White Bean Chili with Sausage and Chicken

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

It has been bitterly cold here in southeastern PA. We haven’t seen above-freezing temperatures in a week and the 14 inches of snow that fell last Tuesday still look fresh and powdery… no melting whatsoever! I’m not complaining, though. I’ll take extreme winter weather with lots of snow and cold over a mediocre, unexciting winter any year!

The cold weather means that Matt and I have been making soups, stews, and chilis almost every week. Right now we have a beef chili simmering on the stove that’s made with “real” dried beans that we had to soak overnight… first time I’ve ever done that! Tonight’s chili still has another hour or so to cook before it will be ready so I thought I’d use that time to post about another stew that we made a few weeks ago… white bean chili with hot sausage, chicken, bacon, and five types of peppers… yum!!

This white bean chili comes together really quickly… just under an hour from start to finish. That’s much faster than tonight’s beef chili which has been simmering for nearly 7 hours! (Can you tell that I am impatiently waiting for it to be done? I’m starving!!) Getting back to the white bean chili, I found that the “white” cannellini beans and navy beans were a nice change from the basic kidney beans and black beans that my chilis usually include and I definitely liked the combination of bell peppers, jalapeño, green chiles, and chipotles en adobo. Oh, and of course I thoroughly enjoyed the bacon and hot sausage… how could you not like that winning combination? 🙂

White Bean Chili with Sausage and Chicken (adapted from this recipe at Food52)

Chili Ingredients:
Olive Oil
5 slices Bacon, chopped
1 lb. Chicken Breast, cut into 1″ cubes
1 lb. Hot Italian Sausage, ground (or removed from casing)
2 Yellow Onions, diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Jalapeño Pepper, minced
2 – 4 oz. cans Diced Green Chiles
2 Chipotles en Adobo, minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
3 tablespoons Cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons Chili Powder
3 tablespoons Mexican Oregano
3 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
6 cups Chicken Stock
1 – 15 oz. can Cannellinni Beans, partially drained
1 – 15 oz. can Navy Beans, partially drained

Garnishes:
Your choice of Sour Cream, Grated Cheddar Cheese, Fresh Cilantro, Lime Wedges, Avocado, and/or Tortilla Strips

Directions:
Heat a large (7-8 qt) stock pot over medium-high heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and brown the chopped bacon until it is just starting to get crispy. Add in the chicken and sausage. Brown the meat, stirring frequently, for approx. 12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sausage is well crumbled.

Stir in the next seven ingredients (onion thru garlic) and saute until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the spices (black pepper thru Mexican oregano), stir well, and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, stir, and cook for 3 more minutes. Next, add the chicken stock 1 cup at a time, stirring and scraping the browned bits off of bottom of the pot between each cup. Bring the chili to a boil then add the beans and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat and simmer the chili for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve the white bean chili in large bowls and top with your choice of garnish. We enjoyed our chili with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and cilantro and it was delicious!

Here are some of the other Chilis and Stews that we’ve been making lately. Enjoy and stay warm!
• Pozole Verde
• Pork and Green Chile Stew
• Butternut Squash and Turkey Chili

23Apr2013

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

On Sunday we didn’t feel like going grocery shopping so we decided to improvise a dinner using the ingredients that we had in the fridge. It just so happened that we had poblano peppers and turkey chorizo sausage, so we created this yummy Tex-Mex style recipe for peppers stuffed with sausage, beans and rice!

Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Chorizo, Beans, and Rice

You will need…
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Yellow Onion, finely chopped
1/2 Jalapeño Pepper, seeds discarded and finely chopped
2 fresh Chorizo Sausages, casings removed
10 oz. cooked White Rice
10 oz. (about 2/3 can) Black Beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup Frozen Corn
1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
Salt and Pepper to Taste
3-4 Poblano Peppers, halved lengthwise with seeds and ribs removed
Shredded Cheese (we used a mixture of Mexican blend and Mozzarella)
Sliced Green Onion, for garnish
Chopped Cilantro, for garnish (we didn’t have any but it would be a nice addition!)

Directions:
Heat the Olive Oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add in the onion and jalapeño and saute until the onion softens slightly, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to push the onion mixture to the sides of the pan, then add the sausage and saute until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir the sausage while it cooks to break it up into crumbled bits.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the rice, beans, and corn. Sprinkle in the seasonings (chile powder thru salt and pepper) and stir well to combine. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to taste if desired.

Meanwhile, cook the poblano pepper halves in the oven or on a grill. (Although we did not do this when we made the recipe, we later concluded that softening the peppers slightly before stuffing them would improve their taste and texture in the final dish.) To do this in the oven, place the peppers on a baking sheet and broil until the flesh softens but still holds its shape (it’s OK if black spots appear). To do this on a grill, place the peppers over direct medium heat and grill until the flesh softens but still holds its shape Place the cooked peppers on a baking sheet and spoon the rice and sausage mixture into each pepper. Top liberally with shredded cheese, then bake in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown.

Transfer the baked peppers to a serving dish and garnish with green onion and cilantro. Enjoy!

6Jun2012

June Is Bustin’ Out All Over – Garden Update!

Posted in Adventures at Home by Annie T

My vegetables and herbs are growing like crazy! We’ve had streaks of unusually hot weather (80-90°) punctuated by periods of relatively cooler weather (60-70°) here in Southeastern PA and it appears that my plants enjoy this every-changing variety of temperatures. All of them have at least doubled in size in the last few weeks and several are already flowering or growing vegetables.

As of today the following plants are growing in my garden:

Jalapeño Pepper (planted in Spring 2011 and moved to a container for winter; several peppers ripening)
Garlic (planted last fall; scapes appearing)
Spinach (March; harvested)
Beans (March; transplanted and currently growing “real” green beans!)
Chives (April; in mixed container)
Marjoram (April; in mixed container)
Mint (April; 2 varieties in container)
Cherry Tomatoes (May; 2 staked in containers and flowering)
Tomatoes (May; 2 varieties in upside-down hanging containers and flowering)
Parsley (May; planted in one hanging tomato container)
Thyme (May; planted in the other hanging tomato container)
Strawberries (May; currently growing multiple unripe strawberries)
Serrano Pepper (May; in container and flowering)
Bush Belle Peppers (May; 2 varieties – one is already growing multiple green peppers)
Jalapeño Pepper (May)
Basil (9 plants) (May)
Pumpkins (“spontaneous” pumpkin patch from last Halloween’s pumpkins!)

With the exception of our whitefly infestation, we’ve had a pleasant, easy time with our garden so far. We mulched all of our plants with either shredded leaves or mostly-composted leaves from our spin bin and we have lots of little fences in place that have successfully kept Bailey away from the plants. I’m just starting to be able to use my thyme, parsley, and basil for cooking and soon we will have strawberries, jalapeño peppers, and green beans to eat!

Here are a few pictures of my garden:

Last year’s jalapeño plant that I saved over the winter has a handful of peppers growing on it.

What a difference 3 weeks makes! Hanging tomato plants with thyme and parsley from 5/13 and 6/4.

Green beans are finally growing on my “St. Patrick’s Day” bean plants!

This spider guards my garlic plants – I think he probably set up shop here to catch a few whiteflies.

This is my latest discovery in the garden and one of my most exciting so far… a tiny pumpkin patch!! We left a few pumpkins here after Halloween last fall because they were too heavy for the spin bin composter and Voila! We have pumpkin plants! I contemplated moving the rocks back but then realized that the plants were actually rooted in/around the rocks so I just put a little compost over top and we’ll see what happens…

This day lily is potted in the same container with my chives, marjoram, and marigolds. True it its name, we’ve had at least one new bloom every day for several weeks now.

Yup, that’s a strawberry!! Looks like I’ll be eating it soon…

Matt’s mom gave us several garlic cloves last Fall and we had our first “scape sighting” this morning. Woohoo! We’ll cut them off soon and think of something yummy to make with them.

We grew this zinnia plant from seed! I jumped the gun back in February and started lots of seeds indoors (waaaay too early in the season but hey, I’m learning!) and after a few weeks of struggling outdoors in April nearly all of the zinnia, cosmos, gallardia, and painted daisy plants that we grew are starting to bud. This plant was the first to flower.

Last but not least, our potted Oleander plant is flowering again! We bought it last year in late June when it was in full flower so it’s nice to see that it made it through the winter and is flowering once again. I love the big, white flowers.

How is your garden doing at the start of June? Please share! 🙂

Related posts:
Vegetable Gardening Season has Arrived! 5.7.12
Gardening Update – One Month Later 4.17.12
Gardening… On St. Patrick’s Day! 3.17.12

13Mar2012

Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Last night we bought an 8 pack of sandwich buns since we needed rolls for our yummy salmon burgers. We knew that we’d have lots of rolls left over so we planned another sandwich-centric meal for tonight with some of my favorite grilled ingredients: sausage, peppers, and onions! It was still 70 degrees at dinnertime so we built a fire in our fire pit and spent the evening sitting out on the patio.

Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches

You will need…
1 Red Pepper, cut into thin strips
1 Yellow onion, cut into thin strips
Olive Oil
2 Sausages (Matt had Kielbasa, I had Hot Italian Sausage)
4 Sandwich Buns, sliced in half lengthwise

Directions:
Place the red pepper and yellow onion on a bowl together and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Transfer the peppers and onions to a grill pan and place on a preheated grill. Cook for approximately 10 minutes until the peppers and onions are tender. When we cook peppers and onions (or any small veggies that benefit from a good “toss” as they grill) we use a stainless steel Grill Chef’s Pan with a removable handle.

Uncooked Peppers and Onions in the Chef's Grill Pan

While the veggies cook, place the two sausages on the grill. If you have the ability to control the heat on the sausage side of the grill, increase it to high heat (but leave the veggies at medium). Cook the sausages over high heat for approx. 6 minutes per side (or longer if you’re using medium heat).

Sausage, Peppers and Onions Grilling

If desired, lightly toast the buns on the grill by placing them cut face down over medium heat. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn!

In order to fit the sausages neatly on our round sandwich buns, we sliced the cooked sausages in half and then sliced each piece lengthwise. Place the sausage on the buns and top with grilled pepper and onion mixture. Enjoy your completed sandwich while lounging outside by a fire pit if at all possible… it makes it taste even better!