hungry poodle

Julia, you are NOT an approved condiment!

Fall leaves, cool weather, poodles in the chili.

Wait. That wasn’t in the script. Julia, get out of there, you pesky poodle pup!

We now have a Slow Cooker category on hungry poodle, owing to the fact that, due to my limited kitchen access with the house painting et al, (We’re waiting for Godot to come and finish it up!) I’ve been focusing on slow cooker recipes. This is a good thing, as I’m learning the pros and cons of slow cookers and I can pass along my suggestions for what I think works, and what doesn’t.

Here is a another recipe that made the cut. This is the second white chicken chili recipe I’ve posted, and I think this one is better than the first. In this one you puree a can of hominy with beans and broth, which gives the chili a subtle corn flavor and thickens it at the same time. It’s adapted from Cooks Country, a division of Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen.

I’ve made a few changes, such as using boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs, and adding some corn to the finished chili. I also added the diced tomatoes with chilies. Be sure to drain the tomatoes before adding them to avoid turning the chili pink. As is the case with most stews, this tastes better the second and third day out.

If you don’t have an asbestos-lined mouth, you may want to decrease the number of jalapenos, but they do tame down during the long cooking process.

3 16-oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 16-oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 10-oz. can Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies, well drained
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 T. ground cumin
2 t. ground coriander
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 T. jarred pickled jalapenos, chopped
1 cup frozen, thawed corn

Puree 1 can of cannellini beans, hominy, broth, and ¾ teaspoon salt in blender or food processor until completely smooth. Pour into slow cooker.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in nonstick skillet and lightly brown chicken breasts. Add to slow cooker.

Cook onions, chiles, and ½ teaspoon salt in skillet until golden brown. Add garlic, cumin, and coriander and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to slow cooker.

Add remaining two cans of beans and drained tomatoes to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW until chicken is tender, about 3 to 4 hours. Transfer chicken to bowl. When cool enough to handle, shred into bite-sized pieces. Stir cilantro, pickled jalapeños, shredded chicken and corn into chili.

Serve topped with more cilantro, avocado and plain Greek yogurt.

Serves 6 to 8

*Slow Cooker

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In his memoir, “A Christmas Memory,” Truman Capote wrote about how his distant cousin Sook arose one cold morning in late November and declared, “It’s fruitcake weather.” They then embarked on their annual trek of gathering the ingredients to make 30 fruitcakes.

I love fruitcake, perhaps not so much the thing itself as the seasonal ritual of gathering the long list of ingredients and macerating dried fruit in brandy for several days beforehand. (The kitchen takes on a boozy, fruity aroma that wafts through the entire house and is as enticing as the scent of a freshly cut Christmas tree.)

It is not yet fruitcake weather here. However, soup season is in full swing. Finally, after a long, inordinately hot Midwest summer during which the thought of consuming anything hot was inconceivable, we can return to steamy bowls of veggies, beans and pasta.

Here is the minestrone I make when I want a soup-bowl full of healthy comfort food at its best. It’s adapted from Cooking Light’s “Slow Cooker” cookbook. Over time I’ve made minor changes according to my tastes and what was on hand. For instance, I don’t use flavored canned tomatoes (Cooking Light calls for diced tomatoes with garlic, whereas I like to add my own seasonings.) Also, the recipe calls for a 10-oz. package of frozen chopped spinach; I prefer to toss in chopped fresh spinach near the end of cooking time. Choose your poison.

This is a soup that you can devour humongous quantities of without suffering any qualms that you’re overindulging. Go ahead–eat your soup! It’s good for you!

Anne arose one cool morning in late October and declared, "It's soup weather!"

2 t. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 baking potato, peeled and chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
3 14-oz. cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes and their juice
1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 t. dried Italian seasoning
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup uncooked small pasta (I used shells)
1 5-oz. package fresh baby spinach, chopped
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

In a nonstick skillet heat olive oil and cook onions and garlic until they begin to soften. Add to slow cooker along with all ingredients except pasta and spinach and cook on LOW for 5 hours. Add pasta and spinach and cook on LOW for 30 minutes or until pasta is cooked. Add water if soup is too thick. Serve with grated cheese.

Serves: 6 (each serving is 2 cups)

*Slow Cooker

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I found this unique vegetarian chili recipe in an older Weight Watcher slow cooker cookbook, “Slow Good”. It features two kinds of beans and sweet potatoes in a curry/chili powder combination that’s subtle but delicious.

It also has an innate sweetness that you’re either going to like or not. The recipe calls for two tablespoons of brown sugar that I would omit next time as we found it to be just a tad bit too sweet. Otherwise, it’s a nice change from standard beef chili, and the vegetables give you your five-a-day in one bowlful!

2 leeks,washed and trimmed to white and light-green parts, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
1 15-oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I used pinto beans)
1 14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
2 1/2 T. chili powder
2 T. packed light brown sugar (I would leave this out next time)
1 1/2 t. curry powder
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 t. cinnamon
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 lb. green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 T. red wine vinegar

Place leeks, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, brown sugar, curry powder, cumin, pepper and cinnamon in a slow cooker and stir to combine.

With the back of a spoon, gently press the vegetables so that they form an even layer. Place the sweet potatoes on top, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the slow cooker. Place the green beans on top of the potatoes. Cover and cook until the vegetables are fork-tender, 4 hours on HIGH or 8 hours on LOW. I cooked this on LOW for only 6 hours, as the vegetables were cooked in that amount of time. Stir in the vinegar.

Serves 4
*Slow Cooker

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The search for stellar slow cooker recipes continues. This week I hit a snag– I cooked (a euphemism, to be sure) a pork loin roast with cubed butternut squash and dried fruit. Sounds very fall-like and savory, doesn’t it?

To say that it didn’t work is another euphemism. The pork was so overdone that it fell apart into dry shards when I tried to slice it. And the butternut squash dissolved when I even gently stirred it with a spoon. In short, we had to eat it in bowls with spoons, not exactly what I had in mind for this particular dish.

Herein lies a limit to what slow cookers can and cannot do. They cannot cook dissimilar ingredients at the same time without overcooking some of them, which is why I think it’s a good idea to stick with recipes from actual slow cooker cookbooks written by bona fide authors/cooks who know how to use this convenient appliance properly.

Fall dinner on the patio.

I turned once again to Michele Scicolone, author of, “The Italian Slow Cooker”. My second attempt from her new cookbook (See “How to Kill a Chicken Twice…”) was this hearty vegetable-based soup, and it was spot-on in directions and taste. Delicious!  The pork fiasco is quickly fading from memory.

Here’s an adaptation of her Milan-Style Pasta and Bean Soup. This makes a lot of thick, rich-tasting soup, but fear not, you can freeze single or double portions for later.

2 T. olive oil
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 medium celery stalks, chopped
3 medium boiling potatoes, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 16-oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra if soup becomes too thick
4 oz. dried soup pasta, such as elbows or tubetti

In a large pot, heat oil. Stir in sage, rosemary, carrots, celery, potatoes and onions. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a slow cooker.

Stir in tomatoes and beans. Add the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on LOW about 6 hours, or until all ingredients are very tender.

Turn slow cooker to HIGH. Remove half of the soup and puree it in a food processor or blender. Return it to the slow cooker, add the dried pasta, cover and cook until pasta is tender, about 30 minutes.

Serves 8

If soup becomes too thick, add additional broth.

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