Cincinnati Chicken Chili

"IHCC October Potluck", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). For our potluck week, we are free to cook from any of IHCC's past and present featured chefs. I've decided to cook with Ellie Krieger, the current chef featured at IHCC.

I've made Cincinnati Chicken Chili, though originally, the recipe is called Cincinnati Turkey Chili, as ground turkey is used. Turkey is not easily available in the area where I live, so I have replaced with ground chicken instead. Looking at the rather long list of ingredients, I was happy to note that I have everything listed, well, except for the bell pepper. A short drive to the nearby supermarket took care of that! 

Even though there are so many ingredients on the list, the preparation time takes only minutes with the sauteing of the onions, chicken and spices which takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and the rest of the time is just simmering on the stove. Recipe indicates a long simmering about 2 hours, but I have simmered only about 1 hour 15 minutes, and have added a little water towards the end of cooking time as the chili was getting quite thick.

The chili is served over spaghetti, with some diced red onions sprinkled over, which I find really nice with the chili, and added more diced red onions on my plate! The chili is very tasty and I wish that I had some tortilla chips to go with it!

Cincinnati Turkey Chili
(adapted from "Comfort Food Fix", Ellie Krieger)
Makes 4 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground turkey (I use ground chicken)
2 green bell peppers, diced
2 tablespoons chilli powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened natural cocoa
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
One 15-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes with their juices
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
1 bay leaf
8 ounces whole-grain spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
1 cup canned kidney beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup grated, lightly packed extra-sharp cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons finely diced red onion

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the turkey and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon into small pieces, until just cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the chilli powder, cocoa, paprika, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, and cloves and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes with their juice, water, molasses, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the mixture has thickened considerably but is still soupy, about 2 hours. Remove the bay leaf. Serve over the spaghetti, topped with the kidney beans, cheese, and diced red onion.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

"October Potluck"

and 

Cook-Your-Books #27 @ kitchen flavours

Apple Pielettes : TWD

This week's baking assignment at Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) is Apple Pielettes from Dorie Greenspan's fabulous book "Baking Chez Moi". I have missed a few weeks of baking with the group, and have not been baking much lately either. Hopefully, that will change!

Freshly baked Apple Pielettes. Smells wonderful while baking.

A few changes I've made :

1. For the galette dough : I've reduced a tablespoon of sugar for a double-recipe.
2. I've used dark raisins soaked in 2 tablespoons of  rum overnight. The raisins absorbed every drop of the rum by the next day. 
3. Instead of apply jelly or marmalade, I've used 2 tablespoons Rhubarb-Ginger soft set jam.
4. Omitted the grated nutmeg for the filling.
5. Used a smaller size muffin pan, not the regular standard-sized ones. The cookie cutters I used to cut out the pastry dough are : 3-1/2 " for the base and 2-1/2" for the top, which fits the muffin pan perfectly.

The baked pielettes came out of the muffin pans easily. Except for one which has the juice bubbling up through the slits at the top of the pielettes and flowed onto the pan. It was stuck and fall apart when I tried to take it out, but I did enjoyed it straight from the muffin pan with a spoon! Yummy! The rest came off pretty easy.

These are so, so, good! The crust is so tender crisp, and buttery. I like the filling, not too sweet, with all the right balance of flavours from the apples, raisins, dried apricots, vanilla, cinnamon, and I'm so glad I've used the Rhubard-Ginger jam, they are a wonderful addition to the filling. These pielettes are perfect for breakfast, tea-time or just a snack with a cup of tea anytime of the day. 

This post is linked to Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD)

and 

Cook-Your-Books #27 @ kitchen flavours

Oranges In Rosemary Honey With Toasted Hazelnuts

"Think Orange", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). This is my second post for the theme, the first is a savoury dish, Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Rub from my previous post. This time I've made a lovely refreshing dessert using oranges.

Pretty easy dessert to prepare. Toast the hazelnuts and chop them up coarsely, put aside until serving time. Honey is heated with some lemon juice, of which I've used lime juice, and rosemary sprigs from the garden pot. Remove from heat and let the rosemary sprig steep in the honey-lime mixture for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour. I've left it for one hour. Remove the rosemary sprig. Smells good, with the light fragrance of the rosemary! At this point, I've refrigerated the honey-lime mixture overnight to chill. 

Just before serving, slice the oranges (preferably cold from the fridge) as directed in the recipe. Arrange some slices on a plate, drizzle with the honey-lime mixture, top with some of the hazelnuts and garnish with a rosemary sprig.  

This is a lovely dessert. Perfect to serve after a dinner meal, I like it cold from the fridge. It looks really pretty when served, would surely bring some "oohs... "! Sweetness from both the honey and the oranges with the light citrusy taste of the limes, fragrance from the rosemary and crunch from the hazelnuts, simply delightful! If you think oranges are boring, which I don't as I love oranges, try serving them this way. If you do not like hazelnuts, you could use toasted almonds, pecans, walnuts, or simply omit the nuts, or you could use some plump juicy golden raisins instead. These can be prepared and keep refrigerated, topping with the chopped nuts just before serving. Easy, simple and nice!

Oranges In Rosemary Honey With Toasted Hazelnuts
(adapted from "So Easy", Ellie Krieger)
Makes 4 servings
3 tablespoons hazelnuts
1/4 cup honey
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 sprig fresh rosemary, plus more sprigs for garnish
4 navel oranges

Place the hazelnuts in a dry skillet and toast over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and light brown, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool, then roughly chop.

Place the honey, lemon juice and 1 rosemary sprig in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let the rosemary steep for 10 minutes, or up to 1 hour, then remove the rosemary sprig.

Slice off the tops and bottoms of the oranges, then slice down the sides of the oranges, removing the skin and the white pith. Slice each orange into 4 or 5 rings and place in a bowl or on a serving plate. Stir the juice that accumulated from cutting the oranges into the honey-lemon mixture.

To serve, drizzle the orange slices with the honey-lemon mixture. Top with the hazelnuts and garnish with additional rosemary sprigs.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week,

"Think Orange"

and 

Cook-Your-Books #27 @ kitchen flavours