Recipe: Chicken Taco Chili

If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet, I recommend it. It's a fun website that is essentially a virtual bulletin board that allows you to create various boards in different categories based on your interests. You can then share your boards with friends. Kris pinned this recipe not too long ago and I thought it looked delicious! It is for Chicken Taco Chili and was originally on another blog, called Photo A Day, so thanks to her for sharing!   This recipe was very easy and was great on a cold, windy day.  I made it on my day off, so I was able to put it together during the day and just eat it when we were hungry.

Ingredients: (Serves about 10)
1 onion, chopped
1 16 oz. can black beans
1 16 oz. can kidney beans
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
10 oz. package of frozen corn
2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with chiles
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 oz. (3) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
chili peppers, chopped (optional)
chopped fresh cilantro

First, combine the beans, onion, corn, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, cumin and chili powder in a slow cooker.

Place the chicken on top of ingredients.

Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.  About a half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.  Return chicken to the slow cooker.

Last thing you do is serve and enjoy!  I topped mine with low fat sour cream and a bit of skim mozzarella cheese.

This turned out really great!  Ross really liked it as well.  Some things to note: I only used two chicken breasts, and it was PLENTY of chicken.  I really don't think I would have done any more than that.  I also used 1 large can of diced tomatoes and just added some chopped chili peppers myself.  I like my food spicy, so I put some crushed red pepper and hot sauce in my chili as well.

This was a great slow cooker meal.  However, I think many slow cookers are different.  I cooked mine on high for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours and it was ready.  I have burnt things in the past using a slow cooker, believe it or not, so I recommend using your judgement!  There are lots of things you could add and change to this recipe according to your liking.  Enjoy!
~Kate

Review: Terry's Turf Club

There are many blog posts and reviews I have read that debate what the best burger in Cincinnati is.  If you follow any of this at all, you would know that many people feel that Terry's Turf Club on Eastern Ave is number one in their books.  It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Food Network a couple months ago and almost always tops lists of bets burgers.  I don't know if I am going to be able to say whether or not I think it is the BEST burger in the city, but it would definitely be in my top 5.  (Don't ask what my favorite is becuase I change my mind a lot!)

Last Friday, my friends Kelly and Dan suggested we go to Terry's which sounded great to me.  I hadn't been there in about a year and was in the mood for a good burger.

If you haven't been to Terry's before, it is located on Eastern Ave. near Bella Luna.  You cannot miss this place driving down the road because of the huge amounts of neon lights that adorn the exterior of the building with other various signs, statues, and wooden people.  This place definitely stands out.  There isn't a parking lot, but there is parking along the street that is available. I was a bit hesitant about going to Terry's on a Friday night because it is normally very crowded; however, we actually got sat right away! We were really excited about that because we got the last available table.  One thing to note: Terry's won't seat you until your entire party is there, so don't try to send someone earlier, they won't seat you.  We noticed a lot of people that were waiting came in to get a beer and then waited outside.

The interior of Terry's is just like the outside.  It is a small diner full of florescent neon lights, a jukebox, black and white checkered floors, and a bar along the back wall.  The jukebox wasn't on consistently, but it gets pretty noisy inside.  This is a great place to go for a fun night with friends, not a romantic dinner for two.  There were families, groups of friends, all ages.  Another time I had gone, there was actually a band playing, which I found a bit annoying.  The place is too small and it took up some of the available tables, which there aren't many anyways, so I don't really get why they have bands sometimes.

Now, on to the food.  Terry's is known for their burgers, but they do offer other selections as well, such as chicken or fish sandwiches, pork loin, and chili (menu here).  Ross and I decided to share the chili, a burger and fries.  The burgers are HUGE and an order of fries is plenty for two people, possibly even three, so I think we made a good decision to share these items.

The chili is made with filet mignon and pork tenderloin--so delicious!  There were large pieces of each of the meat along with just enough spice.  I thought this was the perfect amount of heat, I like spicy food too, and thought this was just right. Overall, I really liked this chili.  Was it the best I've ever had? No. But I had never had it with filet mignon or pork tenderloin and thought it was great.

If you haven't been to Terry's, I should note that there is a base price for burgers, then you can add various toppings, other cheeses and specialty sauces for an additional price.  I had been here two other times before, and had gotten the red pepper, goat cheese sauce one time (it was just okay), and the burgundy wine with wild mushrooms and truffles (very good).  This night, Ross and I decided to try a different sauce.  We got the rosemary, garlic, curry sauce, caramalized onions on the side, swiss cheese, and ordered it medium.  Ross sliced into the burger to cut in half and it looked like it was cooked to a perfect medium.  This burger is huge though, like I said.  I was a bit intimidated by the size.  The tomato was a thick tomato also, that I ended up having to take off because it kept sliding off.  I took a bite and immediately could taste the sweetness of the curry and thought the sauce was great!  The burger was very juicy and I liked the bun as well, it was toasted but still soft.  My biggest complaint about this burger was how messy it is.  It was pretty difficult to eat actually.  I don't mind messy food, but I didn't want to even put it down because it was so hard to pick back up and eat.

I like the fries pretty well overall.  They are handcut and thick fries.  I wish there would have been a bit of a seasoning on them though, they didn't taste as if they had really been seasoned, which I personally like.  But overall, I really liked these fries.

So, my overall opinion: I think Terry's has unique burgers that are juicy and flavorful, but messy.  The chili was pretty good, I would probably order that again.  I don't love the atmosphere in here though . I don't mind a dive, in fact, I typically like them a lot.  But this place is just SO noisy and the brightness actually is a bit much for me.  The service was good.  Pretty standard overall, our waiter was very nice and polite.  He was prompt and didn't hound us like some servers can do. I've noticed that a lot of reviews that I have read complain about the price.  I agree that some things are over-priced, like the chili was $6.50 for a cup.  The burger ended up being $10.25 with the sauce, which I don't think is terrible considering it is big enough to feed two people and the ingredients were very good.  So, if you haven't been, give Terry's a try and let us know what you think!
~Kate

Food: 4
Service: 3
Overall Experience: 3.5

Super Bowl Sunday

There's nothing I love more than an excuse for a party with excessive amounts of food (and drinks!), and Super Bowl Sunday is no exception! I threw a small get together at my house this year, and of course, had to have a huge spread of food. My white chicken chili always gets RAVE reviews and it actually won a chili contest at my work, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with that one. Several people asked for the recipe throughout the evening, so I think it's safe to say this was a crowd pleaser yet again. It's soooo easy and can be made ahead of time, which is a huge plus in my book because I'm always running around like a chicken with my head cut off whenever I throw a party. 

White Chicken Chili ("brown" chicken chili would probably be a more fitting name but doesn't sound very appetizing)

Ingredients:

1 can diced green chiles

1/2 cup diced onions

2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

1/2 tsp cumin

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts shredded or cubed (I prefer shredded)

1 can corn drained

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cup chicken broth

1 cup salsa (I use medium or hot for a little extra "kick")

1 cup sour cream
1 tsp sugar

2 tsp chili powder

Cilantro

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

(See what I mean by easy? All you have to do is open a bunch of cans!)

I'll first start out by saying that I absolutely despise onions. Very unfortunate, I know, because they are in just about everything. So needless to say, I omit the onions from this recipe, but I included them here since most people like onions. To make the chili, you start by sauting the green chiles, onions and cumin in the EVOO. Once that's finished (just a few minutes), you add the next 9 ingredients (up to chili powder) and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. I add a little Frank's Red Hot and red pepper flakes to mine for a little added spice. Serve with fresh chopped cilantro and shredded cheddar cheese, and you've got a winner! How easy is that??  

Of course, Kate and her husband made an appearance at my Super Bowl party and brought an awesome homemade salsa to share. Well, I should clarify and say that I heard from the other party-goers that it was awesome. I didn't actually try it because it had lots of fresh, diced red onions (the worst kind for onion-haters!). I'll let Kate tell you about that...

I completely agree with what Kris said...her white chicken chili was awesome!  It really was one of the best ones I have ever had.  I really liked the corn and had just enough spice!  Now, I love all salsas.  I like spicy salsa, fresh salsa, fruit salsa, you name it.  I thought it might be nice for something a little fresher for a super bowl party.  I have made it in the past and have always gotten compliments.  This too is a pretty easy recipe, as long as you don't mind doing a little chopping!  I got this recipe from one of those little pocket magazines at the check-out lines in Kroger, I love those!

Creamy Black Bean Salsa

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained

1 1/2 cup of frozen corn thawed

1 cup of sweet red pepper chopped small

3/4 cup green pepper chopped small

3/4 cup red onion chopped

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

All you do is chop everything up, make sure you rinse and drain the corn and black beans, and toss it together.  Serve with any tortillia chips you want!  It's so easy and has a little kick to it.  It's also a great summer time appetizer or you could even pack a little to take for lunch!  If you want to make it a bit healthier, you could take out the mayo and sour cream and add a tablespoon of lime juice or even open up a can of diced tomatoes (I like the ones with green chiles).