Green Chili Stew

So it's been a while since I last posted a recipe.  (It's been about that long since I last cooked anything at home!)  Finally last night I decided that enough was enough and set to work making something to make me forget about the dreary weather we've been having in Seattle.

Before I begin let me give you a little bit of background as to why I don't cook anything worthwhile all that often. 

My husband, Lucky, is a tattoo artist and typically doesn't get home until 10 or 11 at night.  That just leaves me and the kids from when I get home from work at about 5:45pm until they go to bed at 8:30.  And we all know how picky my kids can be refusing to eat anything remotely healthy if it doesn't include peanut butter, honey, and/or pasta.  So there isn't really anything besides bread, peanut butter, pasta, butter, and honey in my house at all times.  If I want something else I have to go to the store.  With two little kids.

Say it with me people: P.L.A.N.N.I.N.G.

Planning.  I'm not that great at planning.  I'm normally at the store before I decide what I want for dinner and that normally it's something quick and easy that I don't have to think about.  Or I just wait for Lucky to get home and we'll eat Thai takeout or pizza.  Yes, I know, VERY HEALTHY.

Early in the day I knew that I was going to the store after work so I decided that I wanted to cook something for dinner.  Looking out my office windows it was dark and dreary outside so I figured something hearty and comforting would do the trick.  My go-to food style is Mexican (I'm from San Diego) and it took me about 30 seconds to decide on the Green Chile Stew with Pork recipe from AllRecipes.com would be just what the doctor ordered.  I changed up the recipe a little bit and used chicken instead of pork but other than that I used all the other ingredients.

I also was so focused on making my stew (while making a separate dinner for Kate and Oliver) that I forgot to take pics of the process.  It was pretty easy.  Just sauteeing the chicken and throwing the rest of the ingredients into the pot.  We can all imagine those pictures in our head right? ;)

Green Chile Stew with Pork

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

3 pounds boneless pork loin, cubed (I only used 2 pounds of chicken instead of pork, sliced into strips)

3 tablespoons peanut oil

3 stalks celery, chopped (I only used 2 stalks)

2 tomatoes, chopped (I only used 1 tomato)

7 green chile peppers, chopped (I only used 5 peppers)

4 cloves crushed garlic (Heck yeah I used all 4 cloves!)

4 cups chicken broth (I used roughly about 3 cups)

1 (10 ounce) jar prepared green chile salsa  (Maybe only a cup)

salt to taste

 

1.In a large pot over medium high heat, brown the chicken in oil, for 4-5 minutes. (Until the chicken is almost completely cooked.) 

 

2.Add celery, tomatoes, chilies, and garlic.

3.Add green chile salsa and just enough chicken broth to barely cover the ingredients and bring to boil. Cover and simmer until stew is thick and meat very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add salt to taste before serving. If stew is not hot enough, add a bit of jalapenos salsa.
 

 
The recipe turned out great.  The last time I made it I used pork and had put everything into a slow cooker to cook for 8 hours.  Both times the stew turned out amazing.  This is definitely a keeper; all I get are rave reviews on the recipe and if there's not enough to go around, I get faces like this:
 

Oh yes, that is a real face from Oliver when my stew was gone...

Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispie Treats

So, after being told MANY TIMES from my colleague, Violet, I finally decided to give these "most delicious Rice Crispie treats in the world" a try.  I wasn't skeptical - Violet's an expert when it comes to amazing food - but I never make dessert so I never put ingredients on my store list.  I was in one of my "baking moods" but didn't want to spend a large amount of time in the kitchen so I turned to a jazzed up version of an oldie but goodie.

I turned to the ever-wonderful Smitten Kitchen blog and searched out the Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats recipe.  Looking at the recipe, there wasn't much difference between a regular rice crispy treat recipe and this marvelous version except for the addition of a little salt and cooking the butter a little bit longer.  But man, those little tweaks made all the difference in the world.

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats
Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 1- x 2-inch small bars

4 ounces (1/4 pound or 1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)
Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. I liked to use a piece of waxed or parchment paper that I’ve sprayed with oil to press it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners, though a silicon spatula works almost as well.

Let cool, cut into squares and get ready to make new friends.


First I had to enlist one of my favorite helpers to test out a key ingredient.

Turns out, the little munchkin was testing out both the marshmallows AND rice crispies behind my back.  Every time I would look at her she would cover her mouth like she was fooling me....

We followed the directions exactly as mentioned and were done in a matter of minutes.  The longest step was making sure the butter was cooked long enough.

The butter turned a brown color as mentioned above and I was worried that it would make the treats turn out an unappetizing brown but I could hardly notice a different when it was all mixed together.

How did they taste?  Let's just say that if Lucky and I weren't already married I would have garnered a marriage proposal right then and there.

Magnifique!

Oatmeal Cookies

I went out to dinner last nite with my cousin Bailey and her boyfriend Sean.  good thing there are recipes in my cookbook for desserts!

the ingredients*:

2 c. All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp.  Kosher Salt

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

2 Eggs @ room temperature

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 c. Unsalted Butter @ room temperature

2 c. firmly packed Light Brown Sugar

2 c. Rolled Oats or Quick-Cooking Oats**

1 c. raisins

* the recipe yielded 48 cookies, I cut it in half for myself.  the ingredients list above reflects what the cookbook says.

** I used Pinhead Oats because it's what I had in my cupboard.

lets just say that this cookie dough is probably the most delicious cookie dough I have EVER eaten out of the bowl...

I am not above using an ice cream scoop to get matching cookies!  this moo scoop was one of Jake's birthday gifts from our little nieces.  it's my favorite to use when making cookies.

the recipe called for the cookies to be baked for 10 min., or "until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the centers are barely cooked."  I suffered a little trepidation about this, because my oven is unreliable...  I baked them for 12 minutes.

cooked all the way thru- whew!

these cookies were moist, delicious and perfectly chewy (how I prefer cookies).  the ratio of cinnamon-oatmeal-raisin in every bite was just delightful.  Jake would give these "two-thumps-up" for sure.

in closing I'll leave you with my grocery list for the weekend:

 

are you excited?!

~pam