Southwestern Chicken and Bean Stew

1 cup dried pinto beans
cut up boneless chicken pieces (you decide how much, can use cooked or raw)
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup salsa - medium or hot if you like it spicy
1 (4.5 oz.) can chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Place beans in medium bowl; add enough water to cover. Let stand overnight to soak.

Drain beans; discard water. Place beans and all remaining ingredients except cilantro in 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker; mix well.
Cover; cook on low setting for 10-12 hours or on high for 8 hours.
To serve add cilantro, mix well.
Makes 6 (1 1/3 cup) servings

I made this the first time in Feb. of 2000 and I thought that since it was almost 9 years later Carrie wouldn't mind if we had it again...
This is pretty mild and could use some spicing up. I posted it because Danny asked about recipes using dry beans. Not that Danny ever reads the blog.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tarts

These are so tasty... especially the Hazelnut Mousse!

Chocolate Hazelnut Tarts

Tart Shell

* 4 T cocoa powder
* 1/2 C + 2 T cold butter, diced
* 5 1/4 T sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/4 C flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* pinch of salt

1. Place the butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the eggs, flour and baking powder and process until the mixture just comes together.
2. Lay the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead into a disc measuring around 2 cm in height.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to rest.
4. Once the dough has rested, place the dough back on to a lightly floured surface and roll out until around 2 mm thick. Cut the dough such that it is at least 1 cm wider than the tart shell (which will form the wall of the tart).
5. Place the cut dough in the tart shells and allow refrigerate for another 1 hour.
6. When ready, bake the pastry for 10 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees. Once done, bake for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool.


Hazelnut Mousse

* 1 1/2 C milk
* 5 1/4 T sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 /12 T cornstarch
* 7 T Nutella
* 1/4 - 1/2 pint cream
* 1 packet gelatin

1. Mix the sugar and cornflour into a bowl and slowly add the eggs. Ensure that this is well mixed, removing and lumps.
2. Bring the milk to the boil. Once the milk is boiling, pour the milk slowly into the bowl with the egg mixture.
3. Pour the egg and milk mixture back into the pan and cook on medium heat for a few minutes until the custard becomes thick.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Cover with a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
5. When the custard has cooled, place the gelatin sheet in 1 cup of cold water to soften.
6. In the meantime, mix the Nutella with the custard using a whisk.
7. Semi-whip the cream.
8. Remove the gelatin from the water and heat in a microwave proof container for 15 seconds on high. Mix the gelatin with the custard.
9. Fold the custard into the semi-whipped cream.
10. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce

• 5 T Nutella
  
• 2 oz milk chocolate
• pinch of salt
• .5 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate
  
• 1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup
• 4 T crushed caramelized hazelnuts

1. Place all the ingredients in a microwave proof bowl and microwave in 20 second intervals on high until the chocolate has melted.
2. Add the caramelized hazelnuts.

Caramelized Hazelnuts

• 1/2 C sugar
• 3 1/2 T water
• 1 C toasted hazelnuts

1. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a heavy based pan and let the temperature reach 240 degrees (using a candy thermometer)
2. Add the toasted hazelnuts and take the pan off the heat.
3. Mix the nuts until the texture changes to become sugary like and bring back the pan on the heat.
4. Mix carefully until the sugar turns into a golden caramel colour and place on a silpat or baking paper to cool.

To Assemble:

Spread chocolate sauce over top of tart shell and then top with hazelnut mousse. Garnish with leftover caramelized hazelnuts.


*Ok, so this recipe originally came from http://trissalicious.com/ but it was all metric and she had really weird measurements... she even gave the liquid measurements in grams so it was really hard to convert, but my version ended up being yummy so I'm ok with that haha! I also didn't caramelize the hazelnuts since I don't have a candy thermometer, but it was still yummy.

Grandma's Green Bean Casserole

Ok, I admit it. It's a casserole, not a bake. But it's also way better than the one with cream of mushroom soup. It doesn't turn out as well with frozen beans (at least not the regular cut ones. Maybe French cut frozen ones would work).

Grandma's Green Bean Casserole

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. white sugar

1/4 c. onion, diced

1 c. sour cream

3 cans (14.5 oz) French style green beans, drained

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c. crumbled Ritz crackers

1 T. butter, melted



1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Melt 2T. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, and sour cream. Add green beans and stir to coat.

3. Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl., toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter. Sprinkle over the cheese.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.
From allrecipes.com

Maple Oat Chewies

1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 Tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons maple extract (I used Mapleine)
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats (I used old fashioned)
2 cups crisp rice cereal (Rice Krispies)

Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl beat sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add molasses, maple extract and eggs; blend well. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; mix until well blended. Stir in rolled oats and cereal. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet; remove from cookie sheets. Makes 5 dozen cookies.

I made these tonight to take visiting teaching for a fall treat. Maple being one of the best flavors there is in the entire world, right up there with Rosemary and Cilantro, I knew these would be good. And they are. The recipe book says you can add 1 cup butterscotch chips with the oats and cereal but I don't like butterscotch chips so I will never do this. But you can if you like them.
Recipe from an old Pillsbury bake off pamphlet from 1989.

Autumn Spice Bread

This bread was a big hit with Joshie.  : )  It was originally called Chai-Spiced bread, but I changed the name so that nobody would think there was tea in the bread.  The recipe called for 1/2 c. of water or tea.  Obviously I used water.  If you don't like cardamom, you probably won't like this bread, but we think it's quite tasty. : )

Autumn Spice Bread
Bread:
3/4 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. butter or margarine, softened
1/2 C. water
1/3 C. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Glaze:
1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
3 to 5 teaspoons milk
Additional ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease bottom only of 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray. 
In a large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  On low speed, beat in water, milk, vanilla and eggs until ingredients are well combined (will appear curdled).  Stir in remaining bread ingredients just until moistened.  Spread in pan.
Bake 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not underbake).  Cool in pan on cooling rack 10 minutes.  Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to cooling rack or serving tray.  Cool 30 minutes.  In a small bowl, stir powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 teaspoons of the milk, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls, until spreadable.  Spread glaze ovcer bread.  Sprinkle with additional cinnamon.  Cool completely, bout 2 hours, before slicing.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes

I made this weeks ago and it was mmm....mmm....good! The only thing I would change is broiling the tomatoes. I didn't like them broiled - 8 to 10 minutes was way too long and they were too mushy. I would either broil them only for a minute or two, or just serve them fresh sprinkled with olive oil and the thyme and garlic. Or maybe the broiling works better with store bought tomatoes since they're a little firmer. I dunno.

Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes

4 6-ounce pieces salmon fillet
4 medium tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 teaspoon paprika, preferably hot
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and pepper
8 sprigs fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, sliced

Directions
Heat broiler.
Place the salmon and tomatoes, cut-side up, in a broilerproof roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the salmon with the paprika.
Drizzle the salmon and tomatoes with the oil and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Scatter the thyme and garlic over the top.
Broil until the salmon is opaque throughout and the tomatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Recipe from RealSimple.com

White Chicken Chili

I made this chili for dinner tonight - we give it 4 out of 5 stars. It called for 1 can of diced jalapenos and 1 can of diced green chiles, but since we were serving this to the kids too, I just used 2 cans of green chiles. I also used a scant teaspoon of Cayenned pepper, for the same reason. Oh, and it originally called for 3 cups of chopped chicken, but I used 2 bags of shredded (2 cups) and I think one bag would've been fine. I served it with some baked tortilla strips that were leftover from the tortilla soup we had last week and I made corn for a side. Amelia added her corn to her soup. : )

White Chicken Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, undrained
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (scant) teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans, undrained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the mixture from heat. Spoon a little cheese on each serving. Serve warm.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com