Phil's Famous White Chicken Chili

*Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Martin, as seen on myrecipes.com

Phil's Famous White Chicken Chili

You know the expression "Will work for food?" A few years ago, I started working with the lovely and talented Dorothyann. We became good friends and I got to know her family. While we were working together, she and her husband had a second little boy, and I had the honour of being his first babysitter. Our arrangement was very simple: I would go over and watch the boys (who usually went to bed a half hour after my arrival anyway) and in exchange, I had free reign over their cable TV and internet, and Dorothyann's husband Phil would cook me a gourmet meal. I had several different dinners as payment for babysitting, but the one I always ended up requesting was Phil's White Chicken Chili. 

There is just nothing better than this chili. Seriously, I would stuff myself to the gills whenever he served it. It's hearty and full of flavour, and it's even pretty to look at! 

The recipe is from Cooking Light. You can see it here. I haven't made any modifications at all; Phil used to serve this dish with Old Cheddar rather than Monterey Jack cheese. I think either would be good, but I loved the strong cheese in contrast to the chili and the fresh cilantro. 

What you need: 

Cooking spray or 1-2 TBSP peanut oil
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 C finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cans (4.5oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
1 C water
2 cans (15.5oz) cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14oz) fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 TBSP hot pepper sauce
1 C (4oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or smoked cheddar)
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 C chopped green onions

What you do: 

Heat a large non-sick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray or oil.

Add chicken to pan. Cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray or oil.

Add onion to pan. Sauté 6 minutes or until tender, stirring often.

Add garlic. Sauté 2 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in cumin, oregano and coriander. Sauté 1 minute.

Stir in chiles. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, partially covered.

Add the chicken, water, cannellini beans, and broth. Bring to a simmer.Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in hot sauce.

How to serve it:

Ladle 1 cup of chili into each bowl.

Sprinkle each serving with cheese, cilantro, and green onion, to taste.

Serve with fresh baguette and creamy butter. 

Serves 8.

Judy Sturgeon's Remarkable Fudge

*Yep, this photo is mine! The cookbook, however, is not... it's my mom's much-used and well-loved book of family favorites.

Judy Sturgeon's Remarkable Fudge

I'm pretty sure my mom worked with Judy Sturgeon. Then again, I don't remember her, so maybe I'm making that up. Either way, I don't like fudge. It's gluey and slimy and generally if I want to eat something super-indulgent, I can find ten things I'd prefer over fudge. 

Except this fudge. This fudge is the pinnacle of all fudges. It's sweet, it's firm, it makes a great sound when you chew it... this is top-notch fudge. My mom makes it every year at Christmastime. As soon as it's done, I'm picking at it. I will even lick the spoon, to this day, if she lets me. Tim and I brought home a plateful of this fudge after Christmas this year... it didn't even last a day. 

I strongly suggest you do not make this fudge unless you have somewhere to serve it where there will be lots of other people to keep you in check. Seriously. You've been warned. 

What you need:

Listen up! You need a candy thermometer, a  9" x 13" pan and an 8 " pan. Don't skip out on the thermometer.

4 C sugar
1 14 oz can evaporated milk
1 C butter
2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
16 oz marshmallow cream (Jet-Puffed or Fluff... usually in the baking aisle at the grocery store)
1 tsp vanila
1 C chopped walnuts* (but seriously, why would you ruin fudge with nuts? Gross.)

What to do: 

Cook milk, sugar and butter to medium soft ball (236F). 

Beat in remaining ingredients.

Pour into pans.

Chill. 

I like to pre-cut my fudge so it gets just a bit of a crust on the edge of each piece. This, of course, is optional... I just like the different textures. 

*I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I hate nuts in my baking. I love nuts in cooked dishes and salads, just not in baked stuff. I don't know if it's because of the stark texture difference, of the way nuts get  waxy when you bake them... I just don't like it. So for all my recipes, if you think nuts would make them more delicious for you, by all means, go nuts! ha. 

Honey-Lime Pork Tenderloin

*Yes, this is my picture. Of my dinner. It was soooo good!

Honey-Lime Pork Tenderloin

I found this on Pinterest. It was originally from the Daily Herald... and since the first time we tried it in 

September, we've made it almost weekly since. I've made a few changes to suit us, but as always I suggest you do it properly the first time by following the original recipe. Then you can play. ;)

Making the marinade: 

1 lime, zested
1/2 C fresh squeezed lime juice
(normally I squeeze out the lime I zested, then add a little bottled lime juice to make up the rest)
1 1/2tsp coarse sea salt
1/4C honey
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped. (I use 1-2 tsp of the pre-chopped garlic in a jar. Way easier.)

Using your marinade to make awesome pork:

That's it. Easy right? Combine all the ingredients in a bowl to make the marinade, then pour it over 1lb of pork* in a freezer bag. Marinate the pork for anywhere from 4 to 24 hours before cooking. We always do this recipe on the grill, medium heat. 

I don't reserve any marinade for post-grilling. Instead, I tightly wrap the pork immediately after grilling and let it set for 5 minutes before serving. We often eat it with rice and veggies, but occasionally just with salad.

*we use either tenderloin or chops. We tend to like the chops best, but tenderloin is so cheap and delicious, it's hard to resist. 

My World-Famous Gingies

*not my image

My world-famous gingerbread cookies

I'll be straight up with you: I didn't make this recipe up from scratch. I found it online in the 1990s. You can see the original recipe here.

Please note: I'm really not into the whole "organic" or "fair-trade" thing. In fact, using organic, fair-trade molasses in this recipe will only lead to tears of disappointment. Organic fair-trade molasses will deliberately make your cookies taste like crap just to fuck with you. Their bastard cousin, fancy table molasses, are the only way to go. Besides, they're fancy... that should be good enough.

I vary this recipe slightly when I make my annual Christmas gingies, and there's only one other person in the world who knows the variation. I have made the recipe as-is, and the cookies are delicious... but I encourage you to experiment!

The recipe specifically says that you shouldn't use blackstrap molasses. I don't even know what blackstrap molasses are, so I just never used them. Feel free if that's what you're into.

You don't need to pre-heat your oven right now, because you're going to let your dough rest for a while before preparing it. I can't stress enough how important this is... you have to let the dough rest, or it will be too sticky to work with. I have tried, believe me, and it doesn't work. 

Making the dough:

1/2 C butter or margarine
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C molasses (room temp is easier to mix, but cold is fine)
1 egg yolk
2 C sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and light. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Mix again until nice and smooth. 

In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. 

Blend dry ingredients into wet. I use a wooden spoon and blend manually... it's part of my workout plan. 

You can use a mixer if you want to, but eventually you'll have to hand mix. 

Cover dough and chill for a minimum of two hours. I use a ziploc bag or plastic wrap to cover the dough. The less air in contact with it the better. 

Making the cookies:

Preheat over to 350F. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. You can vary this depending on how you like your cookies: thicker dough = thicker, softer cookies. 

Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place cut outs on ungreased cookie sheets. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm. Cool on wire racks before frosting. I always use my buttercream icing and Smarties from Canada (NOT the Smarties you get in the US!) on these cookies... 

My Sister's Favorite Cake-y Chocolate Chip Cookies

*Voila! Yep, I made those cookies... I used M&Ms instead of chocolate chips, cos that's how I roll...

My sister's favorite cake-y chocolate chip cookies

My sister loves these cookies. I think she'd marry them if that wouldn't make her a bigamist. She got the recipe from Martha Stewart (who else!?)... you can see it here. 

2 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
7/8 C butter, at room temperature
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 C chocolate chips. (I always use semi-sweet... feel free to live a little and try something else!)

Preaheat oven to 350F. 

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

Mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. Blend well. 

Stir dry mix into creamy just until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir lightly. 

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are golden around the edges. 

Cool on wire rack before eating... but you should probably eat one while it's still warm and the chips are gooey. 

Mrs. Freeman's Brownies

*not my image

Mrs. Freeman's Brownies
When my mother was 16, she lived in a neighbourhood called Somervale Gardens in Point-Claire, Quebec. Down the street from her lived a lady named Mrs. Freeman, who was from Alabama and had a delightful southern accent. 

I never met Mrs. Freeman, but I sure wish I could. I'd like to tell her that her brownie recipe is the best in the world. She should know that her recipe is the standard to which I hold and have always held all other brownies I've encountered, and that not one has ever even come close. You simply cannot get or make a better brownie than these brownies, guaranteed. 

Now, I should say that because of Mrs. Freeman's brownies, I don't care for "wet" brownies at all. I like my brownies to have the consistency of dense chocolate cake, rather than having a fudgey texture. If you like "wet" or fudgey brownies, this might not be for you. It's ok. You're just wrong... try the recipe and maybe you'll come around ;). 

There's an awesome variation* below the main recipe, too... if you like chocolate and marshmallows, it's for you! 

Preheat oven to 350F.

2/3 C flour
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 squares bitter chocolate, melted (I use Baker's, in the blue box). It's very important to use bitter chocolate... don't use semi-sweet or milk; the brownies' flavour depends on the strong bitter chocolate. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together. 

Beat eggs, then mix well with sugar. Add chocolate while beating. Beat well. 

Combine flour, baking powder, salt. 

Add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture. Stir in vanilla. 

Pour batter into 8x8x2 pan lined with foil. Bake for 25 minutes* or until a tester comes out clean.

Pull the foil and brownies out of the pan and cool on wire rack. You will ice them, but be sure they're fully cool first. I use chocolate buttercream icing (one of the variations listed here).

*Chocolate Marshmallow variation

Follow the recipe as-is. Pour batter into 8x8x2 pan lined with foil. 

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. 

Cover semi-cooked batter with mini marshmallows. 

Bake an additional 5 minutes. Let cool in pan (I put the whole thing on a wire rack), then ice with chocolate buttercream. 

You'll thank me for this one. Then you'll curse me when you're running on the treadmill. 

Mini Shrimp Quiche Hors D'oeuvres

*not my image

Mini Shrimp Quiche

When I was little, we used to host Christmas at our house every year.  Starting in October, my mother would begin preparing hors d'oeuvres for the freezer. She'd make a variety of yummies each year... some classics, and usually one or two new things to try. I grew up on homemade hors d'oevres; we never bought pre-made frozen ones until I was in my twenties. 

As a result, none of the store-bought hors d'oeuvres ever taste as good as the ones we had growing up. Mini quiches were a favourite every year. My mother would make a few different kinds at first; mushroom and cheese, bacon and onion, and shrimp. As we got older, the shrimp were the clear favourite so she would just make those ones. She also used to make homemade crust, but in later years we would buy pre-made crust, which is what is listed in this recipe. I suppose you could use a puff pastry as well...

Anyway, the recipe is for the filling only; if you've got a great pastry recipe, feel free to leave it in the comments! :) 

Preheat oven to 375F.

3/4 C small cooked shrimp
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp green onion
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 C shredded swiss cheese

Pie crust, cutout to fit your mini-muffin tin cups. 

Press crusts into your mini-muffin tin, ensuring that the crust reaches the top of each cup. 

Distribute the shrimp evenly into each crust. 

Beat egg, milk, onion, salt, dill, and cayenne until well blended. Distribute evenly into each crust.

Sprinkle cheese evenly over each crust. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and centres are set. Cool on wire rack. 

If you plan to freeze these to re-bake them later, be sure to remove them from the heat before they are too brown. The centre should still be set. 

Cool them completely, then place in freezable containers. Separate each layer with waxed paper.

Reheat in the oven at 400F just until hot.