Cincinnati-style Buffalo Chicken Chili

Yes, another chili recipe. This one is mostly from scratch, tho. Inspired by a combination of different recipe concepts and what I happened to have available.

My original plan was to make buffalo chicken chili. However, we didn't have any bleu cheese. Not completely foiled, cheddar would still do. I also didn't have a proper wing sauce, so I used hot pepper sauce and compensated by frying the vegetables in butter instead of oil.

Then the issue of what to serve with it arose. We've had a lot of rice lately, so I suggested pasta. Of course, chili served on pasta and topped with cheese is really Cincinnati-style, so suddenly Cincinnati and Buffalo had to hash it out.

I thought the sauce turned out a little thin, however, I opted to not add any tomato paste. I also thought that the chili needed more spice. I added additional sauce when I served it. It could simply be because of the sauce I used. I'll leave it up to your own personal tastes.

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Cincinnati-style Buffalo Chicken Chili

by Daniel Saraga June-8-2012

Cincinnati chili is served on pasta and topped with lots of cheese. It's a great alternative to tortilla chips.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 kilo ground chicken
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup beer
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can mixed beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup hot sauce (or more, to taste)
• to taste salt and pepper
• 4 servings spaghetti, prepared according to package directions
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (we were out of bleu cheese :-(

Instructions

1. brown the ground chicken, garlic, paprika, oregano and cumin in 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat, using a potato masher to evenly break up the pieces.Set chicken aside.2. Heat on medium and add onions, celery and carrots. Let simmer until tender (10 minutes).3. Transfer the chicken back into the pan and add the tomatoes, beans, and hot sauce and bring to a boil.4. Reduce heat to medium-high and let simmer for 30 minutes to reduce the liquid.Serve on top of pasta, topped with cheese.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 15 mins Yield: 4 servings

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Cornie's Home Made Chicken

The story of Cornie's is an old one for us. On our first cruise, Meredith and I ended up hanging around a beach in St. Maarten for much of the day sitting in beach loungers, reading, drinking beer and eating chicken.

Cornie's was a little shack with a patio near where we rented our loungers and beach umbrella. The initial attraction was the two-for-$3 bottles of beer, but lunch was a pleasant surprise.

At the counter, there was a large pot of chicken slowly cooking on a burner. We were told it'd be ready by lunch time and lunch was great. There was something in it that reminded me of my grandmother's Saturday afternoon chicken dish, and I liked how it tasted - so I asked for the recipe. I didn't get much out of it aside from some ingredients (no quantities) and a general order of what to add when scratched on a piece of paper.

Knowing that I'd eventually lose that paper (and I did - I have no idea where it went), I typed out the instructions and emailed it to myself. Once a year or so I'd look at it and say to myself "I should really give this a try soon." It wasn't until this March that when deciding what to make for supper, I gave Meredith the option of me giving Cornie's chicken dish a try (as an experiment), or another of my standards.

Meredith chose Cornie's chicken and when I left work that day, I picked up the ingredients and got to work. I think the real trick to this is to let it cook for a long time, to let the flavours blend, the chicken fall to pieces, and the sauce to thicken. I don't claim to have nailed the quantities of ingredients on the first try, but it's good enough and tasted great. I've been avoiding excess amounts of sodium so I used no-salt canned tomatoes, low-sodium soy sauce and low-sodium ketchup. Either way, with those products as part of the process, there's likely no need to add any extra salt.

Our friend who joined us for dinner that day pointed out that the recipe was a variation of a frickazee.

Meredith thought that there was a little too much lime in the mix, so I'll actually discard the lime after the marinating next time, instead of letting the lime pieces cook in the stew (I've reflected that in the instructions as well).

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Cornie's Home Made Chicken

by Daniel Saraga April-6-2012

This chicken recipe is from a small eatery in St. Maarten.

Ingredients

• 1 kilo chicken legs or thighs
• 1 lime, quartered
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 can tomatoes, diced
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

Instructions

1. Place the chicken in a large ziplock bag and squeeze juice from lime quarters into bag. Add squeezed lime and vinegar, close and shake bag to coat chicken.2. In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, onion powder and garlic powder, and add to the bag of chicken, shaking to coat evenly. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight if possible.3. In a dutch oven, heat oil on medium.4. Add onions and celery and fry for 3-5 minutes.5. Add garlic and fry for another minute.6. Add tomatoes, potatoes and chicken (discard the lime pieces) and bring to a boil.7. Reduce to medium-low and let simmer for at least 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce should be thick and chicken should be falling off the bone when done.
Note: always check the label for gluten-free labelling on prepared sauces (e.g., ketchup and soy sauce).

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins Total time: 1 hour 25 mins Yield: 4-5 servings

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Mulligatawny Soup

Soup season is definitely here. There's no doubt about it, and here's another restaurant soup from my past.

Years ago, I attended a franchise presentation for a small chain of Indian fast-food restaurants. It was a very interesting concept, as all of the food was prepared off-site and managed in a manner that made it easy to prepare and serve quickly.

Anyway, their website had a recipe for Mulligatawny, a soup that was made famous in North America by TV's Seinfeld. I made it at the time and it was quite tasty. When I decided to make it again, I was surprised to find that the website no longer existed. Fortunately, the Internet Archive had a copy of the page and I was able work from there.

The recipe on the website had a few errors in it, and I never bothered to write the authors for a correction, so I winged it in a few places. Fortunately, that's the nature of the soup - most of the ingredients vary wherever you go. Some variations use meat, some don't. Some use coconut milk, others use milk and cream.

Another tasty looking variation can be found at Foodland Ontario. Unlike their Moroccan Chicken recipe, I'd probably attempt the Foodland Ontario soup by following their directions.

Mulligatawny Soup

Phase 1

2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 crushed garlic clove
1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
4 cups water
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
2 tsp sugar

1. In a pot, heat oil on medium and sauté onions and cumin seeds until onions are translucent.
2. Add garlic, red peppers, and tomato sauce stirring continuously.
3. Add water, basil, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, curry powder, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to medium and cook, covered for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
5. Transfer mixture to a blender.
6. Add milk and puree the mixture.
7. Return soup to the pot and stir in cream and sugar.

Phase 2

2 tbsp canola oil

1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup eggplant, peeled and diced
1/4 cup green peas
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a deep pan over medium heat.
2. Let vegetables simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until cooked.
3. Pour mixture into pot from phase 1 and let simmer for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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Vegetable Soup (Gypsy Soup)

This flavorful vegetarian soup is gluten-free and uses
Mediterranean spices for a unique, but not overwhelming flavor.

Week after week of reading Monday posts at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, I'm reminded of one of my first cookbooks - Moosewood. I don't use it often at all, but every time I see one of the recipes, it's a little push to pull out my own copy.

My very first copy was literally that - a photocopy I had made from a friend's version (the original 1977 edition, I might add). I vowed that when I could afford to buy my own copy, I would. And I eventually did. The second edition (c. 1992) is a little different. still hand-drawn, but the recipes are a bit healthier. Less heavy creams, cheeses and butter, and more yogurt and olive oil (or no oil at all).

One of the things I noticed the very first time I opened the book is that some of the methods are very labour intensive. You're hard-pressed to find a recipe that takes less than an hour. The very first recipe I made (Russian cabbage borscht) took me quite a while as I had a cabbage as big as a basketball and a stockpot to make a double batch.

On this particular day, I decided to make my own version of the Gypsy soup. I say my own version for two reasons: because Katzen's own notes lists a plethora of substitutes for vegetables, and; there's no way I'm blanching, peeling and seeding tomatoes by hand. I will, however, use a small bottle of my mom's home-made tomato sauce instead.

Vegetable Soup (Gypsy Soup)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, minced
• 2 cups peeled, diced carrots
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp basil
• dash cinnamon
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 bell pepper (green or red), diced
• 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1. In a dutch oven, heat oil on medium. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. 
2. Add salt and saute for an additional five minutes. 
3. Add paprika, turmeric, basil, cinnamon, cayenne, bay leaf and water. cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add tomato sauce, peppers and chickpeas. cover and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
5. Remove bay leaf before serving.

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Linked to Cast Party Wednesdays

Salmon Ball

This salmon ball is creamy with a bit of crunch, and gluten-free.

Continuing on the holiday brunch theme from a couple weeks ago, I wanted another protein dish that could be served in a sandwich or just on crackers. I didn't want to make another salmon salad - too boring. That's when I remembered Shannon, an old friend from the university residence I lived in.

Shannon's favourite thing to bring to a party was a tuna ball. It was basically a can of tuna mixed with a block of cream cheese. It was very rich, but very tasty. I wanted to use that concept as a base for what I wanted to make.

I had a can of boneless, skinless salmon (about the size of a can of tuna), but I wanted to do a little more. Cutting out some of the cream cheese and adding some sweet onion, celery and mustard for flavor seemed like the way to go. For added presentation, I rolled the final product in slivered almonds to give it some crunch. It was a hit - something I'll definitely make again.

Salmon Ball

• 1 can boneless, skinless salmon (drained)
• 1/2 cup cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 1/4 cup minced sweet onion
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1 tsp sweet hot mustard
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds

1. Mash the salmon with a fork.
2. Fold in the cream cheese, onion, celery and mustard using a spatula.
3. Spread almonds on a cutting board. Roll the salmon mixture into a ball and then roll it on top of the almonds.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and let set in fridge until ready to serve.

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Dan's October Soup

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 rutabaga
• 1 potato
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks (cut in half)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• water
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 2 bay leaves

1. Peel and cube the squash, rutabaga, potato and carrots.
2. Put all of the vegetables in a large pot and fill with stock and water until the vegetables are covered and bring to a boil. Add ginger, garam masala and bay leaves and simmer on medium for 40 minutes until soft.
3. Discard bay leaves and celery and puree.
4. To serve, reheat and add 1 cup of cream and enough stock or water to give the soup a good consitency.

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Quinoa and Black Beans

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 carrot, sliced into rounds
• 1/2 cup sliced olives
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or basil
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Soak the quinoa in cold water for 30 minutes and rinse thoroughly.
2. Bring to a boil with vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes covered, then fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.
4. Sautee carrots and celery for five minutes.
5. Add the beans, ginger, cumin and coriander and stir for five to ten minutes.
6. Combine with quinoa and add pepper to taste.

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