Month: October 2017

White Chicken Polka-Dot Chili

White Chicken Polka Dot Chili

Some days you want the same consistent thing.

And, some days, you want more.

That is life; and that is how I am with my white chicken chili. The chunk haters, the tomato haters, the crumbly haters be darned…or can at least appeased while I get the flavor I want.  I need more, I need different, and this is a nice spin on a classic.

Like when you play your playlist on shuffle…and suddenly that one song from long ago starts, and you think, “Oh yeah, I remember this song…Great song.” Suddenly you are 17, in your new-to-you-car, driving down the backroads of Connecticut and invincible.

Or, insert your young and carefree moment here.

Will this soup be the elixir to youth? Probably not, but its a nice way to mix up a stand-by in my house. Let’s face it folks, it’s almost winter. We need to keep the crock pot and soup recipes a-coming.

Using the crock pot means you throw the ingredients in, and walk away. That works for me as well. Because I have someone in my life who hates chunks of tomatoes specifically, I added the tomatoes with chipotle for this chili at the onset of cooking and then blended the ingredients prior to adding the beans. In truth, this chili is actually a really pretty light pinky peach color because of the tomatoes, but I thought calling this chili pink-polka dot chili a bit much. (Though in my head, that is what I call this).

Chili Ingredients

I also mixed up the beans (cannellini and black) to add a little more visual pop and flavor as well as texture. I added the beans at the end of the cooking, to avoid mushy consistency. I also added both cream cheese and with cheddar cheese to boost the creaminess as well as the flavor. I was very pleased with the end results.

So, RoTel tomatoes with chipotle…I saw these in my international aisle and thought, “Well hey.” If you want to add regular diced tomatoes that will do as well. I also added the green chiles and liked the flavor that resulted. I did use an immersion blender to break the chicken down as well as decimate the tomatoes, carrots, and chiles.

White Chicken Polka Dot Chili

The chipotle flavor is smokey and rich without burning your tastebuds. You get the warmth of spice without heat. You can add to the heat factor, it’s your chili.

Now, to serve. I treated this chili like a taco bar and put out fresh diced tomatoes, sour cream, additional cheddar cheese, and even diced lettuce, though I had no takers on the lettuce. I also served this up with super fresh salty tortilla chips, because, essentially soup is dip but better.

Can you feel the awesomeness of this recipe yet?

Another perk, it is not one of those soups that separates out and gets all icky the next day. My containers for lunch look fantastic. The cream cheese holds some sort of magic in it’s ability to hold the suspension. I’m so in love with a soup that is better the next day.

Oh, that everything would be better the next day. Like the coffee you forgot in the microwave, or the leftovers from that breakfast place. Just not as good after the fact.

Well, If pink and polka dotted soup doesn’t make you smile, maybe my apple cinnamon rolls will. But I am perfectly content with my circa 1990’s playlist, and a bowl of this deliciousness.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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White Chicken Polka-Dot Chili

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White chicken chili with a smoky chipotle kick and the pop of black bean color!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

3 Chicken Breasts

1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

1 10 ounce can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Chipotle

1 4 ounce can Green Diced Chiles

1/3 Cup Shredded Carrots

2 Tablespoon Better Than Boullion Chicken Flavor

32 Ounces of Chicken Stock

4 Cups White Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 8 Ounce Package of Cream Cheese

3 Cans White Cannelini Beans (rinsed and drained)

1 Can Black Beans (rinsed and drained)

Instructions

  1. In a crock pot, place chicken breasts, garlic, Rotel tomatoes, green chiles, shredded carrots.
  2. Cover with chicken stock and cook on low for 6-8 hours, depending on crockpot.
  3. When chicken is fork tender and pulls apart, either shred chicken or use an immersion blender to make smooth consistency (as smooth as you choose).
  4. Add cubed cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and beans to soup mix.
  5. Continue to cook for an additional 20-30 minutes or until cream cheese is melted and beans are warmed through.
  6. Serve with fresh diced tomatoes, sour cream, additional cheddar cheese or whatever you desire!

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Cinnamon Apple Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

Cinnamon Apple Rolls Waiting for Icing
Apple Picking

Apple Picking

Apple picking. I’m a big fan of apple picking day in this #newenglandgirl’s life.

My family? They aren’t in love with it as much as I am.

That’s ok. I call it mandatory fun. I got that term from my PA friend, and it seems the perfect descriptor. You are required to go on this adventure. You are required to be present and subject yourself to your mother’s awkward selfies.

What awkward selfie?

My children do two things for me every year without complaint (OK, there may be complaining but they do it). They pose for photographs for our Christmas card (they love our photographer), and they go pick apples with their momma. They may have really loved it at one point, and now, they are just really good sports.

Cinnamon Apple Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

The bottom line is, this is one of the things I remember my mom and dad doing with my brother and I as children, and continued this tradition with their grandchildren. So we go.

My dad always said to pick the apples near the top. He said they were sweeter. So every year, I reach for the higher fruit and say “This one’s the sweetest, Dad!”

He should be there with us. It would be better if he was, but we go…and carry him in our hearts. He helps me spot the highest apples.

All that to say I am knee deep in apples and ever so happy. I am so glad I waited until October to post apple recipes. I kind of chafed at the bit waiting to do this recipe, but it is so worth the delayed gratification.

Cinnamon Filling

 

 

Cinnamon Apple Rolls. Oh. Yes. This is a bit of delayed gratification right here.

How?

Because technically, you start them the night before.

I know, I know, sounds like a lot of work.

It is more work than popping open that delicious dairy aisle can of cinnamon rolls, which have their place in this world.

However, it is done in simple steps, broken down between two days, and you can do this. The force is strong with you.

This starts with a yeast dough. A couple of packets of dry active yeast, some water, and some sugar will start the bloom. It is an amazing process, and I love the smell.

Apples and Cinnamon ready to be rolled!

I know, call me weird.

You mix your dough and let it rise in a warm place. Here is where you assess your home and think…Do I need weather stripping around the kitchen door? Is that a draft? Where is a warm place in my home in almost November?

In a separate bowl, make your buttery cinnamon and brown sugar mixture. Walk away.

Come back and roll the dough out. Spread your mixture on top and then wait….the apples. Oh this finely chopped special addition to this recipe…It is like a little bit chewy and a little bit tart and a little bit sweet. You can chop your apples at any point – I wait until right before I spread them the finely chop them up. Think – smaller than an apple pie chunk. Bigger than a dice of onion. Find your perfect apple size and move forward.

Apple Cinnamon Rolls Ready to Rest

Roll your dough, cut into slices or “rolls,” place in your baking pan and cover in the refrigerator to rest overnight.

Story time:

Once upon a lifetime ago when I was very pregnant with my son, I was traveling with a friend on a road trip. In the rest stop there was a cinnamon bun place. I hauled my large bellied body over to the counter. In addition to picking out the specific roll I wanted from the pan, I also had the audacity to ask the lovely woman behind the counter to scoop the extra glaze into the box. I had no shame. Fortunately for me, the server was gracious to the pregnant lady with a serious craving. I still can see that sugary box as perfect as it was today.

That friends, is the power of a cinnamon roll.

Ok, back to baking. That was essentially the hard part. The next morning you let them rise again, then finally, finish them off in a 350* oven.

I love the idea of waking up early, letting them rise, coming back in an hour, and then baking these up. You have to be present enough to turn your oven on. It is essentially the same thing as turning your coffee pot on. While you start your day, cinnamon roll magic is afoot.

Cinnamon Apple Rolls Waiting for Icing

Cinnamon Apple Rolls Waiting for Icing

The smell of Apple Cinnamon Rolls baking is nothing short of spectacular. It should be more than a candle scent. It should be what they pump into vents at schools to calm small children. Choirs should sing about it.

If it were perfume, I’d have a following of cinnamon roll lovers trailing behind me carrying their mugs of coffee like the cinnamon rolled pied piper.

But, I’ve gone off on a tangent, haven’t I?

While these darlings are baking, mix up your glaze, then get your schmear-er ready.

Then, fresh out of the oven, get-a-glazing. Watch that sexy frosting melt, and get out your plate, knife, and fork.

I would like to say these lasted. I would like to tell you they went untouched and that I wasn’t forced to bring them to school by my own conscience that made me because I can’t be trusted.

But, I can’t. I brought them to school. My school peeps need all the baked love I can bring them.

Closer to my heart was the fact that my son had eaten one while I was driving my daughter to school. I missed seeing him drive off, but I did catch the plate and fork he left in the sink. To me, that says, “Well done, momma.” It also says, “We need to have a talk about putting our first rinsed dishes into the dishwasher.”

Cinnamon Apple Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

I don’t make cinnamon rolls daily, or weekly, or even monthly. It is a special treat for a special day, and it is indulgent.

But on the morning after you pick a more than a bushel of apples…

And you have been thinking about how you’ve done this every year for as long as you can remember…

And how next year you aren’t promised another opportunity, because life is like that?

You make the apple cinnamon rolls.

Apple picking in and of itself is a gift of a day, isn’t it? It needs to be celebrated.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Click below for a printable recipe!

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Cinnamon Apple Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

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Delicious overnight cinnamon rolls with a delicious addition of apples.

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

For the Yeast Dough:

  • 2 Packets Dry Active Yeast (4.5 Teaspoons)
  • 3–4 Tablespoons of warm water
  • 2 Tablespoons of Sugar
  • 1 Cup warmed milk
  • 1/3 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Beaten Egg
  • 3 to 3 and 1/2 Cups of Flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 6 Tablespoons Melted and Cooled Butter

For the Cinnamon Apple Filling:

  • 1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup Softened Unsalted Butter
  • 3 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
  • Three Apples Chopped finely (You may want to increase this based on your personal taste)

Cream Cheese Glaze:

  • 8 Ounces of Softened Cream Cheese
  • 4 Tablespoons/ 1/2 A Stick of Butter
  • 2 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half-and-Half

Instructions

  1. Make sure your water and milk are warm but not hot. Too hot will destroy the yeast.
  2. In your dough making bowl, place yeast, warm water, and sugar and combine. Allow the yeast to “bloom” making a layer of bubbles and dissolving.
  3. Add warmed milk, sugar, and beaten egg. Mix. Add melted Butter and combine.
  4. Add initially 2 to 2 1/2 flour and salt, mixing by hand, then gradually add remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a ball – but still feels slightly sticky to the touch.
  5. Find a warm place in for dough to rise, covered with a clean damp cloth.
  6. Allow the dough to rest and rise for approximately 2 hours.
  7. While you are waiting for dough to rise, combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a separate bowl and set aside.
  8. Chop apples into bite sized chunks.
  9. When dough has sufficiently risen, turn out onto a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle. If the edges aren’t perfectly straight it is ok, you can either trip before or after you roll the dough up into cinnamon rolls.
  10. Smear your butter and brown sugar mixture over the surface of your rolled out dough.
  11. Add a fine layer of chopped apples covering the surface of the dough.
  12. Gently, starting at one of the longer sides of the rectangle, roll your dough into one long log. This will give you more “rolls.” If you want to go with bigger but less “rolls” you can roll from the shorter end of the rectangle.
  13. Slice your log in half, and then slice the halves in half, making equal sized roll slices. If you want to be extremely controlled, you can pre-measure with a ruler of sorts as well. (I don’t).
  14. Place each roll into a prepared (greased) baking dish so you see the side of the roll – (The cinnamon and apple goodness should be spiraling out and showing its glory).
  15. Cover and refrigerate baking dish over night.
  16. The next morning, remove baking dish and allow to rise in a warm spot for about an hour. (I usually start my oven and allow the bread to sit on top of your stove or set the oven at the lowest setting it can go and let the rolls rest inside).
  17. Preheat oven to 350*
  18. Bake for 25-30 minutes until dough has baked into a lovely golden color but not over cooked.
  19. In a mixer place cream cheese, butter and combine.
  20. Slowly incorporate confectioner’s sugar.
  21. Add heavy cream or half and half to thin mixture into a glaze.
  22. When Apple Cinnamon Rolls are fresh from the oven, spread glaze on top.

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On Divorce, Loss, and Beef Stroganoff

Browning Beef for Stroganoff

Do you ever associate certain recipes with a special someone? Like my mother’s meatballs, or her oatmeal raisin cookies, I am sure you too have recipes that belong to someone.

As in, you don’t really make them ever because, that is their thing, and they do it so well you don’t even attempt it?

That’s how it is with Beef Stroganoff; this was his recipe.

When you are involved in a divorce, no matter how hard you try, it’s complicated, and messy.

Even under the best of circumstances. Add a few states in between and an issue of addiction, there are very few things that are easy. There were some ugly and dark parts. I wasn’t always the nicest version of myself. I own that.

I did, however recognize and encourage the value of relationship between my children and their father. I knew in my heart that he loved them even when he couldn’t get out of his own way. And love them he did.

To draw a line between your way and his way and move forward, recognizing that this requires you to step back. Focusing on your children, and their relationship with their dad is non-stop-in-your-head battle. It’s a reminder that no, this isn’t about you. It’s about them.

Beef Stroganoff

You counterweight as much as you can and buffer as well. You become strong and keep your mouth shut as much as possible and take the phone outside when you don’t see eye to eye. When stuff goes wrong, and it did go wrong, you do what you need to do to be bigger, stronger, and not lose your positivity.

It’s such a dance. It’s like dancing on glass and looking good doing it. That broken glass dance is exhausting.

My kid’s Dad loved to cook. It was a common language we had, we cooked for the people we loved. We cooked for each other. He was an off-trail skier and an off-recipe cook, and he made it look easy. On one of our first real dates, he taught me how to fry an egg. And that was that.

So, of course in the break up, he kept his Kitchen Aid, I kept the Williams Sonoma Baking Pans, and he kept the Stroganoff recipe.

That’s the unrealistic and semi-humorous version.

I vaguely remember trying to make this when the kids and I first moved into our home, and it being an epic fail. I never made it again.

Then came the phone call one night, and suddenly, unexpectedly, he is gone. Forever.

You think about the last phone conversation when you said, “I love you.” and meant it. Your last texts where he tells you that you are an amazing mother, and you tell him how much the kids love him and need him. You invited him to the Easter table to share a holiday dinner with his family.

And those are the last words you say to each other.

The last words, thank God, were kind and filled with grace, and you are given this gift of ending things, on a good note. So many conversations that could have been our last were not, but this one was.

He told his son he was proud, he told his daughter he loved her.

And then he was gone.

So on the six month anniversary, when your son asks you to make Beef Stroganoff, you research every recipe and pray it comes out better than the epic fail from a few years before.

As if your entire happiness rests on this one meal.

Your son even goes to the grocery store with you to buy the ingredients, and reads the list to you so you don’t forget anything.

And you cook as if your whole heart is in it. Because, really, it’s what your kids remember, and its a good thing…you don’t want to mess it up. You pull out the crockpot to make sure the meat is tender. You add Cream of Mushroom Soup to the recipe to make sure the sauce is the right consistency. You hang out in the kitchen to watch over it. You and your memories.

The kitchen is where you do your therapy anyways.

Beef Stroganoff

So, you make the meal, and all of heaven makes sure that it comes out just right. You sit with your children, a threesome who have weathered quite a bit in the last decade, and you remember.

You think to yourself, maybe he might even have liked it, even though you know he would have added something else. That’s just what he did.

For once in your family, even the leftovers are eaten.

So many times I call my table “My Thankful Table,” because that’s where my heart lives. I have chosen to be thankful. In all things.

But for this one meal, with these two amazing children, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude.

For all we had, and all we lost, and all that the future will hold.

Until we meet again.

Thank you for coming to the table,

Chrissy

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Beef Stroganoff

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  • 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • 1.5 Lbs Cab Stew Meat
  • .75 Lbs Cab Chuck Stew Meat
  • 8 Ounces White Mushrooms, sliced or quartered
  • 8 Ounces Baby Bella/Crimini Mushroom, sliced or quartered
  • 2 Tablespoons A1 Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
  • 16-24 Ounces of Beef Broth
  • 2 Large Sweet Onions, chopped into good sized chunks
  • 1 large package of egg noodles of choice (we went with wide)
  • 2 Cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Cup Sour Cream
  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

  1. Saute garlic and butter in pan until tender
  2. Add stew meat and brown, turning frequently to get a nice color but not to cook.
  3. Add stew meat to crock pot along with onions, mushrooms, broth, and seasonings.
  4. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until meat is cooked, onions are tender.
  5. Add Cream of mushroom soup and Sour Cream and mix thoroughly.
  6. Cook for an additional 30 minutes to bring to temperature.
  7. On the stovetop, cook Egg Noodles in water until cooked. Drain and serve.
  8. Top Egg Noodles with a hearty scoop of Stroganoff mixture.
  9. With a thankful heart, enjoy.

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