Creamy White Chili

My SIL made this today and it was AMAZING! Everyone there loved it!I've tried a few other recipes from this lady and they have all been wonderful!

I'll have to post my own picture when I make it soon!

from melskitchencafe.com

*Serves 6

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies (if you like less kick, add just one can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream (for a lighter version, use milk)
Fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder (or fresh garlic, if using) in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately. This is especially good served with tortilla chips.

Slow Cooker Option: In a medium round slow cooker, place 1 pound chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) without cubing them. Add the chopped onion, garlic powder, beans, green chiles and all of the spices. Do not add the sour cream or whipping cream yet! Reduce the chicken broth to 12 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) and pour in over the other ingredients. Stir the mixture around a bit to incorporate the dry spices. Cook on low for 5-7 hours (if using frozen chicken you'll cook on the longer end of that spectrum, fresh chicken will cook in less time). Remove the chicken to a cutting board and shred in bite-size pieces. Stir back into the slow cooker. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream and whipping cream until smooth. Whisk the cream mixture into the crockpot with the other ingredients. Let the soup cook until heated through. Serve.

Chicken Taco Soup

This reminds me of a white taco soup. Very tasty!!!

1/2 lb boneless chicken, cubed (about 1-2 boneless, skinless breasts/canned chicken works too)
2 cans Great Northern Beans (or 1 1/2 cups dried and pressure cooked with salt & garlic)
1 (3.5 oz) can green chilies
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 lime
2 Tbsp dried cilantro

4 cups chicken broth

Condiments: (in addition to above)
Sour cream
Pepperjack cheese, shredded
Tortilla Chips

Drain beans and rinse with cold water and set aside.

Sprinkle chopped chicken with a little salt and pepper and add to pot with 1Tbsp oil in it. Add garlic as well. Cook until there's no more visible pink on the chicken, probably 3-4 minutes.

Then add green chills- along with all of the juices in the can. Add beans, onion, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt, and a few turns of fresh cracked pepper. Stir to combine and then add chicken broth.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from one lime and the cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream, cheese & tortilla chips.

Makes about 8 cups of soup.

*Oh, and this freezes well. You can put single servings into zip-locks and pop them in the freezer. Makes a great quick lunch.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I got this recipe from here and tried it tonight. It was wonderful.

1 3/4 cups (1 can) of chicken broth chicken broth
1 small onion, diced (or 1 1/2 Tbsp dried onion)

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better for flavor)
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
steamed chopped broccoli (I used about 1 1/2 cups)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. You can skip this step if you are using the dried onions (they will soften in the soup).

In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in broth and milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken.

Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 4 servings

I had my husband buy the soup bowls, but I will be trying soup bowl recipes sometime and hopefully get it posted sometime.

Potato Soup

I think I caught a little flu bug going around my area! I am now feeling much better and am back to cooking again. Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

6 medium potatoes
2 cups water
1 small onion
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
Crushed red pepper flakes
Course black pepper
3 cups milk
1/2 tsp sugar
1 to 2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup cubed ham

Bring water to a boil and place potatoes and onions in water. When the potatoes become slightly transparent (takes about 10 minutes) add butter flour and milk.

Add peppers sugar and ham. Simmer for about 15 minutes, remove from heat and add cheese. You are now ready to serve.

Great stuff thanks Jay!

There are a couple of good ways to add the flour without it becoming lumpy.

1. melt butter in microwave and mix flour with it and add to milk.
2. mix flour with a little bit of the cold milk and then add to soup.
3. melt butter in a frying pan and mix in flour then add to soup (this one dirties to many dishes for me).

This is where my favorite whip of all time comes in handy. It is a really small Pampered Chef whip. It is a Mini-Whipper for $3.50! Totally worth the few dollars. Anyway any sauce I have to make I use this whipper.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I altered a recipe to fit the ingredients that I had and made some wonderful chicken noodle soup. I'll give you the altered version.

Chicken pieces equivalent to a full breast
4 cups water
2 tsp chicken base (bullion)
2 Tbsp dried onion
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup carrots (can use frozen)
homemade egg noodles

Combine chicken, water, chicken base, onion, celery salt and bay leaf in a pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer gently for 30 - 45 minutes until chicken is fork tender. Remove chicken and set aside. Strain broth, removing onions and bay leaf. Return broth to pot and add prepared noodles and carrots (at this point you could also add potatoes and celery). Cook until tender.

Yummy soup!

While the broth was simmering I made some Homemade Egg Noodles.