Some like it hot

By Scott Meeker
THE JOPLIN GLOBE (JOPLIN, Mo.)

January 20, 2006 05:33 pm

— The weather may not be cooperating with this story, so it may require a little bit of imagination on your part.
Now, sit back and imagine, just for a moment, that it’s the middle of winter.
Brr! Temperatures have plummeted, snow is piling up outside. You’ve just made it home from work, stamped the snow from your shoes and struggled out of your coat.
You’re chilled to the bone, and you’re hungry for a meal that will warm you up from the inside out.
Then, you remember those recipes you clipped from the newspaper a while back.
Wouldn’t a piping hot bowl of stew or chili go down great right about now?

Hearty chicken stew
Heather Boline, a registered dietitian with Freeman Health System, offered up her recipe for hearty chicken stew during a recent Cooking for the Heart class at the hospital.
Not only is it a great food to help you warm up, but it’s also good for you.
“It’s a good way to incorporate lots of vegetables and lean meat into a warm stew,” Boline said.
The fiber content from the barley and the substitution of low-sodium broth instead of regular chicken broth also ups its nutritional value. And if you’re feeling congested, eating hot or spicy foods can also help open and drain congested nasal passages, she said.
The recipe calls for:
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups cubed chicken breast
1 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups diced, peeled tomatoes (low sodium if canned)
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup sliced zucchini
1/2 cup instant barley
Paprika as desired

Heat oil and cooked diced chicken until no longer pink. Add onions to chicken and stir together until onions are transparent. In a large soup pot, combine the chicken broth, celery, tomatoes, carrots, corn, peas, zucchini, barley, chicken and onions. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes or until vegetables are to desired tenderness. Add paprika as desired.
Serves 10 (8-ounce portions).

A pot of chili
Bruce Anderson doesn’t wait for a winter chill to fire up a pot of chili.
“I’m a year-round chili person,” he said. “Most people take a basic recipe and adapt it their own way. That’s what’s interesting about (chili) is you can modify it to each individual taste. Some people like it with onions, some without; some like it hot and spicy, some like it really mild.”
He said he began cooking chili several years ago when he started tailgating with a group at Missouri Southern State University.
Anderson said that he begins by cooking the meat with onion, garlic and seasoning.
“I like to cook it into the into the meat to layer the flavors,” he said.
The thickly sliced mushrooms also add to the flavor, Anderson said. “As they cook, they shrink and add moisture to the chili.”
He said that he adds the 4 tablespoons of sugar to the mix to help cut down on the acidity of the tomatoes.
But don’t treat the recipe as set in stone. That’s the great thing about chili, Anderson said.
“I don’t know if any two batches are the same,” he said. “If you don’t like it, add a little more chili powder, a little more garlic or a little more salt and pepper. You can’t do that with a lot of foods.”

Anderson’s chili recipe
2 pounds of ground round or ground sirloin
5 cans light, red kidney beans
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
1 pound fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 package commercial seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tablespoons sugar
2 cloves fresh garlic
Sauté the meat adding cloves of garlic. Cook the meat with chopped onion and the seasoning. Add 2 cups of water, bringing the chili to a boil, then down to a high simmer. Add fresh mushrooms, then let simmer for an hour. Then add tomatoes and 4 tablespoons of sugar, and bring to simmer again.
When serving, top bowl with chopped white onions and cheddar cheese.

Scott Meeker writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.