chicken chili

I've heard about "chicken chili" — and have never tried it — and was poking around the internet for a recipe. After some deliberation, I decided that I wasn't buying a rôtisserie chicken or roasting a chicken first. Instead, I started by sautéeing an onion in my crock pot, adding two each chopped poblano and jalapeno peppers (above photo), and then I added the meat of a raw chicken (I kept the bones on the drumsticks and removed them after cooking), a heaping tablespoon each freshly toasted and ground coriander and cumin, a quart of stock (from a previous chicken, this carcass goes into another pot), a cup or two of navy beans that had soaked for less than an hour (given that I planend to cook them overnight) some salt and a ground, dried and toasted cayenne pepper or two. This sat in my crockpot overnigth on low.

And the result was this (above). This provided a fantastic meal (actually multiple; and I froze part of this for upcoming PhD exams when I will only have time to thaw and reheat). Cilantro, black pepper and lime make it complete.

tacos

Long day workwise and had not eaten by 8pm, so I figured that I ought to. I was craving tacos, but there are not any great taquerias near my house, and I already had onions, cilantro and jalapenos: I bought a couple of bone-in breasts (I refuse to buy skinless chicken breasts) and ground them up whole on the coarse setting running the skin through as well (in a meat grinder that is at least fifty years old but works perfect). I toasted cumin seeds, peppercorns and dried cayenne peppers and then ground them up. I heated a bit of water in a sauté pan (I trick I learned making the Thai dish laab), added some salt and the ground chicken and then stirred in the spice mixture and cooked until it was done and the liquid was mostly gone. Heat your (corn) tortillas as normal and serve with cilantro, onions, and jalapenos. The jalapenos are perfect for muggy weather and the allergies associated therewith, and even grinding your own meat, this only takes minutes.