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Chicken Chili Sunday

Happy Sunday, Dear Readers!

If you’re in Houston, or in the New Orleans area, you’ve probably got your air conditioner back on. I had jeans on earlier and put shorts on when I got home from Kroger. DUH. It’s our OCD weather. Here in Houston, we’ll have chances of rain and another cooling front next week. Will it freeze? Not according to what I saw, but who knows? Sometimes, not even the National Weather Service does, so we just wait and see. They do their best, but you know the old saying, “Man plans, God laughs.” Mother Nature’s like that, too.

If you’re in an area where it’s still freezin’ cold, I’ve got a recipe for you today. Takes a little while, but worth it. Keep reading. VERY delicious, and perfect for cold days.

So, did you OD on chocolate for Valentine’s Day? Did you get your honey a little something nice, or make a great meal? (You didn’t get a “payday loan” to get it, did you?)  I had some hot chocolate, and yesterday, I finally made some yeast-free brownies . I just wanted some, that’s all. I went to Kroger today and didn’t even bother with my usual Sunday treat, a dark chocolate Mounds candy bar–the coconut pieces drenched in chocolate.

Oh, and SOOOOO much red stuff on sale today–candy, stuffed animals, cutesy things, you name it. I saw floral arrangements of every kind with markdown stickers on them. However, I’m not sure why they were trying to sell arrangements with dead flowers in them. Maybe they were just too busy to get rid of them. Unless there’s a market for dead flowers I’m not aware of.

There’s a whole lot of this modern world I’m not aware of. I started to realize this point many years ago when I went out with a guy to a downtown club one night and he asked me point blank after a glass of wine and his second beer if I had any tattoos anywhere. EEEWWWWW!!!  I thought he was thoroughly nuts to ask me that, but later I realized young women started getting tattoos, usually hidden at that time. Not me!! (And yes, he is thoroughly nuts.)  I was told a couple of years later that I should “get over” my aversion to tattoos. Yeah. No, I still don’t have any. Just a number of scars from different injuries (oops!)

Anyway. . . .

Hey, get a load of this weird lime I cut today:

How did they do that?

How did they do that?

Wonder if I can capitalize on it. Nevermind, I already squeezed into a glass of water.

So a couple of weeks ago, neighbor K gave me a pack of chicken tenders, that, quite frankly, don’t fit in the freezer. This was my main motivation for wanting to make Chicken Chili from Barefoot Contessa Parties, but also since I hadn’t had it in a long time. And through a series of events, I finally got the stuff made.

Last time I made this dish I ended up fobbing some off to both neighbor K and neighbor R, because it made SUCH a huge amount. This time, by default, I halved it. I wrote down TWO of each color of the bell peppers, not four, but bought four cans of the tomatoes. Oh, and the tomatoes had basil already in it, but of course I didn’t realize this point and bought basil anyway. More on that later.

K’s packet of chicken tenders yielded 11 pieces, and the recipe calls for 4 chicken breasts. I guess it’s about the same. Rubbed them with some olive oil and sprinkled on some salt/pepper/garlic powder seasoning and roasted them in about 20 minutes or so. While that cooled, I was workin’ the stove.

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The recipe starts out with a LOT of chopped onion. If anyone I had called while I was doing this, they would have thought I was crying. I used up some golf-ball sized onions from the fridge that another neighbor gave me from his brother’s garden. Then I went to the soft-ball sized onions. That big food processor got USED today.

So you cook the onions for about 15 minutes, then add the minced garlic. Then the huge pile of chopped bell peppers.

You know these are delicious, right?

You could eat these whole, couldn’t you?

You know how when you are in your own kitchen alone, you can lick the beaters? Well, this is the same principle–when I work with big peppers like this one, I slice the tops off first to get the center and seeds out (like the one on the far left) and that sliced off top is MINE. Do NOT touch my tops. I have to make sure that the pepper tastes right, and darnit, it’s the cook;s privilege. So don’t mess with it. . .or else.

Incidentally, that green cutting board with the hole in it is a new thing, and I got one right after Christmas when I was in The Woodlands. I think the pictures from that day have been lost (don’t ask) but I sure did enjoy using this cutting board and have tossed out a couple that were long overdue to be discarded.

The Zeal Non-Slip Board To Pan Cutting Board is big, a little heavy, has some rubber along the bottom, and a hole in one corner. An unusual design from Britain, it allows you to cut to your heart’s content and then dump everything into a bowl, pot, or whatever. I thought it was a bit odd when I saw it, but it was on sale (of course) and I got one. I love this cutting board! Just don’t tip stuff the wrong way, and you’ll be fine, right?

Anyway. . .

Then the two cans of tomatoes, buzzed through a food processor once or twice, and added to the pan to cook.

These were ten cents more than the regular canned tomatoes.

These were ten cents more than the regular canned tomatoes.

Can you see the crime scene starting in my kitchen?

Halfway done.

Halfway done.

Don’t worry, I wiped it up right after I took the picture.

So you cook this tomato-laden pot for about 30 minutes, and the peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic and basil melt together and get sweet. The chicken should be cool enough to handle by now (even if you used bone-in breast pieces), so it’s chopped into 3/4 inch pieces.

This is what the tenders looked like after I chopped them. 4 breast pieces might yield a little more.

This is what the tenders looked like after I chopped them. 4 breast pieces might yield a little more.

The chopped chicken is then dumped into the pot, and cooked for 20 more minutes.

The original recipe makes 12 servings, but the one I linked to halves that recipe to 6 servings. But, go figure, it made seven servings, and now I can enjoy this delicious recipe until next Saturday.

This recipe made seven big servings. Packed up the rest for the week.

This recipe made seven big servings. Packed up the rest for the week.

Yum!

Now, I didn’t realize I didn’t need the basil, and it’s a too much trouble to bring it back to Kroger, so I did the next best thing.

Fresh basil. Two for something, I think.

Fresh basil. Two for something, I think.

Think I’ve got enough for pesto?

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Well, I made some. Had everything on hand, whizzed it up in the blender, and it’s packed and stashed in the freezer.

If the cops ever investigate my freezer, they’ll be asking about all that pesto. But–what could be wrong with pesto? I’m not losing any sleep over it. Long as I have peas in the freezer, I’ll be having Pea & Pesto Soup. A lot.

The dishwasher is finished, the trash has been taken out, and I need to wrap it up soon.

If you’re cold, stay warm. If you’re warm, stay cool. And have something good to eat.

Happy Sunday!

Sweets for the Sweet

Dear Readers:

Here’s a re-blog from GF And Me, a blog dedicated to gluten-free foods with some gorgeous chocolate treats for Valentine’s Day, and probably better than mine.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

And down we go (the rotisserie affair)

Good evening, again, Dear Readers:

After last night’s triumphant return to the blogosphere, I fell. No, not like “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” No, I’m sick. Bronchitis. Feels like two guys are in my lungs letting loose with flamethrowers every time I cough.

Someone in my current office environment was sick last week and just had to go to work, coughing, hacking, etc. How nice that one of the princes thought it would be OK to cough up a lung all day long in an open-air office.

Thanks for that.

So after an $89 visit to a local Redi-Clinic and a $19 prescription at Target for a high-potency broad spectrum antibiotic, I decided that I would get something quick to eat. After all, I’m sick, darnit, I deserve a little something else.

Note: this is how I discovered the Cranberry Bliss Bar at Starbucks many years ago. I was at Target waiting for a prescription in the winter and there it was. . .well, I’m gluten free now, but that’s how it happened.

The Rotisserie Chicken is a wonderful thing, and can be part of a regular day. Just not too often. These babies are all cooked, nice and hot and stay hot until you get home (if you don’t live too far away from the heat case.) Much as I like to cook, and enjoy making food at home. . .once in a while, stuff like this is a BIG help.

Come to Mama. . .

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One of two remaining hot rotisserie chickens in SuperTarget this evening.

You just tear the pieces off, and. . .yum. No carving required.

The step-kitty got some, too. She’s so cute, jumping up to grab my hand with her paws so she can get that chicken. I’ve posted videos on Facebook and sent them to her owner, who saw her in action at Thanksgiving (or was it Christmas?). Awww. . .I just tore off a few pieces of breast meat, small enough for her to handle, and let them cool. (Of course anytime I’m near the stove, she demands what she thinks is food; she doesn’t understand coffee or tea.)

Now, I’ve seen Giada de Laurentiis turn these into chicken salads, instead of messing around with poaching or roasting chicken herself. Big time saver, and sometimes, that’s just what you need.

The SuperTargets around here sell these same chickens the next day in the refrigerated case for $3. No kidding. Need a bunch? Get them cold, and they’re cheap. I’ve done that a few times, too.

And because I’m super-sick, what I politely call my “Sunday treat,” only it’s not actually Sunday:

Ahhhh. . .chocolate and coconut. . .

Ahhhh. . .chocolate and coconut. . .

It is my current favorite. I bought two, and one will be for tomorrow. If I can wait that long. . . .

Yes, I’ll be going back on the hCG diet real soon. I bought the hCG tablets this time, let’s see if this works better than the alcohol-free liquid.

Oh, and I got another coupon tonight from Starbucks for $2 off an espresso drink. Looks like I’ll be heading over there soon.

Stay warm and dry, and please take care of yourselves. Please bring your pets and critters inside so they can be safe and warm, too. Winter isn’t over yet.

More to tell you soon.

Amy

Another trip to The Woodlands

Several weeks ago I went back to Woodlands Wellness for my annual blood testing. This time, as in years past, I had to fast–no food or anything besides water for 12 hours before the blood is drawn. What does this mean?

GAWD was I hungry. And I let them know about it! I hate them starving blood tests.

Woodlands Wellness’ office (including stationery and all that) is decorated in a peacock theme, with a beautiful teal blue and black color scheme. There are also pictures of peacocks in many places, including the exam rooms.

What do you see when you get that hungry with these peacocks all over the place? One word.

POULTRY.

The followup meeting was on 11/6 to check in with Dr. Davis, and I ‘fessed up about that comment, even though I told everyone, “Don’t tell her I said that!”

Just ’cause I could, I made a couple of things to bring to The Doctor, in keeping with the peacock theme:

Hold Anything and the Petite pucheg

The big round fabric bowl is called “Hold Anything” from a book called Pretty Little Presents. LOVE that book, I’ve made at least a dozen of those, I’m sure, and given away many of them. I have six hanging around here holding stuff, and I keep making more to give away. (Hint: projects like this use up fabric, turns it into something useful for someone, and keeps it out of landfills.) This one was special, because it *had* to have peacocks. Both came out great, and I was able to give Dr. Davis a nice useful present.

And look what I saw when I was leaving:

holding anything!

See? They really do hold anything.

Additionally, to use up more fabric (including the peacock prints) I included the Petit Pochet from Pretty Little Pouches and Purses. Again, made many and given them away, although I did keep a couple for myself, and Dr. Davis can keep business cards in that one. (That’s what I’ve got in mine.)

Second place: The Woodlands Mall, as I mentioned recently, for a trip inside Oil & Vinegar, a wonderful little place I’ve written about before. Needless to say, I am still wowed, and appreciate them checking out this space from time to time. And nevermind how much money I spent in there, either.

A trip to The Woodlands would not be complete without a stop at Frost Bake Shoppe, who makes the BEST gluten-free cupcakes ever. And, yes, this chocolate-mint confection is indeed gluten-free. Ahhhh. . .this will hold you over for a while. . . .

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There were, ah, pumpkin cupcakes in gluten free, but the one I wanted was the peppermint frosted cake. Oh, YEAH. I ate it with a knife and fork, and they even have their own bottled water! (I refilled that one with some of that good Woodlands water for the trip home.)

I’m not exactly sure how I got the picture that big, but OK..

I also stopped at Trader Joe’s for a few things, and then Sweet Tomatoes for dinner on the way home.

It was a long day, and a nice little short vacation for a while. Maybe after Christmas when things settle I’ll head up there on a Saturday. My doctor visits aren’t until April or May, so I might need to buzz up there for a gluten-free cupcake fix.

Ahhh. . .

Happy Dining!

The Chocolate Cake Affair

Good evening:

Regular readers of this humble blog may remember the chocolate-laden, gluten free post I re-blogged last week from fellow foodie writer Sophie James, who writes a very elegant blog called Stories from the Stove. Of course, that’s where the similarity ends, because mine is. . .less elegantly written. But that’s OK, I get my point across, and that’s a nice gluten-free cake she’s got there.

I’m going to tell you about another chocolate cake in a minute, and the story that’s attached. In a minute. Because, it was my BIRTHDAY.

This week marks a number of starts. First, I have switched phone companies and now have an iPhone 4s. I really didn’t want a Smartphone, because I see how dumb it makes people. But I was missing too much important email; people and companies assume everyone has one, so it became a necessity.  I’ve loaded it up with lots of cool apps, including one from east coast grocery chain Publix, which includes a nice grocery list function. It’s free and really handy, although it can be a little fussy. And you don’t have to go to Publix to use it! My local HEB used to have a similar thing on their website, but not anymore—and the only apps HEB has are all for HEB Mexico.) There are a number of free grocery list apps available for the iPhone, but I’ve been using the Publix grocery list for a couple of years on the PC, so I decided to stick with that one.

Once in a while, I actually make a real, live phone call with my iPhone. Go figure!

I also take comfort in the fact that people who are considered geniuses have very messy desks. That’s why you’re not seeing pictures of mine. Ever.

Also this week for my music fans, Def Leppard’s CD/DVD set of their Viva Hysteria concerts in Las Vegas earlier this year was released this week. If you buy it from Amazon, they also have something called “AutoRip” where you can download the audio for free, right away, and import it directly into iTunes before your hard copy arrives. Mostly I want to see the concert video, since I couldn’t get to Vegas to see these five handsome UK males (and they didn’t come to Houston this year) so that will be next week. I also have their previous live CD Mirrorball, and kept up with their shows on Facebook, so I kind of know what to expect.  If you’re a fan—and yes, I am—you can read more on DefLeppard.com.

Yeah, I know, it’s not foodie related. But it’s new. And it’s Def Leppard. RAOW.

The current diet phase is over, and I’ve lost ten pounds. Woo hoo! Should have been more, I tell myself, but if you don’t sleep 8 hours or so a night, and you sneak some chocolate now and again, you won’t lose as much weight. I know this because I’ve seen it myself on the daily diet charts. On the mornings where I slept less than 6 or 7 hours, I either stall or gain a bit. When I sleep enough and more or less follow the program, I drop it. Mostly I sleep in on the weekends, because there is too much to do when I get home at night. My evening task lists always start with, “feed cat. Feed big cat.” You can guess which one is the big cat.

I also ordered a case of 12 cans of Somersweet two weeks ago to stock up for a while. There was a free gift with purchase, travel sizes of some of her exclusive toxin-free hair care products. The day the box arrived, I got an email from SS’s website telling me that “Somersweet is 25% off!” Had I waited a week, I would have saved about $22.50. AAAAHHH!!! But that’s kind of the way my luck goes sometimes; I didn’t know that was coming. Darnit.

Last week was the annual Bootcamp for American Writers & Artists, Inc. (AWAI), where I’ve been for the last three years, twice on my birthday. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it this year, but will try again next year. It’s like missing the family reunion to me, but I wasn’t able to go for a handful of reasons. Keep your fingers crossed for next year.  Last year they not only baked my cake, I also had 325 copywriters sing me Happy Birthday.

This year, I’m on my own. But that’s OK too.

It was also at last year’s Bootcamp that my friend Akinnyi from London, a very nice man, said to me, “well, why don’t you write a food blog?” On the way home, the ideas started to gel, and I got on WordPress a few days later. In fact, when I logged on tonight to start this blog post, WordPress had a message for me: Happy Anniversary! It was one year ago, October 29th, that I started this blog.

Foodies have been rolling their eyes ever since. Including Sophie James, I bet.

This one’s for you, Akinnyi. Thanks for the idea. I ran with it.

Since I didn’t go to Bootcamp this year, I had to bake my own birthday cake. I already knew which one it would be, because I baked it many times before. It’s the Chocolate Ganache Cake from Suzanne Somers’ original 2002 Desserts book, incorporating her newly released Somersweet in to the recipes so that delicious desserts were available to make and not give you sugar crashes or toxins from aspartame. It was a while before I tried Somersweet, but eventually I was won over, and I still buy it today, in it’s updated form.

So this cake is, indeed, gluten free, because there is absolutely no flour of any kind, no sugar, and made from basic ingredients (and Somersweet). But since Suzanne Somers Desserts was published in 2002, most people hadn’t heard the term “gluten free” unless they were suffering with celiac disease or some other reaction from wheat. In this book, it’s considered “low carb,” because that’s primarily what SS’s books were about. Sugar manifests in many forms, wheat included, since most carbs turn to sugar in your bloodstream.  That sugar then stimulates the insulin response, and that’s where things can go awry, particularly with continued intake of sugar.

You may not realize this is happening until your doctor starts talking about “options for managing your diabetes.” I know this because my Dad continually ate what he was told by his doctors that would “improve his heart health,” only to later find out the hard way that none of it was true. Didn’t help his heart and didn’t prevent diabetes.

Anyway, enough of the Wheat Belly lecture.

This book was published just after Somersweet first came out in 2001, and the entire book, plus another called Chocolate, are all healthier versions of various desserts (although some may have small amounts of sugar for the times you can handle it.) This particular cake calls for a small amount, since the original Somersweet was 5x sweeter than regular sugar. Today, Somersweet is cup for cup like sugar, so I did a little reconfiguring to make it come out right.

The actual cake part is made by beating 8 eggs for several minutes with some baking soda and getting so much air into them that they bake up and come out baked as a cake. I haven’t made this one in 3 years, but it’s pretty simple to make, and works every time.

Beating eggs for 8 minutes fluffs them up for a perfect cake

Beating eggs for 8 minutes fluffs them up for a perfect cake

You bake the cake for longer than the 15 minutes in the book.  I think the new Somersweet changes that part, since it used to be just 15 minutes. But that’s OK. What you get out of the oven (using a 9 inch springform pan) looks like this:

It got a bit browner than I planned

It got a bit browner than I planned

Then you cut it into three layers, not the two I used to do:

Oops. But we can fix it

Oops. But we can fix it

This is an extremely delicate matter, because one wrong move and the whole thing falls apart. It’s heavy and dense, so you have to have a big spatula or two to move the bottom over to the cake plate.

A trick I learned from the Barefoot Contessa recently is to put a small dollop of buttercream under the bottom layer so the cake sticks to the cake plate. I did that, and later regretted it when I put squares of wax paper underneath so I could make it without a mess. Uh, right. . .

So, I grabbed my offset spatula and got busy with it:

Filling the first layer

Filling the first layer

Filling, or repairing, the top layer

Filling, or repairing, the top layer

Starting the ganache process. it didn't go well

Starting the ganache process. It didn’t go well

See the wax paper squares? That was intended to keep the ganache from dripping all down the shelves of my fridge. Unfortunately, it not only facilitated dripping chocolate, it made the ganache drip outside the confines of the baking pan I put the cake plate to to contain the mess. So it made a bigger mess than it was designed to contain. It figures.

That’s what’s known as irony, if you didn’t know that before.

After that last picture, I stuck the whole thing, plus the dishes of buttercream and ganache, in the fridge to chill and thicken up a bit, hence the drips on the top shelf.

This cake recipe includes a rich chocolate buttercream filling and a very nice ganache that is poured over the whole cake. Trust me when I tell you that I do not waste a drop of it. One of the benefits of being in your own kitchen is that YOU get to lick the beaters. If you have kids around, then you have to bake when they’re not around or are otherwise occupied.

Simple chocolate ganache. Yes, thank you.

Simple chocolate ganache. Yes, thank you.

Chocolate Buttercream. Is there anything more perfect?

The finished product, ready to eat

The finished product, ready to eat

In the end, it all worked, and while it doesn’t look quite the same as the picture in the book, it’s pretty tasty looking.

I picked up some raspberries at Kroger, and decided to up the ante a bit, because, well, I love raspberries with chocolate to begin with.

Just a little something extra to make it all mine!

Just a little something extra to make it all mine!

Four years ago I also bought that ceramic cake plate because putting it on a dinner plate wasn’t working. Of course, on this one it’s a bit, um, earthy, so the chocolate doesn’t exactly stand out. DUH. But that’s what was available at Hobby Lobby the day I went over there. It has been collecting dust, because I’ve gone to Bootcamp the last three years and didn’t bake my own cake.

Of course, the kitchen suffered and boy did I work to get that taken care of:

The remains of the cake (after filling and frosting)

The remains of the cake (after filling and frosting)

Chocolate ganache everywhere!

Chocolate ganache everywhere!

So, here’s what my favorite gluten free, sugar free, low-carb Somersweet chocolate birthday cake looks like when you cut a slice:

Rich. Thick. Chocolate. Any questions?

Rich. Thick. Chocolate. Any questions?

And to serve it:

OK, OK, so I flopped it on its side. It's edible.

OK, OK, so I flopped it on its side. It’s edible.

I did share with one of my neighbors and one of my Buddhist friends I visited the next morning. I would have shared with two of my neighbors, but the other one had surgery around her mouth and can’t chew. She got some delicious Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup. She didn’t want all of it, so naturally, I ate the rest this week. I gotta make me some more of that soup soon–it’s so good, and takes just about 20 minutes.

Now, it was indeed my birthday, so I headed out first to Starbucks for my free birthday drink. Want to guess what that was? Well, if you read my blog earlier this year, you’ll probably figure it was a Hazelnut Macchiato, and you’d be right. And because it was a splurge, it was my free one, and it was my birthday, I got a big one, and it went on my Starbucks card. I watched someone ring up a $4.65 cup of coffee and it went to “no charge.” However, I only do that once a year, when it’s offered. And check out the artwork on my coffee cup:

Coffee Cup art

Isn’t that cool?

I then went to Denny’s for a free gluten-free Grand Slam. Well, almost free:

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OK, so there’s the seasonal fruit cup off-camera that was 49 cents, and then the blueberries for the oatmeal was another 49 cents, and one more thing, I think, for a total of $1.61. Maybe it was the milk for the oatmeal; but still, it was pretty darn good.

Now for dinner, I decided on pizza–home made, gluten free pizza. I took out the Wheat Belly Cookbook and got to work. However, I also used a canned pizza sauce without sugar in it, as well as some delish sausages bought on sale at Cost Plus World Market. (Because it was my birthday, I had a $10 off coupon, plus they allowed me to use a 10% off purchase coupon I got in the mail. Cool!) Not bad, not bad, and I had plenty left for breakfast.

Pizza!

Pizza! (And half the Mango Mojito with Somersweet)

Overall, it was a pretty good day, and I even got a new shirt nearly completed too. The weather was good, the sun was out, the sky was a beautiful blue, and fortunately, everything was pretty good.

Sunday brought an old friend for dinner, and he was wowed with not only the cake but a delicious salad from Giada de Laurentiis and one of Nigella’s delicious dishes from her last book. More on that later.

Of course Monday came along, and I now live for next weekend, where I am promising myself I will not drive anywhere for anything and stay home for 48 hours. I hope so.

Enjoy!

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