Super Bowl -- Emily's Chicken Chili

It was a small, intimate, Super Bowl gathering, and chili seemed appropriate. Emily had served this when I visited Minnesota a bunch of years ago, and I came home with the recipe, and that recipe's been in my binder all that time, and hadn't made it ot prime time even once. Super bowl is the right occasion.

This did require some attention over the couple of hours it took to make, but not too much. The problem with the Super Bowl, of course, is whether to get up and stir/add things during the game itself or the commercials. I opted for the game....if anything good happens they always have the replays. And the game (usually) is in longer chunks. That worked out well!

The chicken makes this chili a little lighter than a usual chili, but the flavor was great. The pimenton added a nice smoky taste -- I'd have used the Chimayo chili powder that Susan and I brought back from New Mexico, but I think it's all at her place. And the replacement of the green peppers with cabbage was based on a food aversion. I don't expect that cabbage is very traditional Mexican, but the texture and heft of cabbage isn't that different from green pepper. The taste may be a little stronger, but with all the flavor in the chili, it pretty much blends into the background.

Emily's Chicken Chili

3 T Butter, divided
2 C chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, large
1 jalapeno pepper, large, seeded and chopped
2 TBSP Chili powder (more to taste) I added a TBSP of pimenton...mmmmmm
4 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
2 C condensed chicken broth (I used some chicken broth base with water)
1 28 oz can tomatoes, not drained -- I used fire roasted, diced
1 16 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained -- I used black beans
1.5 C green pepper, chopped. I used red cabbage.
3 C chicken meat, chopped
1 oz unsweetened chocolate (Bakers), chopped
salt and tabasco sauce, to taste
corn tortillas
cheese (Monterrey Jack, or something similar), grated
sour cream
cilantro

Melt 1.5 T of the butter in dutch oven.
Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent -- 10 min or so
Stir in jalapeno, chili powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, cinnamon, broth, tomatoes
Bring to a boil
Reduce heat, simmer, covered, one hour, stirring occasionally
Add beans, simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Stir frequently.
Meanwhile, in frying pan, melt 1.5 TBSP butter and saute green peppers (cabbage!) until tender, about 5 min.
Add peppers chicken, chocolate, salt, tabasco.
Continue cooking until chicken is done -- 10 minutes or so.

To serve, line a big soup bowl with tortilla, add chili, garnish with sour cream, cheese, cilantro. I cut the tortillas into bite size pieces.

What more can I say?

Roasted root vegetables. And a chicken leg. I'd been conspiring to make this for a few days. It had been intended for Sunday, but I was too tired to cook, so it became tonight's meal. I love roasted root veggies in the winter. The way the oven heats up the kitchen. And the scent infuses the house. Perfect.

The only problem is that it takes time. And on a weeknight, I just want to get food on the table fast. That's why I do so much stir fry. Fast. But I had a plan...get the veggies cut, oiled, and seasoned and into the oven. Bite size pieces of:

sweet potato
an interesting large white and green turnip they had on display at Whole Foods
parsnips
carrot
red onion
celery
Seasoning: coarse salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence

And once they were in the oven at 350, it put in the empty cast iron skillet, seasoned the two chicken legs with Emeril's Bayou Blast (just some salt, onion, garlic, paprika, cayenne., and got those going too.

With those in the oven, and needing little attention, I could pour myself a glass of red wine, put some Trader Joes caponata in a bowl, scoop up with some corn chips, and satisfy the raging hunger till dinner was ready.

About in the oven....I upped the temperature for the second half to 400. Dinner was everything I had hoped it would be. The roasted veggies can really be a meal on their own, but the chicken side dish was perfect, as would many other sides. And there's enough left for at least another meal. I'll definitely being doing this again, even on a weeknight. Just like a stirfry, just a little more relaxed, complete with time to sit around and do nothing (or catch up on other blogs)....

While dinner was cooking, I was catching up on the blogs, and found this surprise at Tea and Food. The roasted veggies, pretty much as I'd done, and the drumstick to boot.