The Hundred Years' Wardrobe

So the other day adelavanbrugge decided she wanted to make chili. I have a mild allergy to something in chili powder (I think), so she looked around for a recipe without chili powder. She found this recipe for a "white chili" which looked pretty good. We didn't have exactly what it called for, so I scrounged through the pantry and fridge for reasonable substitutes. Here's what we came up with:

Black Chili

1 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
1 cooked mild Italian sausage (leftovers in the fridge), diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 c. chopped green onion (from the freezer)
1 c. medium salsa (in the fridge a while, but seemed just fine)
2 cans black beans
2 1/2 c. homemade chicken broth (from the freezer - had to add 1/2 c water to make the full amount)
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. ground cumin

NB: many measurements wildly approximate

It went together pretty much like in the original recipe: sauteed the chicken with the onion in some olive oil, then tossed it all in the crock pot. The juice from the black beans, of course, turned the soup very dark, hence the new name. It was going to cook for 6 hours on low on a timer, but I ended up staying home sick today (and I forgot to turn the actual switch on the crock pot on this morning anyway) so instead I cooked it for 3 hours on high.

I don't know if I'd call it a chili, but it's darned tasty. Next time around, I may have to pull out the andouille sausage that's been hiding in the freezer...

It's been a long day. Things I've done:

- Made waffles for breakfast
- Made two experimental squirrel-hair paintbrushes
- Made stir fry for lunch (chicken breast, cabbage, mushroom, green onion, snap peas, broccoli)
- Inventoried adelavanbrugge's clothes for GW - need to make a couple more chemises, but otherwise she should be okay.
- Made 10 aglets, with 6 more cut and ready to shape
- Made two-layer chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting (the girl's idea; she did a good job of reading the recipe and doing some of the easier mixing bits)

Yesterday was:

- Lots of laundry and dishes
- Rebuild the girl's closet (yay for elfa!)
- Make up an experimental "Italian" meatloaf (in the oven now, we'll see how that goes)

I am tired now. Tomorrow will be helping the folks at the school disassemble and move office cubicles, and then getting myself and the girl up to Camp Grandma for the evening.

I boiled a chicken on Friday, and we've been slowly decimating the bits since then. Last night I decided that I was tired of just eating chicken pieces, so I decided to take the rest of the meat and make it into a pie. I made another lard crust, which turned out lovely, but I'm still not entirely happy with the pie filling. The last one was much better flavor-wise, though as I recall it had ground pork in it, and pork is just plain better than chicken. I did get it more moist than last time, using up the last of the chicken broth that I didn't freeze. Inside with the chicken were also carrots, peas, a little bit of onion and a Granny Smith apple. It's still good, but I'd like to have a more cohesive texture, and more flavor next time.

I got a new type of rice last time I went to the store. I forget exactly what it said on the bag, but it's definitely different from what I'm used to. The grains are long, smooth, and very sticky. I was eating some of it that was left over and thought that it would be good to make sushi out of.

( Experimentation! )

I am currently unable to move. That was a very yummy supper.

The menu:

A 14 lb. turkey, oven roasted with salt, pepper, basil, and olive oil under the skin on the breast
Mashed potatoes with feta and garlic
Scratch-made egg noodles (yay new pasta maker!), cooked in chicken broth
The best gravy I think I've made so far (butter roux and turkey drippings, no need for extra seasoning)
Rolls, cranberry, veggies, etc.

And dessert yet to come...

If you accidentally double your egg noodle recipe, your chicken noodle soup turns into dumplings and gravy. Not a bad thing, but not exactly expected.

Other recent food experiments:
Cole slaw with red wine vinaigrette dressing (served with pork chops and parmesan noodles)
Pork & cabbage stir fry
Things to do with homemade bean salsa (it's one of those can-of-this-can-of-that type recipes that makes boatloads at a time):
* eat with chips
* burritos (with or without chicken)
* quesadillas (drain well or risk sogginess)

Normally I bring my lunch to work and eat at my desk. Today I ran out of leftovers (chicken casserole, yum!) and I didn't feel like making my usual standby peanut butter sandwich, so I planned to run out somewhere nearby for quick food. I've only got half an hour for lunch (not that it's strictly clocked), so I couldn't go too far or go anywhere that would take too long. The default option is the McDonald's on the corner, but I decided I wanted actual food today.

( My trip to Hot Cafe )

After reading about madrun's onigiri, I decided to try making some myself. I took some frozen char siu out and thawed it enough to run it through the chopper. I added some chopped green onion, white wine vinegar, oyster sauce, five spice, chicken boullion, and corn starch and cooked it a little. Then I made some rice up and started making balls. It's much quicker than making bao, and hopefully will make good lunches for next week. I haven't been eating enough rice lately anyway. Hmm. Next time I should try making pickled cucumber to go in with it...