Confetti Chicken Chili

I have a darling little dog named Frito and I am always asked why he is named after a corn chip. The simple answer is that on the day he came to us as a puppy, I had made chili and in my family, we always serve chili with Fritos. He took off with a couple of fritos that we dropped from the table and we started calling him Frito Bandito - Frito for short. I might add that his paws smell like the corn chips too. The chili I made that night is one of my sons' favorite foods and it has ended being comfort food for us when life gets stressful. Frito no longer likes corn chips - he much prefers squeaky balls, but we all still like this chili recipe. It's a little lighter than the usual chili because I use ground chicken and I don't like so many beans, so I also add corn. These ingredients, along with the red and green peppers makes the chili feel very festive and the various colors make it look like a bit like confetti. You can also make it with ground beef if you like or ground turkey works too. It's quick and easy and has won over some friends who aren't that fond of the canned stuff. With a recipe this easy and good, there is no need to buy canned chili again! We serve it with fritos of course or Tortilla Chips and also shredded cheddar cheese.

Confetti Chicken Chili

1 pound ground chicken

1 onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1/2 green pepper chopped

1/2 red (or orange) pepper chopped

1 large can (28 oz) tomato sauce (I use Hunts)

1 can chicken broth

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

2 - 3 Tablespoons chili powder (I use McCormick and Schmick's)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or several dashes of hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Place olive oil in large pot. Heat and add onions, garlic and peppers. Cook until onion is just wilted and add the ground chicken. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Ad tomato sauce, chicken broth, beans, corn and seasoning. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, raw onions if desired and fritos or tortilla chips.

Five Element Analysis

This is a very colorful dish and that is the biggest clue that the Five Elements are represented well here. Chili by it's very nature is a Fire food - it is from the hot Southwest and  this dish also has lots of tomatoes, peppers and some hot chili, which all belong to the Fire Element. The addition of chicken adds some of the Wood Element and the garlic, onions and cumin bring in the Metal Element. The black beans add the Water Element, while the corn and corn chips bring in the Earth Element. As you can see, this ends up being a very balanced bowl of food!

Swedish Almond Cake

I have to admit that I've never been much of a chocolate person. Oh I do enjoy a wonderful piece of Swiss chocolate at Sprungli when I am in Zurich, but it's actually not a common craving for me. I once read that people are either into chocolate or lemon which I think is way too few choices as I am quite into almond as a sweet flavor. So when I suddenly develop a sweet tooth that doesn't involve cooking fruit, I will make an almond cake - my next choice after that always involves cinnamon, but that's for another day.

If you like almonds like me, than you would really enjoy my Father's favorite almond cake. I learned to make this when I was quite young. I believe the original name is Tosca Cake but we always called it Swedish Almond Cake. The original recipe only called for vanilla extract, but I like almonds so much that I add some almond extract too. The topping is a classic Swedish cookie and cake sauce that caramelizes as it cooks. One of my friends has a Mom who bakes it on top of graham crackers and it makes a lovely cookie that I will post someday. Anyway, I love to serve this cake with raspberries and strawberries. My sons insist that it needs lightly sweetened whipped cream too. Enjoy!

Swedish Almond Cake

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cream (or whole milk)

1/2 cup (or one stick) melted butter

Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts together until light. Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Stir in flour mixture into creamed mixture 1/2 at a time and stir until well blended. Add butter mixture and stir until smooth.

Butter a 9" pie pan (I use a Pyrex pie pan) and spoon batter into pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes or until center is just becoming firm. Remove pan from oven and turn heat up to 375 degrees.

Make topping mixture below and spread very carefully on top of cake to cover. Put cake back int he oven and cook 5 - 10 minutes or until the mixture is brown and bubbling. Serve in wedges. Good with whipped cream and raspberries or strawberries.

Almond Topping:

1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds

1/4 cup melted butter

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cream (or milk)

1 Tablespoon flour

Five Element Analysis

I'll never pretend that desserts are a balanced meal but they are quite wonderful as an extra helping of the Earth Element! This cake is very sweet so it is clearly Earthy and the almonds emphasize that element even more. The whipped cream brings in some of the Metal Element and some raspberries or strawberries add a little Wood from their tartness but  belong to the Fire Element. Serving this cake with tea or coffee adds even more Fire. 

Dal Soup

I've started cooking again now that I am back in Seattle. One of my goals when I get back from a teaching tour is to regain my energy back from what is usually terrible jetlag. And of course, that means I make soup. As I love Indian food, I will often make Dal Soup. I make it thinner than is served in Indian restaurants as there it is more like a stew or gravy. I like it to have some broth in mine so that when it is poured over Basmati Rice, it still has some soupiness to it. I like to use Moong or Mung Beans although red lentils work well too. Mung Beans are the little yellow pulses that are sprouted into Bean Sprouts or made into Mung Bean or cellophane noodles from their flour. In India, Moong Dal is used to treat the sick, the elderly and small children as it is very nourishing. I don't make mine very spicy as I have a low heat tolerance so I only ad one Serrano Chili. I love the addition of tomatoes and sometime add spinach too as it makes it more colorful. This is one of my older son's favorite soups and another recipe that is frequently requested by my intensive students. I hope you enjoy it too!

Dal Soup

2 cups Moong Dal (yellow split mung beans), washed and drained

10 cups water

½ tsp turmeric

1 - 2 serrano chilis seeded and minced fine

2 tsps salt

6 Tbsps ghee or butter

2 small or one large onion chopped

1 ½ tsps cumin seeds

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, finely minced or mashed

2 large or 4 small tomatoes diced

1 bunch of cilantro leaves

1 small bunch spinach leaves (optional)

Additional salt and pepper to taste

In large pot, mix Dal, water, turmeric, Serrano chilis and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, skim and cook until tender – about 45 minutes. In a frying pan, heat ghee and fry onions with cumin seeds until the onions are light golden color. Add garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add tomato and cilantro. Cook until mixture becomes smooth. Add tomato mixture to Dal mixture. Add spinach if using. Then, cook it all together for an additional few minutes and serve with basmati rice.

Five Element Analysis

Soup is always part of the Water Element although this one has a lot of Earth Element foods too. Mung Beans are also Watery, but they are yellow and soft when cooked so they embody the Earth Element as well and the very nature of this soup is thick and creamy, which adds even more to that Earthy experience. The tomatoes add some of the Fire Element which is also enhanced by the Serrano Chili. The Metal Element is represented by the spices and the white rice it is served on and the garlic and onions bring even more Metal in. The Wood Element is represented by the cilantro and spinach. So this ends up being a very balanced little bowl of soup!

Fleisch-Pflanzl or Bavarian Meatballs

I am still in Europe teaching and haven't had much of a chance to cook. But, I learned how to make - Fleisch-Pflanzl - otherwise known as Bavarian Meatballs. They actually look more like hamburger patties, but they are quite wonderfully moist and delicious and luckily they are very easy to make! I'm going back to Seattle next week and my sons have already requested a repeat performance. I served them with boiled potatoes and mushroms and what they call Mange Tout - which means "eat all"- otherwise known as Snow Pea Pods. My friends were quite impressed with the results and said that my Bavarian Roots were showing. They eat them with mustard - I added some sauteed mushrooms finished off with a bit heavy cream to serve over the potatoes. We also had strawberries for dessert. Hope you enjoy these too!

Bavarian Meatballs

1 pound ground beef

2 slices white loaf bread

1/2 cup warm beef broth (or 1/2 cup warm water mixed with 1/2 beef boullion cube)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 small onion minced fine (minus about 2 Tablespoons for the mushrooms)

2 Tablespoons butter

Soak bread in beef broth until soft and mush into very small pieces. Meanwhile, melt butter and saute onion until soft and then add to bread mixture. Add ground beef along with salt and pepper. Mix together very thoroughly. Shape into palm sized patties and place in a frying pan. Cook on medium heat until each side is brown and then heat a few minutes more on each side. Remove to serving plate.

Mushrooms with Cream Sauce

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Minced Onion

1 box button mushrooms - about 12 washed and sliced

1/4 cup cream

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or 1/4 teaspoon salt with 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Melt butter in frying pan on medium heat. Add in onions and stir until they become translucent. Add mushrooms and saute until their liquid is released and they soften and turn darker brown. Add in cream and bring to boil for 2 - 3 minutes. Add in garlic salt or salt and garlic powder and serve in a bowl.

Five Element Analysis

Beef belongs to the Earth Element, but the bread adds a bit of the Wood Element and the onions bring in some Metal. By itself, this dish is not very balanced in terms of the Five Elements. Therefore, some additional side dishes and condiments are necessary. The traditional mustard brings in more Metal whereas the mushrooms add more Earth and the cream adds more Metal. So, green vegetables are helpful for bringing in more of the Wood Element. Only the Fire Element needs representation and my son suggested Ketchup or Sricha Hot Sauce! You could probably add an arugula salad or some sliced tomatoes. I served strawberries to bring in the fire to round out the elements.

Leonore's Spanish Style Mussels

My friend Leonore has been visiting from Ireland with her husband and we went to the Pike Place Market. This is my favorite place to take my house guests as I go to buy the freshest produce in Seattle and it's also a great tourist destination and a good place for them to buy Seattle products. Probably most known for the flying fish stand, it really is a great place to buy seafood. Penn Cove Mussels looked especially good and after also securing some great cheese at DeLaurenti's and the Spanish Table along with some great Chorizo and some crusty bread, we went home to make a Northwest/Spanish feast. Leonore is originally from Spain so she made mussels in the Spanish style with a tomato sauce and even my son, who normally dislikes most everything with tomato sauce in it (except pizza) became an instant convert. Her mussels were delicious! The sauce was amazing for soaking up bread so make sure to have lots on hand. Here's her wonderful recipe:

Spanish Mussels

2 pounds Penn Cove Mussels rinsed

2 cups white wine

3 bay leaves

4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 large shallot chopped

1 small onion chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

2 Tablespoons Basil torn into small pieces

1 large 28 oz can Tomato Sauce

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and add shallot, onion and garlic. Stir until onion and shallot is softened. Add in Tomato Sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add Basil, stir and turn off heat. Meanwhile, get mussels ready to cook.

In a pot large enough to hold all the mussels, heat white wine and bay leaves until wine is boiling. Add in mussels and steam for 5 minutes or until most of the mussels are open. Discard all that do not open. Remove mussels and add to the Tomato Sauce mixture. Strain out about one cup of wine/mussel broth, removing bay leaves and also add to the tomato mixture. Stir to mix and serve in bowls with lots of crusty bread for dipping.

Five Element Analysis

Mussels are clearly from the Water Element and enhance kidney and reproductive organ function. Tomato Sauce belongs to the Fire Element. Garlic, Shallot and Onions represent the Metal Element along with the Basil and Bay Leaves. The bread adds the Wood Element. Only the Earth Element is missing so serve something Earthy as a side dish or something sweet for desert.

Tofu with Barbecue Pork

People seem to either love or hate tofu. I happen to love it. I crave it when I don't have it for a while and I grew up eating it all the time. Tofu has the wonderful characteristic of absorbing whatever sauce you cook it in. Tofu has great nutritional value as it is high in protein and very digestible. In Chinese Medicine, it is considered a cooling food so it is especially good served when the weather is hot.  It is thought to lubricate dryness, detoxifies and strengthens the stomach.  So, it is definitely worth eating and sometimes you just need to know how to cook it.

I often hear from people that they dislike the soft texture of tofu, but they are clearly not aware of the numerous textural variations that tofu manufacturers have created that mimic meat. You can buy tofu textured and flavored to be used as mock chicken and you can eat dishes made from it in Chinese Vegetarian restaurants. My personal favorite of these varieties is Tofu Skin which is skimmed off the top of the vats when they make tofu. You have probably seen Tofu Skin at Dim Sum restaurants as they often use it to wrap meat and vegetables.

Another variety of tofu I really like is pressed tofu. This can now be bought in many health food stores and you can actually make it at home as we used to do when I was a child. Just buy a carton of firm tofu and put it between paper towels, then newspapers and then weigh it all down with a heavy book until the water presses out in a few hours. The texture becomes quite firm and meaty. I usually buy my pressed tofu at our local Uwajimaya store - a wonderful Japanese grocery store in Seattle. My family calls this kind of tofu - "Tofu Kan" and we simply slice it into thin slivers, stir fry it and add a little soy sauce. We eat this for breakfast with rice and it is a wonderful way to start the day. My older son's favorite way with tofu it is to cook it with slivers of green onion, sliced Chinese Barbecue Pork or sliced fresh pork and sliced celery. It can also be made with a package of extra firm tofu cut into cubes. The texture will be different but the taste will still be great - but make sure that you cut the pork, celery and green onions into shorter smaller pieces. It's important for all the ingredients in a Chinese dish to be about the same size so they cook together well. This recipe is very simple and it's really good - we've converted a lot of tofu haters with this particular dish:

Tofu with Barbecue Pork

9 ounces pressed (often called dried tofu) or 14 oz container firm fresh tofu - sliced into shreds

4 green onions, cut into 2 inch inch slivers

3 stalks celery cut into two inch lengths and sliced into slivers

1/3 lb of Barbecue Pork (or sliced fresh pork marinated in small amount of rice wine and soy sauce)

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

1 - 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce or Tamari

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a frying pan or wok until hot. Add green onions and stir fry for just a few minutes. Add celery and tofu and stir fry for an additional 2 minutes. Then add in Barbecue Pork or fresh pork and stir fry for another few minutes until warmed through or cooked through for fresh pork and some of the tofu is very lightly browned. Add 1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce and see if the tofu changes color. If it is too white, add another 1/2 Tablespoon or the additional full Tablespoon. The tofu should be lightly salty. Also add in the black pepper, stir to coat and serve with fresh steamed rice or Chinese Onion Pancakes.

Five Element Analysis

This is usually served as one of several dishes in a Chinese Meal so it is not meant to be completely balanced by itself. This dish consists of the Metal Element from the tofu along with the green onions. Pork is from the Water Element as is the soy sauce and celery is from the Fire Element. The Earth Element and the Wood Elements are missing. Onion Pancakes add the Wood Element from the wheat and any other green stir fried vegetable as another dish will add even more Wood. Earth is deficient however as serving it with rice brings in more Metal so I often serve Sesame Cucumber Salad with it (see previous post on 3/16) or have fruit for a light dessert to balance the meal.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli and Cauliflower

One of the main reasons that I started a food blog is that my sons have asked me to  compile the recipes for the food I have been cooking for them all their lives. They are just about to go off on their own so this has become a living cookbook for this last phase of having my sons at home. And if they are home, they usually want something to eat! So, many of these recipes are things they request and they are often very simple foods - except that I raised my sons on a wide variety of ethnic foods from around the world so they wouldn't be too ethnocentric when they started traveling. But sometimes, the best homemade food is uncomplicated comfort food. And in the ongoing effort to get my sons to eat vegetables, I've tried every way imaginable to prepare them. What I found is that they really love them stir fried or roasted - actually they love roasted food of all kinds.

So, last night, I roasted a chicken. I tried a new way - roasting it for less time (one hour) and at a higher temperature than usual (450 degrees) and it turned out wonderfully. I also roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. I like to make my oven work hard when it's on so I put the vegetables in when the chicken was halfway done and the vegetables carmelized beautifully. My oldest son loves the way sweet potatoes almost taste like candy when they brown. My younger son loves the garlicky broccoli and cauliflower and asks me to make sure they are very browned. I use garlic powder or dehydrated garlic as it is less likely to burn than fresh garlic. Here's the simple recipes:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Heat oven to 450 degrees

2 Orange Sweet Potatoes (often incorrectly called Yams), peeled and cut into 1" chunks

2 Yellow Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

5 - 6 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning (I like Lousianne)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Sea Salt to taste

Toss Sweet Potatoes chunks in olive oil and place on large baking pan. Sprinkle with Cajun Seasoning, Garlic Powder and Sea Salt. Place in oven and roast for 15 minutes. Take out of oven and turn with a spatula. Return to oven and cook for an additional 10 - 15 minutes or until Sweet Potatoes are browned and a little crusty.

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

Heat oven to 450 degrees

1 small head Broccoli, florets broken off, stalk peeled and cut into 1/2 wide chunks

1 small head Cauliflower, broken into florets

4 - 5 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

On a large baking pan, toss Broccoli and Cauliflower with Olive Oil, Garlic Powder and Sea Salt. Place in oven and roast for 10 minutes, turn and roast for 10 - 15 minutes more or until broccoli and cauliflower just begin to brown.

Five Element Analysis

Sweet Potatoes are wonderfully earthy. They are so sweet - what else could they be? And carmelizing makes them even earthier. The olive oil adds some of the Wood Element, the Cajun seasoning adds Fire (from the heat) and Metal from the spices and the salt adds just a hint of the Water Element. It clearly needs to accompany some other foods to be balanced, but it is a very healthy earthy food. The ancient Chinese believed that sweet potatoes balanced blood sugar and could help prevent diabetes.

The broccoli belongs to the Wood Element and the cauliflower to the Metal Element. The garlic adds even more Metal and the olive oil adds some Wood. Because they carmelize, there is a little bit of Earth Element added, but the Fire are missing. So a Fire beverage or desert would round this meal out and perhaps a better protein might be pork or fish so that the Water Element is better represented.