassium Tied to Lower Stroke Risk.

Women (mean age 63.6) who consumed the most potassium each day (>3,193.6 mg) had a 12% lower overall risk of all stroke (hazard ratio 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.98) and a 16% lower risk of ischemic stroke (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96) when compared with women consuming very little potassium (<1,925.5 mg/day), reported Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues.

I had a banana with breakfast.  I’m going to pop a few prunes now.

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Pistachios Improve Metabolic Profile in Prediabetes

via Pistachios Improve Metabolic Profile in Prediabetes.

Beneficial Effect of Pistachio Consumption on Glucose Metabolism, Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, and Related Metabolic Risk Markers: a Randomized Clinical Trial.

This study was funded by the Western Pistachios Association, now known as American Pistachio Growers (U.S.), and Paramount Farms.

Hmm…  The diets were isocaloric and matched for protein, fiber, and saturated fatty acids.  But were the foods identical between the control group and pistachio supplemented group?  Food preparation methods controlled for?  Interesting little study nonetheless.

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White Bean Dip Sorpressa

  • one 16 ounce can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • two small cloves garlic
  • juice from one half a large lemon
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • one teaspoon each dried oregano and dried thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes, just a dash
  • chili powder
  1. In a food processor pulse the garlic until finely minced.
  2. Add the beans, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes.
  3. Pulse until the beans are well chopped.  Add EVO in a thin stream  and pulse until you have the consistency of a thick paste.
  4. Taste for seasoning and add your salt and pepper at this point.
  5. Transfer to a serving bowl and dust lightly with chili powder.
  6. Serve with chips or pita bread wedges.

Every now and then you have to try something different.  Instead of hummus I decided to make a white bean dip instead.  Cannellini beans.

I was headed down the usual path with the garlic, lemon, oregano and thyme.  Most recipes suggest paprika to top the dip.  I went to my spice cupboard to check the expiration date of the paprika.  As I suspected, time to toss and buy some fresh paprika.  One of the local stores has herbs and spices in bulk.  The prices are reasonable, the quality is high, and you have to fill little plastic bags marked with a large sticker to identify the contents with the code for the cashier to use at check out.  Well, I grabbed a small plastic bag from the spice cupboard, got a spoon and dusted the dip with the paprika I just bought.

Sorpressa!!!  It was chili powder.

Tips – When you screw up like this don’t tell your guests.  If they don’t like the dip, remove the dip, toss in the garbage and blame it on some old (fill in the blank).  Hmm, you say.  The paprika must be old.  That’s what is throwing off the flavor.  Go to your fridge, break out some cheese and nobody will really care.

Now if your guests like the dip, of course, take as much credit as you want.

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