Cooler Weather and Warmer Food!!

Hi, Friends!   I've been in the house a lot the last few days because it has been raining; however, on Saturday I helped a friend on his food truck, and it was raining and we were tailgating, and even though it was a little slow at first we picked up some great customers!  That was a fun, first time experience!

On those days that I was in the house trying to stay dry, I cooked up some regular cooler weather comfort food!  I hope you find something you like!

• Ground Turkey Chili - It's that time of year!


• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1-28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes in juice (my personal preference, and I cut them up, literally, with scizzors) 
• 1-15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1-15 ounce can kidney beans (with liquid)
• 1-15 ounce can pinto beans (with liquid)
• 1 large onion, medium dice
• 1 large green bell pepper, medium dice (I also diced a red one)
• 1 stalk of celery (I used celery seed due to no celery)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth (or water)

Put the ground turkey, bell peppers and onions in a dutch oven and cook until the turkey is browned; drain the fat off the turkey mixture and put it back into the dutch oven.  Add all of the other ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer for two-three hours.

I doubled the recipe and froze half of it for another day.  I love easy freezer dinners!

Dinner's ready!

These are some of my favorite things!  If I had the money I would blow these pictures up and hang them in my house!  These are some more beautiful vegetables that my next door neighbors, Helen and Jay, gave me.  I have never seen a purple bell pepper before!  Beautiful!  Look at those  tomatoes and peppers on this breakfast dish!

 HONEY GARLIC CROCKPOT CHICKEN BREASTS

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or thighs
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ⅓ cup honey
• ½ cup ketchup 
• ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (dry, if it's all you have)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch in a slurry (dissolve in cold water)
  
• ½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• More chopped FRESH parsley for additional garnish (optional)


• Place the chicken breasts in your slow cooker.  In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, oregano and parsley.  Pour the honey mixture over the chicken and cover.  Cook on low 6-7 hours or on high 3-4 hours or until chicken is done.  Know your Crock Pot!  I have two (actually they are my sister's) and they cook at different temperatures.
  


• Place the chicken on a serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm.  Place the sauce from the cooked chicken into a  small sauce pan on low-medium heat and add the balsamic vinegar and cornstarch slurry (do not add cornstarch before dissolving it first in cold water!).  Let the sauce reduce until it thickens to a nice, glossy consistency and pour it over the chicken. Cover with the sesame seeds and serve a beautiful and tasty plate of chicken!  We had green beans and macaroni and cheese with ours!  Two of the chicken breasts were left whole, two were pulled, in case you noticed the difference!
  

BLT Steak NYC Popovers

I can't tell you about these great popovers without telling you that I am a Chef Tyler Florence fan.  If you don't know who that is, he is the host of The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network, and he has other shows, and he is very good looking.  On one of the Food Network shows, Best Thing I Ever Ate, Chef Tyler picked these popovers as one of his favorites.  The steakhouse in New York that makes them gives out the recipes with the baskets of popovers in their restaurant, so I had to try them, and they're delicious.  

The recipe calls for a topping of Gruyere cheese.  SOMETIMES, I am a food purist, so I think I will like these better without the cheese.  However, these were easy and tasted great, my sister liked them a lot, and I can't wait to make them again for friends!  Click on the picture of the popovers for the recipe!

Here's the latest on Sawyer.  Here she is a few weeks after her open heart surgery, happy and healthy and smiling and beautiful!  She's going through a lot of therapy for a few more weeks so she hasn't been able to socialize.  I hope I'll be able to have lots more pictures of her soon!  She loves her Aunt Niecey, can't you tell?  

Friends, I hope you're enjoying the cooler weather.  Let's send up some prayers for our friends in South Carolina who got more than their share of the latest rain.

Stay safe, I hope you enjoyed the blog, and enjoy some easy, comfort food!  Until next time!

Dished With Love!  Denise