Here’s a little-known fact about Disneyworld: They will give you the recipe for just about anything that’s served in their restaurants if you just ask for it. Really! Some dishes are so requested, in fact, that the staff can just go grab a pre-printed recipe card for you.
One of my favorite dining stops in the Happiest Place on Earth is Boma – Flavors of Africa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. One of their most popular dishes is a luscious chicken and corn chowder. (There’s nothing particularly African about this dish, but let’s be honest, there’s not a whole lot that’s particularly African about Boma.)
I grabbed the recipe on the internet and made a batch, then tweaked it to my liking (mostly in the form of a big handful of fresh Parmesan). It’s guaranteed to warm you up on a cold rainy day.
Chicken and Corn Chowder
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You’ll need an instant-read meat thermometer for this recipe.
Author: The Queen Cooks
Serves: 8
Ingredients
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and large diced
1 cups chicken stock
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 (15.25 oz.) can whole kernel corn
½ small yellow onion, diced
½ red bell pepper, diced
2 teapoons sugar
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
¼ cup hot sauce
¼ cup fresh parsley
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Rub with olive oil to coat, then season lightly with salt and pepper.
Bake chicken breasts for 40-45 minutes, or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
Remove chicken from oven. Cool for 30 minutes, then shred the meat by hand into bite-sized chunks, discarding the fat, skin, and bones. Set aside.
While the chicken is cooling, put the potatoes in a medium pot with enough salted water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain and set aside.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the bouillon cube, cream, milk, corn, onion, red pepper, and sugar. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes.
Stir in the Parmesan, hot sauce, parsley, and garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Sometimes the best parts of your vacation are the ones you don’t plan. So it was when my husband and I were hiking the south rim of the Grand Canyon last year and overheard a tour guide telling his group about the El Tovar Lodge. Barely visible in the distance, we learned that the hotel, perched on the rim of the canyon and built in the tradition of the grand hunting lodges of Europe, has been in operation since 1905. Nineteen hundred and five! That’s older than the state of Arizona. Impressive.
We learned that El Tovar is the accommodation of choice for celebrities when they visit the Grand Canyon; it has hosted eight presidents ranging from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. In fact, President Roosevelt, best known for his love of the outdoors, his arrogant jingoism, and for carrying that big stick, is said to have had a special fondness for the hotel. He actually wrote a book about his second visit in 1913.
It looked to us like a good place to have lunch.
We’re not big fans of chili, but we are big fans of meat, so when we saw “Beef Tenderloin and Pork Tenderloin Chili” on the menu, we had no choice but to order a bowl to share. It was ah-mazing. Even more amazing was the fact that a quick Google search turned up the recipe. Not a copycat recipe. The recipe, straight from the head chef. I’ve made a few minor changes to make it my own. Enjoy!
One of those changes I made is not using beef tenderloin – aka filet mignon – because I don’t want to spend $60 at the grocery store to make a pot of chili. So I just use steaks instead, and extend the cooking time to ensure tenderness. Whatever cut of steak you choose when you’re grilling out will work just fine.
The beer you use here really matters. If it’s something light, like Budweiser or Stella Artois, the flavor might not come through in the chili. And you don’t want something too stout or bitter, like Guinness, because the in-your-face flavors that makes those beers so good are not so good in chili. My recommendation: a brown ale like Newcastle. Brown ales are super-smooth, with a rich nutty flavor and subtle hops bitterness – perfect for our purposes.
Grand Canyon Chili
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
Chili
2 pounds beef steaks, trimmed and large diced
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and large diced
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 (12 oz.) bottles of beer, preferably a brown ale
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
Toppings
Sour cream
Grated sharp cheddar cheese
Crushed corn chips
Instructions
Season the diced meats with salt and pepper.
In a stock pot over medium-high heat, get 2 tablespoons of olive oil very hot, then add the diced beef. Turn the pieces so they will get browned on all sides. When you don’t see any more pink, transfer the beef to a bowl and cover with aluminum foil.
Repeat the same process with the pork, transferring it to the same bowl when it’s cooked.
Add the onion, jalapeno, and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring frequently until the onions are browned, about 4-5 minutes.
Add the beer to the pot and bring it to a boil, stirring to scrape all the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. When it’s boiling, add the meats and the rest of the ingredients for the chili.
Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 hours, or until the meat is tender. Don’t skimp on the cooking time or the meat may be tough. Adjust the temperature as needed to maintain a simmer. Check in every half hour or so to stir. Add water, 1-2 cups at a time, when the liquid level gets too low (the liquid is too low if the chili is so thick that you can see the bottom of the pan when you scrape it with a spoon).
Season with salt and pepper to taste when it’s done cooking. If you do it before, the flavor will concentrate and it may be too salty.
Serve in a bowl, topped with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and crushed corn chips.
There’s nothing more comforting on a cold winter night than a bowl of hot soup. Well, maybe a roaring fire in the fireplace, that’s pretty cozy. And a nice heavy blanket. And your soft jammies…
Whatever, you get my point.
What you don’t want to do is spend a lot of time making a bowl of hot soup. I have an excellent recipe for tomato soup that’s nice to pull out every so often, but it has so much chopping and prep work, and such a long list of ingredients, I’m getting tired just thinking about it.
That’s why there are some recipes I have two versions of: the “ultimate” version, for when company’s coming, and the “weeknight” version, for when I’ve got something else to do besides make dinner. Weeknight recipes don’t necessarily have to be quick (this soup takes 45 minutes), but they can’t keep me tied up in the kitchen chopping and stirring. This soup quietly simmers away on the stove while you check some other things off your to-do list.
Enjoy!
I like Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes. They’re available at Wal-Mart, Target, and most grocery stores.
Weeknight Tomato Soup
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
32 oz. (4 cups) low-sodium chicken stock
2 (28-ounce) cans fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
½ pound orzo, or your favorite small pasta
½ cup half-and-half
Instructions
In a large pot, heat the butter over medium heat.
Add the chopped onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, or until browned.
Stir in the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, a tablespoon of kosher salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium-low for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta for half of the time given in the instructions on the package. Drain and add it to the soup.
Stir in the half-and-half and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
