How you doin’? A lot of people ask, What's the difference between white chili and regular chili? There's your typical red chili and beans made with beef or pork. On the other hand, white chili versions are made with chicken or turkey instead of beef or pork and without tomatoes but sometimes with beans (usually white beans) and lots of flavor from green chiles. White chili is a relatively new modification with its origins traced to sometime in the 1980s.
 
The modern dish we know as chili, also known as chili con carne (chili with meat), does however appear to have roots in the American West, particularly the State of Texas. An old legend holds that immigrants from the Canary Islands brought a recipe for chili with them when they settled San Antonio in the early 1700s. Another story says the origins may have come from as far away as China or India.
 
Whichever story you want to believe, you will enjoy everything about my slow-cooked White Chicken Chili. It’s made with canned green chiles and is very fragrant as it is cooking, exciting the taste buds and warming the cockles of your heart. Serve with dollop of sour cream, shredded pepper Jack cheese and other good things.
 
Prep time:  30 minutes
Slow Cook time:  5 to 8 hours (depending whether slow-cooked on low or high)
Yield:  6 to 8 servings
 
Ingredients 
For the chicken chili
1-1/2 to 2 pounds chicken thighs
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
12 ounces diced canned green chiles
15 ounces canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
15 ounces canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced sweet onion
4 tablespoons minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
 
For the toppings (you can use all the toppings or any combination)
1-1/2 cups fried tortilla strips (or corn chips—I prefer Frito brand corn chips)
1/2 cup pepper-jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sliced green onion circles
1 avocado, halved and sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

1. In a 6-quart slow cooker combine the chicken thighs, chicken stock, green chiles, beans, onion, garlic, cumin and oregano.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cover and cook on low heat for 7- to 8-hours or on high heat for 5 to 6 hours.
4. Remove the chicken thighs from the slow cooker and remove the skin and bones and shred the meat using two forks. Discard the bones and skin.
5. Return the chicken thigh meat to the slow cooker and add the cilantro and lime juice.
6.  Adjust the seasoning with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
7. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the tortilla strips, cilantro, sour cream, green onions, avocado and lime; serve hot.

ChefSecret:  I prefer to purchase whole chicken thighs. Cooking thighs with the skin and the bones adds more flavor to the chili. While this recipe specifically calls out a slow cooker, you can use an Instant Pot set to slow-cook and set the timer accordingly.

Quip of the Day: “The lady in Walgreens is looking at me like she has never seen a man put on deodorant and put it back on the shelf.”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and drink responsibly. 

#Entrees #WhiteChickenChili #SlowCooker #BigGame #SuperBowl #Chicken #CannelliniBeans #GarbanzoBeans #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup

                                                                         ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? In honor of National Irish Coffee Day, which was this past Wednesday, and to give you practice for the upcoming St. Paddy’s Day on March 17th (never too early to start, right?), today we’re mixing up a wonderful glass of Irish Coffee.
 
It all started when Irishman Joseph Sheridan invented the American-style Irish Coffee in 1942. The original Irish Coffee was developed to soothe and revive the spirit after a long evening of San Francisco drinking.
 
While it may be hard to believe, pre-pandemic Buena Vista Café poured 100 bottles of Irish whiskey and mixed over 2,000 Irish Coffees a day. Batched along the bar in a neat line of 28 glass goblets, the cafe pours more Irish whiskey than anyone in the world thanks to its renowned recipe. Paul Nolan had been with Buena Vista for more than 40 years and estimates that he’s poured an astounding five million Irish Coffees. That same recipe still graces the bar each day by the thousands.
 
The glass of choice at Buena Vista is a 6-ounce stemmed glass (called an Irish) that’s shaped to show off a snowy top of whipped cream. The tulip shaped glass prevents an oversized pour of coffee and keeps the ingredients in balance. Equally important is what happens before any coffee even hits the bottom of the glass. The glasses are preheated by filling them with hot water and letting them sit until warm. This keeps the coveted cocktail steaming hot through delivery to the guests.
 
Cold cream and room temperature whiskey can cause this hot drink’s temperature to plunge. To counteract that steep drop, Buena Vista keeps its coffee on the hotter side, while making sure that it stays fresh and doesn’t sit around stewing on the burner for more than 20 minutes. They use a medium Colombian roast coffee, which is the middle ground of coffee flavors. The coffee is meant to complement the drink but should never stand out—it’s  all about the delicate balance of flavors.
 
The crisp white collar of whipped cream that’s layered above the Irish Coffee is made with heavy whipping cream that’s been lightly whipped in an upright blender. This method ensures proper aeration and a slower thickening of the cream, that gives it a perfect frothy texture. Once you have the right consistency, pour the cream over the back of a warm bar spoon held just above the coffee. Raise the spoon slowly as you pour and watch the perfect Irish Coffee roar to life.
 
Ingredients 
2 white sugar cubes
4-6 ounces freshly-brewed hot coffee
1-1/3 ounces Irish whiskey (Tullamore D.E.W. preferred)
Heavy cream, lightly whipped
 
Directions

1. Preheat a 6-ounce heat-proof glass by filling it with hot water. Once warm, discard the water.
2. Add two sugar cubes to the glass, then add coffee until the glass is 3/4 full. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add 1-1/3 ounces of Irish whiskey to the coffee and stir gently and briefly to combine.
4. Float a layer of whipped cream over the top of the coffee by pouring it gently over the back of a spoon.
5. Serve immediately.

 
ChefSecret:  Let the cream sit out for a little while so that it’s a little warmer which helps improve the whipped cream texture. Do not use an aerosol canned whipped cream.

Quip of the Day:  Too much of anything is bad, but too much good Irish whiskey is barely enough.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. 

#Cocktail #HappyHour #IrishCoffee #BuenaVista #IrishWhiskey #Cheers #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                       ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

​How you doin’? Why in the world would anybody want to use a shelf-stable, store-bought cake mix?... it doesn’t make sense in most instances. This is especially true when you can make a better cake at less expense that takes about the same amount of time to make. Try my Never-Use-A-Cake-Mix-Again, Dark Chocolate Cake and be rewarded with nothing but compliments. After all people were making chocolate cakes 2-1/2 centuries ago without using a convenience mix.
 
The history of chocolate cake is not in dispute. It goes back to 1764, when Dr. James Baker discovered how to make chocolate by grinding cocoa beans between two massive circular millstone rollers. In 1828, Coenraad van Houten of the Netherlands developed a mechanical extraction method for extracting the fat from cacao liquor (mass) resulting in cacao butter (fat) and the partly defatted cocoa, a compacted mass of solids that could be sold as it was "rock cacao" or ground into powder. This process transformed chocolate from an exclusive luxury to an inexpensive daily snack.
 
Until 1890 to 1900, chocolate recipes were mostly for chocolate drinks and its presence in cakes was only in fillings and glazes. In 1886, American cooks began adding cocoa to the cake batter, to make the first chocolate cakes in the US.
 
Prep time:  30 minutes
Bake time:  25 to 30 minutes
Cool time:  30 minutes
Yield:  3 9-inch round cake pans
 
Ingredients 
Butter to prepare the baking pans
1-3/4 cups boiling water
1/4 cup hot coffee
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the baking pans
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2-1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰ F.
2. Butter and dust 3 9-inch round cake pans. Dust with a little cocoa powder so as not to have white streaks on the edges of the cake layers.
3. In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water and coffee over the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Let cocoa mixture cool.
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in the eggs one at time.
7. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
8. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture.
9. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
10. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
11. Allow to cool.
12. Decorate with the frosting of your choice.

ChefSecret:  Butter the pans and dust with cocoa powder to get a more intense flavor and darker cake edges that are not white streaked. I like to freeze the layers before decorating so the cake layers don’t crumble. I also soak the layers with simple syrup to keep them moist and help them last longer.

Quip of the Day: “During the last year I’ve learned, when you’re dead you’re dead. The pain is only
felt by others. The same happens with stupid.”
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Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. 

#Baking #Desserts #DarkChocolateCake #CocoaPowder #Covid19 #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  

                                                                        ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? Tomorrow is National Peanut Butter Day, so we thought we’d celebrate it with a Giant Peanut Butter Cup Pie recipe!

Many, many people think that there is no candy bar better than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It’s a confection consisting of a chocolate cup filled with peanut butter, marketed by The Hershey Company. They were created on November 15, 1928, by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey.

H.B. Reese was running the Hershey Dairy test which was not successful. Reluctantly, Milton Hershey discharged Reese and wished him the best of luck in his next venture. In 1923, The H.B. Reese Candy Company was established in the basement of Reese's home in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Reese, as a past Hershey’s employee, always used Hershey Chocolate in his confections.  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were his most popular candy; eventually he discontinued his other lines of confections.

H. B. Reese died on May 16, 1956, passing the company to his six sons. In 1963, the Reese brothers merged the H.B. Reese Candy Company with the Hershey Chocolate Corporation. The Reese brothers' original 666,316 shares of Hershey common stock represented 16 million Hershey shares valued at over $2.8 billion that paid annual cash dividends of $57.6 million. In 1969, only six years after the Reese/Hershey merger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups became The Hershey Company's top seller.

According to 2021 IRI data, with $671.1 million in sales, Reese's is the largest confection brand, followed by M&M’s ($568.4m), Snickers ($423.7m), Hershey’s ($378.7m) and Kit Kat ($294.9m).
In 2021, Hershey’s unveiled its largest Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. The “Thanksgiving Pie” as it was called, was nine inches in diameter, weighed in at 3.4 pounds and had a price tag of $44.99. In just hours, all 3,000 units sold out!

This Giant Peanut Butter Cup pie will be a little smaller by comparison but certainly as delicious!
 
Ingredients 
5-ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 16-ounce jar smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
 
Directions

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a glass Pyrex cup. To avoid scorching the chocolate use short bursts of about 15-20 seconds each, stirring the chocolate before the next burst.
2. Poured about 1/4 cup of the melted chocolate in the bottom of a metal pie or tart pan, then freeze it for five minutes.
3. Repeated the chocolate process with more chocolate to get a nice thick chocolate bottom shell, reserving some chocolate for the top of the pie.
4. Spoon a whole jar of peanut butter into a saucepan and add the almond milk, canola oil and powdered sugar. Stir over medium heat until the peanut butter becomes soft and workable.
5. Poured the peanut butter filling into the frozen chocolate shell, spreading it evenly throughout. Freeze it again to help keep the filling and chocolate coating from combining.
6. Remelt the remaining chocolate and pour the rest of the chocolate on top of the peanut butter layer, evenly smoothing it out. Put it back into the freezer for the last time.
7. Fifteen minutes later, the pie will look every bit as good as the Reese's version.

ChefSecret: When ready to serve, cut the pie with a warm, dry knife so it will easily slice through the thick chocolate.

Quip of the Day: “There's no metaphysics on earth quite like chocolate.”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.

#Desserts #NationalPeanutButterDay #NationalPeanutBoard #NPB #Reeses #Hersheys #SemiSweetChocolate #Covid19 #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
                                                                            ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? Well, it’s week three… are you sticking to all your New Year’s resolutions, including the one to be healthier this year?
 
It’s also Friday—Happy Hour time—and you also don’t want to break your resolution to socialize with friends at the bar. You don’t have to… here’s a happy hour cocktail that is perfect for you to hop on the juice-cleanse train without giving up your booze, thanks to this recipe. It’s pretty easy, just fresh cucumber and lemon juice jazzed up with a splash of vodka and ginger syrup (recipe follows). The ginger syrup adds the zing and bitters bring an earthy, musky depth. Top it all with a bit of ground cayenne for some extra spice flavor.
 
Lemon and cayenne is a popular juice cleanse when people are looking to counter overindulgence and these flavors meld well with the fresh flavor of cucumber. It also helps settle your stomach. Lemon and lime juices are best used within about four hours of pressing.
 
Prep time:  35 minutes (includes time for ginger syrup)
Mix time:  5 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail

Ingredients 
2 ounces vodka
3/4 ounce fresh cucumber juice (pressed)
1/2-ounce fresh lemon juice
1/4-ounce ginger syrup*
1/4-ounce honey
5 drops bitters
1 egg white (use pasteurized egg whites if that makes you feel more comfortable)
1/4 cup crushed ice
A pinch of ground cayenne garnish
 
Directions

1. Add all the ingredients into a shaker and shake without ice until frothy. The egg whites make it nice and frothy.
2. Add the ice and shake again until well-chilled.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass without ice.
4. Garnish with a pinch of ground cayenne.

*ChefSecret:  To make ginger syrup: Bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to boil in a small saucepan. Add 4-ounces of peeled fresh ginger cut into thin rounds (about a 10-inch long piece). Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes, then strain out the solids. Store in the refrigerator up to 4 weeks.

Quip of the Day:  We celebrated Fred’s 100th birthday last week—it was a hell of a bash. Today, we are celebrating that he just paid off his student loans. Who knows what next week will bring?!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross.
 
#Cocktail #HappyHour #CucumberCleanseCocktail #Vodka #Cheers #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                         ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023