Tuesday was just a bundle of fun. In the early afternoon, I met celebrity blogger, Tami H. of Running With Tweezers, for lunch at La Pietra Cucina.  It was sheer luxury.  I know Tami would never describe herself as such, but ask anyone in the food blogging world and they will know her, her food stylings and her fabulous blog.  We had a great time.  The food was amazing – we both ordered the same thing – the black spaghetti with rock shrimp, scallions and hot calabrese sausage. It was spicy, savory and hit all the right notes.  We both threw caution to the wind and enjoyed some lovely Italian white wine as well.

The lovely Miss H. with the winning dessert
Mascarpone, huckleberries and caramel

And always, as with people who are meeting for the first time in person (we have been running in the same circles for years), there was not enough time for us to visit – we could have sat there for hours and still not run out of things to discuss.  Tami is going for her second experiment of eating on $30 a week. You have to check out her blog to see how she does it.  Today was not that day – this was a total midweek splurge – complete with an afternoon nap for me.

Nap completed and refreshed after my incredible lunch, dinner needed to be tended to.  Even though the chill in the air has subsided a bit, I am still in Autumnal Cooking Mode. Chicken chili was the dish for tonight.  I read a few recipes and decided on my own.  Here’s what I came up with:

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients
2 lbs of chicken breasts – cubed
3 large poblano chilies – roasted (see photo below)
4 cups of chicken stock
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can of corn
2 cans of white northern beans
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp Adobo
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
2 TBP Olive Oil (the liquid, not Popeye’s girl)
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Cilantro, for garnish (if desired)

First, let’s roast the poblanos and get that out of the way. Hold the chili over a low flame with a long pair of tongs until blackened. After all are blackened, place in a big bowl covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.  Cut off the top of the chili and discard seeds and stem. Then slice open the chili (charred side up) and rub charred section with a paper towel – the char will come right off. Then slice chilies for later.

Next, take a big stockpot (not that one, that’s too big – the other one…) and pour the olive oil in.  Turn the heat to medium and let the oil heat up. When it is sufficiently hot, put in your onions and cook until translucent. Then add chicken and let brown.

Next, add those chilies and spices and your stock.  Turn the heat to high and let it come to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes and turn back down to low.  Let simmer for about 2 hours. Remember to stir every once in a while.

After two hours, add corn and beans and heat through.

To serve – spoon chili into bowls, top with sour cream, cheese and cilantro – devour.

Although this was super yummy tasty….it was a fairly small bowl. So I needed dessert. Pumpkin bread! And lemon curd! Mmmmmm…..

I’m hoping that your Tuesday was just as wonderful.  And leave a comment – I know you are out there reading!

xoxo, Patti