White Bean Chili

My goal is to make/post more recipes from my "Just a Matter of Thyme" cookbook because when I do make things from it, I ALWAYS love them. I've been wanting to try a white chili for a while and while I quickly scanned the list of ingredients, I realized I already had everything in my pantry. Bonus. In the original recipe, it makes it on the stovetop, bringing to a boil first and then simmering several hours. I bypassed that and brought out the trusty crock-pot, dumped everything in at once and set on low for 5 hours. MMmmm, delish.

Ingredients:
3 (14oz) cans white beans (can use dry beans, roughly 1 1/2 lbs, make sure to soak overnight and drain)
4 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic minced (or 1 tsp fresh garlic in a jar)
1 onion, diced
1 small can chopped green chiles
scant tsp ground cumin
scant tsp dried oregano
dash of ground cloves (omitted, all out of cloves, oops)
4 cups cooked chicken, diced (or 2 12.5 oz cans of chicken, drained)
3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

Reserve cheese as a garnish, mix all other ingredients in a crock-pot and let it do all the work. Serves 6-8, equally great leftover as fresh.

Chocolate Turtle Brownies

A word about my friend Mary Ann. She makes magic happen in the kitchen. Whether its her famous Christmas chocolates, sexy cornbread or just plain ol' chocolate chip cookies, she is renowned for her culinary prowess. This is her brownie recipe and I first had them at a Death By Chocolate party Staci and I hosted a few years back. I am ashamed to say this is the first time I've made them. Don't worry, I'll repent at least once a month by baking a batch. I had to hurry and take some over to various friends' homes or else I was at high risk of eating the whole pan. We're talking me, a fork and a 9x13 of chocolate/caramel goodness. So I did what any true friend does, I decided to share the calories around the neighborhood. This is a keeper.

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate chips, divided (I used milk chocolate)
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I prefer pecans so that's what I used)

Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and butter together, whether in the microwave or stovetop. Stir till smooth. Stir in eggs, add flour, sugar, vanilla and soda- stir well. Spread batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with remaining chips and all the nuts.

Bake 350 20-25 minutes.

In her original recipe, its says to drizzle the caramel topping over the warm brownies and I decided right then, I needed to double it, because I didn't want a "hint" of caramel, I needed a blanket of caramel. So here is the original version, know that I doubled it and it was caramel heaven.

Microwave 12 caramels and 1 tbsp milk on high for 1 minute- stir. Microwave at additional 10-15 second intervals until smooth. Pour over warm brownies. Let cool completely in pan before cutting into bars.

Lara Jensen Fancy Waffles

Here is part 2, if you will, of another waffle post. Here I posted Lara Jensen's basic waffle recipe and now I'm posting her fancy waffle recipe. This one, being fancy and such, requires more time and effort, but the delectable waffles are your reward in the end. Pass the syrup please.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups milk (or buttermilk)
1/2 cup oil

Directions:
Sift together flour, powder and salt, set aside. In another bowl, combine the 2 beaten egg yolks, milk and add oil last, set aside. Stiffly beat egg whites, carefully fold other mixtures into egg whites. Don't over mix. Cook on pre-heated waffle iron.

Cheddar Biscuits

CHEDDAR BISCUITS-Makes 10



2 to 2 1/4 cups flour, plus more for working surface

2 1/4 t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

1/4 t. ground pepper

6 T. cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese



Preheat oven to 425*. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder, soda, salt and pepper. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture represents coarse crumbs, with some pea size lumps. Mix in buttermilk and cheese until combined. With a floured hand, knead dough against side of bowl until it holds together. If it is sticky, knead in up to 1/4 cup more flour.



After kneading biscuit dough, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough to 1 inch thick. With a floured biscuit cutter, cut out rounds as close together as possible. Place on a baking sheet. Gather scraps; pat again, and cut out more rounds. Place on jelly roll pan.

Bake until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Pate Brisse with Thyme

PATE BRISSE WITH THYME (used to top the Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 T. thyme leaves
1/4cup to 1/2 cup ice water

Put the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor. All ingredients should be cold. Add the pieces of butter for approximately 10 seconds, or until the mixture represents coarse meal. Add the thyme leaves, and pulse to combine.

Add ice water, drop by drop, through the feed tube with the machine running, until the dough just holds together without being wet or sticky; do not process more than 30 seconds. Test the dough at this point by squeezing a small amount together. If it is crumbly, add more water.

Divide the dough in half and shape into two disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill for at least an hour.

Chicken Potpie in a Pumpkin

This is one of my favorite dishes in the fall. It just seems so festive to me. I first made this 5 or so years ago. The original recipe was from the Martha Stewart website, but after quite a bit of searching, it seems to be gone from the website...no clue why. I will first post the original recipe and then let you know what I did to change it around to work for me. My hubby helped a ton with making this yesterday and it made a huge difference, so if you have a second set of hands, definitely utilize them!!

CHICKEN POT PIE in a Pumpkin--Serves 6

6 two-pound sugar pumpkins, preferably short and squat (if you have trouble finding these, they are also called pumpkin pie pumpkins...I got some of mine at Trader Joe's when I was in Vegas and a few others from a local grocer)
5T butter, plus 2T melted
2 t. salt
1t. freshly ground black pepper
1t freshly grated nutmeg (I have a little microplane that I use to grate the nutmeg and you can buy whole nutmeg in any spice section)
1 pound pearl onions (I think the package they sold at my grocer was 10ounces. I used that amount and it was great)
9 ounces potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used extra potatoes. I was serving guests and wanted to make sure to have enough. I cut them pretty small...make sure the potatoes and carrots aren't too big because they don't get much time to cook and will be hard if they are too big.)
12 ounces button mushrooms, quartered if large (no button mushrooms at my grocery store so I bought what they had and sliced them so they would stretch farther.)
8 ounces carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (2 medium carrots)
5T flour
2 1/2 cups chicken brith
1 cup milk
4 1/2 cups poached or roasted chicken (from a 5 pound chicken) (I ended up using two HUGE breasts and 3 thighs since I am a dark meat girl. It was more than enough meat. I steamed it in my steamer to keep in moist. It would have been much easier to pick up a chicken at Costco, but I didn't have a chance to get over there.)
2T. fresh thyme leaves (I have an herb garden so I did use fresh herbs, but I think dry could easily be substituted.)
3T. chopped parsley
2T. fresh chopped sage
1/2 recipe Pate Brisse with Thyme
1 large egg, beaten with 1T. heavy cream for egg wash

I didn't make the Pate Brisse. Instead I made my cheddar buttermilk biscuit recipe and topped them with that. I liked it better. It was easier, heartier and tastier IMO.)
I also added a little more of some of the things I had and then doubled the liquid to make it stretch. It was enough to fill the six pumpkins with just a little left over.

Heat oven to 375*. Slice the tops off the pumpkins. Scoop out the seeds (I find an ice cream scoop helps with this). Using a pastry brush, brush insides of pumpkin with 2T. melted butter. Season insides with 1/2t. salt, 1/4t. pepper, and 1/4t. nutmeg. Place pumpkins on a baking sheet; cover tightly with foil. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add onions, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold running water. Peel onions, set aside.

Melt 5T. butter in a large, high sided skillet set over medium heat (I used a large dutch oven). Add potatoes and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to turn golden. Add mushrooms and carrots and cook 4-5 minutes more. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and milk and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chicken, thyme, parsley, sage, remaining 1 1/2t. salt, 3/4t. nutmeg, and 3/4t. pepper. Remove from heat, and divide amoung pumpkins.

Roll Pate Brisse to 1/8 inch thickness. Pull center of dough upward to form a pumpkinlike stem. Place over the hollow of each filled pumpkin. Using the back of a small paring knife, mark the dough to simulate the lines of a pumpkin. Brush top of dough with egg wash. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

or, if you choose to make the biscuit dough:
Make the dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Use a bowl of cutter that will cover the top of the pumkins. Cut out dough and place on top of pumkin, covering the hole. Bake until the biscuit topping is baked, about 25 minutes.

Caramel Corn

Few things are better than snuggling up on the couch with a bowl of caramel corn. Pop a movie in the DVD player, tuck the kids in bed and enjoy a cozy night at home. This is my kinda comfort food! My husband and daughter bust out their spoons the next morning for a little pre-breakfast sugar rush, while they dig into the leftovers. I much prefer it warm, freshly made. Pair this with an ice cold beverage or smoothie and its my idea of a perfect night!

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light karo syrup

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. While stirring constantly over medium to medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Can be poured immediately over popcorn or can wait up to 20 minutes. If you let it sit for a while, be sure to stir again right before pouring over popcorn.


ps- I think caramel popcorn recipes with karo syrup are much better than ones that use marshmallows. I must be programmed to love all things extra sweet!