Buffalo Chicken Chowder

I have decided the crockpot excels at two tasks: cooking meats that will be shredded (chicken soft tacos, Dr. Pepper pulled pork, etc...) and making soup (chicken enchilada soup.) This soup was no exception. I altered my meal plan to include it as soon as I saw it on Prevention RD's fabulous blog.  I made a few changes, I omitted the bleu cheese and added carrots...just like I like my Buffalo wings.  C and Miss F both enjoyed this soup very much, but both of them refused to eat any celery.  Their loss.  Little did they know that there was celery inside the soup.  Tricky, tricky.

Buffalo Chicken Chowder

4 to 6 red potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
2 breasts boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
½ onion, roughly chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper, divided
¼ teaspoon ground thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups half-and-half
2/3 cups chicken broth
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Franks hot sauce or wing sauce of your choosing
5 celery stalks, cut in half, for serving

Add the potatoes, chicken, onion, carrots and celery to your crockpot. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, thyme, and cayenne pepper.

Combine the half and half and chicken broth in a four cup measure. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Add the hot sauce and whisk again. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the chicken and vegetables in the crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 10. Before serving, stir well.

Top with drizzle of buffalo sauce, if desired. Serve with celery stalks.

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Sour Cream Waffles

My most favorite pancakes involve a lot of sour cream. The thing is, I don't really enjoy sour cream. Not in dips, not on a baked potato, it just isn't my thing. But when you stir it into baked breakfast goods...it transforms them into something so fluffy and delicious. My usual waffle recipe involves separating eggs, beating the egg whites and folding them in. The kitchen looks like a disaster after I make them and I have dirtied upwards of seven bowls. This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown and it is SO much easier. And the waffles are SO much better. I cannot wait to try them with different additions.

Sour Cream Waffles

1 cup whole milk
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt

Heat waffle iron. Combine wet ingredients and whisk well to combine. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and form a well in the center. Add the wet mixture to the well and fold in with the dry. Don't worry if there are a few lumps. When iron is hot, spray lightly with non-stick spray. Spoon ½ to ¾ cup of batter onto the center of the iron and cook until a golden brown crust forms, about 3 to 5 minutes.

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Baked Penne with Chicken, Spinach and Peppers

As room mom for Miss F's class, the main responsibility is to provide lunch for all the teachers in the school. I re-adapted Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes by taking some of C's suggestions and changing up the vegetables. Since we were serving lasagna with this, I decided to omit the sun-dried tomatoes. I also made a dish for us for dinner. I may have not thought things through so well when I nearly tripled the recipe, I just don't have bowls big enough to accommodate all that pasta, sauce, chicken and vegetables. My kitchen looked like a pasta mess after I was done, normally I try to be a pretty neat cook, but when you have three bowls going, you do what you can. C really enjoyed this much more than its original incarnation. Miss F's favorite part was the chicken, big surprise there.

Baked Penne with Chicken, Spinach and Peppers

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound penne pasta
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, halved horizontally
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
½ onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups whole milk
1 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 package frozen spinach, drained and thawed
½ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot. In a Dutch oven, heat one teaspoon oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise. Add two teaspoons oil to the pan, sauté the mushrooms, onion and peppers for 3 minutes, until tender. Remove the mushrooms and peppers from the pan, add the butter and melt over medium heat. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Off heat, gradually stir in the Parmesan. Add chicken, mushrooms, bell pepper, spinach and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each with ¼ cup mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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