Cooking for friends (Chicken, Corn, and Chile Chowder and Four Fruit Crisp)

To me, there is nothing quite as rewarding as cooking for other people.  Cooking for myself is just too boring; definitely not worth the effort of making a fancy recipe!  I don't even like to eat alone if I can help it!  Alas, with all the wedding planning that I have been doing I have barely had time to cook for anyone!  This post represents two such times this month when I have!

Chicken, Corn, and Chile Chowder

Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 cups corn, cut off the cob, or frozen (I just use a can of corn)
2 cups cooked chicken, boned, skin removed, and diced
2 long green chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 dashes Tabasco Sauce (I use Cholula)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup half and half

Procedure:

1) Heath the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, garlic, and celery and saute until limp.

2) Stir in the corn, cooked chicken, green chile, Tabasco Sauce, and chicken stock.

3) Cook over low heat until warmed through, add the half and half and continue cooking until hot- but do not let boil.

  A very easy recipe and one I've made many times.  This time, it was in celebration of my friend Nicole (Guinea Pig) coming over.  I had leftover half and half so decided to throw this together.  I was lazy and asked GP to bring over a whole rotisserie chicken.  Alas, they didn't have any at the grocery store so she brought over fried chicken instead.  Boy, did we have fun de-skinning that fried chicken and tearing the meat to bits.  Can we help it that some of it ended up in our mouth rather than in the bowl?  Quite an easy recipe.  Definitely make sure to use real green chiles; the canned stuff just doesn't cut it!

Guinea Pig enjoying a bowl of chicken, corn and chile chowder

A delicious and easy soup



Scott and GP


Four fruit crisp

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups each of four fruits (or use more of one kind)
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Procedure:

1) Mix together the fruit and pour into a 10" pie pan.

2) Mix everything else together until crumbly.  Evenly sprinkle over the fruit.

3) Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F until fruit bubbles and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes; may take longer if using frozen fruit.

  I have been wanting to try this recipe ever since I read about it.  I figured it would be a perfect way to get rid of the spare berries from the farmer's market that I had sitting around.  When Scott and I got invited over to Amber Claunch's house, I knew this would be the perfect dessert to bring.  I used frozen blueberries, cut strawberries and blackberries for my fruits.  It took a little over 30 minutes (I'd say about 40 min) until it got to the color/consistency that I wanted.  All thought it was delicious!
  Notes from the recipe: Don't have four kinds of berries or fruits? Use more of the same kind.  This recipe works well with fresh, frozen or canned fruit.  Adjust the amount of sugar to the sweetness of the fruit.  List of fruits to use: raspberries, blueberries, marionberries, boysenberries, huckleberries, saskatoons, mulberries, strawberries, sour cherries, peaches, apples.  Another alternative to just mixing the fruit together: The fruits can be cooked with 1/4 cup water 1/4-1/2 cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit) and 2 tbsp. cornstarch to thicken before baking.

Four fruit crisp (okay, really three fruit crisp)

Scott, Amber Claunch and her boyfriend Dana