Philip & Molly's Chipotle Chicken Chili

1 large onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

1 12-oz bottle beer (or cider for GF)

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

3 chipotle peppers in adobo

3 14-oz cans beans (pinto, black, and kidney), undrained

1 can corn (optional), undrained

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

1/4 C. (heaping) masa harina

1 lime, juiced

sour cream, grated cheese, and cilantro for serving

1. Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until soft (2-3 minutes).

2. Add diced chicken and cook 3-4 minutes until lightly browned.

3. Pour in all but 1/4 C. of the beer/cider, the tomatoes, the minced chipotles, and the beans (and corn, if using).

4. Stir to combine, then add the spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

5. Whisk the masa carina with the remaining beer/cider until it's smooth, then pour it into the chili. This will thicken it and give it a really nice corn flavor.

6. Squeeze in the lime juice and stir it around and let the chili simmer for another 10 minutes or so until thick.

7. Serve it up with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and fresh cilantro!

PREPARATION/OBSERVATION NOTES:

When Philip and Molly served this to us this week, they had added an extra can of tomatoes, they did use the corn, and they used Bold Rock plain flavored cider, doubled. They also added dried cilantro in with the other seasonings, generously. For the chipotle peppers called for, they get a jar of diced chipotle peppers and just add a bunch of scoops to taste. 

Philip's Shoyu Chicken

Potatoes, cut into wedges

Carrots, cut into thick discs

Layer tubers onto a sheet pan. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle generously with garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, continue as follows:

1 medium onion, cut into thin crescent slices 

3 pounds boneless, skinless thighs

Make a sauce of:

Soy sauce (shoyu) or coconut aminos for gluten-free

Honey

Sesame oil

Rice vinegar

Chili bean paste

Powdered ginger

Garlic powder

Black pepper

(If using coconut aminos, add  a little salt. If using soy sauce, add a little sugar.)

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl and add chicken. Toss to coat well. 

Transfer chicken to sheet pan.

Toss onion in same sauce until drenched then place on chicken in sheet pan. 

Pour sauce over chicken and onion in pan.

At the end of the 15 minutes, add this sheet pan to the same 450 degree oven and continue baking for 30-40 more minutes (uncovered), basting occasionally.

Meanwhile, prepare rice in rice cooker. (Sushi rice is yummy with this!)

Serve chicken and sauce over rice with tubers on the side. 

Rainy Day Egg Drop Soup

One of Molly's favourite kinds of dishes is the warm noodle broth, but in college she would often just opt to cook noodles in a water and soy sauce mixture in between study sessions, which isn't very nourishing.

Since it's cold and rainy, I whipped up this much heartier version for our dinner. She asked me to make it another time, so I'm writing it down here for future reference. If you make it, let me know what you think!

Note that this recipe only makes enough for two as a main dish, but could easily feed more as a side to another Asian-fusion dish.

Ingredients:

• Water
• Chicken bouillon powder
• Soy sauce
• Powdered garlic
• Powdered ginger
• Sesame seeds
• Whole prickly ash pods
• Chili bean paste
• Sesame oil
• Black pepper
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Somen noodles

Directions:

1. Boil 3 cups of water. Add a heaping tablespoon of chicken bouillon powder, stir, and let boil for a couple minutes.
2. Add a splash of soy sauce, a generous dash of garlic, a few fingerfuls of the prickly ash, a good dusting of sesame seeds, a teaspoon of the chili bean paste, a generous dash of black pepper, a generous dash of sugar, a little bit of sesame oil, and as much ginger as you'd enjoy (I put in just a little less than the garlic).
3. Stir everything together, then let the mixture boil for a couple minutes until it becomes a nice broth.
4. In a separate bowl, mix two eggs with a quarter cup cold water. Pour the egg mixture into the broth, stirring the whole time with a fork. Boil for a good three or four minutes, until the eggs have cooked into lots of little visible chunks swirling in the broth.
5. Add a packet of somen noodles and boil for two minutes, stirring at intervals. (Our somen noodles come in a package with several individually bound sections of noodles. I used one of the individual sections, not the whole package.)
6. Let sit for a couple minutes, then serve up into two bowls and enjoy!

Seven-Layer Cookie Bars

This was originally our friend Ms. Christine's recipe, but I have become famous for making it.
'ding 2 (Philip)

NOTE from Laurie: This is a quick and easy recipe when you need a sweet treat to share, but they are very sweet (what my family calls "sicky sweet"!) and I can't really eat them if they're made according to the recipe. When I make them, I cut the quantity of both types of chips by half.

1 stick butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 C.  bittersweet chocolate chips (Sicky sweet—use significantly less!)
1 C.  butterscotch chips (Sicky sweet—use significantly less!)
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk

In square metal pan, melt butter. Stir in graham cracker crumbs. Sprinkle with layers of the following: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and pecans. Pour the milk over this. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool and then cut into small squares. (They are very rich!)