Quick Chicken-Corn Chowder

As I think I've mentioned before, during the long hiatus I took away from the blog I was still cooking and baking, so I thought I'd go through some of our photos to find something to share. Oddly enough I came across this soup/chowder that I had made just about a year ago. It seemed like an appropriate choice to share while I wait for the snow to come... the weather guy promised me 5 - 8 inches today and all I've gotten so far is some hail.

Rotisserie chicken is one of those things that always looks so good but I never really know what to do with. It always smells so good and it's hard to beat the price... it's cheaper than a raw chicken when it goes on sale. But then what to do with it? I'd probably be a little better prepared for it now, Christie has made a whole chicken a couple times now in the crockpot and we've managed to get 3 meals out of it each time. So I have a couple things I can fall back on now, but I remember getting the chicken on sale last winter and then spending quite a while figuring out what to do with it.

Search engines are amazing, but we almost suffer from too many choices because of them and that was not helping. Eventually I did what I should have done from the beginning and checked the pantry to see what was lying around and that's how I decided on this corn chowder... we always seem to have corn in the freezer.

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breast halves)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and jalapeño; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 5 minutes).

Serves 6

Adapted from recipe: Cooking Light, December 2001

Coming Soon: Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

Beef and Barley Stew with Mushrooms

I'm tempted to complain about the weather... winter is pretty dreary around Seattle. But I guess gray skies and drizzle for months on end aren't so bad compared to what most of the country has been dealing with...

What I'm going to complain about instead is the guy that's been hoarding disc 1 of Dexter Season 3 causing it to sit in my queue with a "very long wait" for the last year... seriously, what causes people to receive discs from netflix and then not return them for months at a time is beyond me. Plus, the first two seasons of Dexter are available through instant streaming so Christie and I were able to watch them and get hooked on the show... but season three!?! Nope... got to wait for Jim Bob to send the disc back.

Venting usually makes me feel better but in an effort to spread some warmth to those dealing with interesting weather, as well as jerks on netflix, I have this recipe to share. Christie often complains that I make meals that are too heavy in the summer when it's nice and warm out. So I figure that I have to take advantage of the colder months to make things like beef stew.

I think this was more of a classic stew as compared to the Steak and Mushroom stew that I shared with you just about a year ago. Still no potatoes I guess but I resolved that by serving this over mashed potatoes. The steak stew was a Williams and Sonoma recipe and that's how they recommended serving it. It sounded a little odd at first but it's really become my preferred method of enjoying stew. If you haven't tried it yet I highly recommend it.

2-3 pound chuck or round beef roast, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, diced
8-10 ounces mushrooms (1 package)
3 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup barley
salt and pepper

Fill the bottom of a large dutch oven with canola oil and set over medium-high heat until the oil is hot. Working in batches, add a single layer of meat to the bottom of the pan. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes until the cubes loosen and are seared golden-brown. Flip the cubes and sear the other sides. When all sides are seared, remove the meat to a clean bowl or plate. Sear the remaining meat in batches. If there is any liquid in the pot after the last batch is finished, pour it over the meat.

Heat one teaspoon of canola oil in the pan and cook the onions with a pinch of salt until they are translucent and brown around the edges. Add the mushrooms and another pinch of salt, and cook until they have released all the moisture and have turned golden-brown. Add the celery and cook until just softened.

Clear a space in the middle of the vegetables and sauté the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the thyme and bay leaf, and stir all the seasonings into the veggies.

Pour the wine into the pan to deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as the wine bubbles. Let the wine reduce down until most of it has evaporated or been absorbed by the veggies.

Add the meat and any drippings back to the pot. Pour in the stocks and top with enough water to cover the meat and veggies by about a half an inch. Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low.

Cover the pot and let it simmer for 1 hour. Add the barley and cook for another 45 minutes or so until the barley is cooked and the meat is almost falling apart (check by piercing it with a fork or knife. There should be no resistance and the meat should flake apart with pressure). Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as desired.

Serve in individual bowls with a crust piece of bread to mop up the broth. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for one week.

Serves 6-8

Adapted from: Recipe on www.thekitchn.com