This is my husband Jeff’s favorite recipe for chicken livers. If liver doesn’t appeal to you, substitute cubed beef and turn the recipe into a spicy stroganoff.

Ingredients

• 2 dried chiles or 2 chipotles en abobo
• 3 to 4 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms, such as portabello or cremini
• 1 pound chicken livers
• Flour for dusting
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups cooked egg noodles
• Garnish: Chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Toast the dried chile on a hot comal or in the oven, if desired. Cover the chile with very hot water and rehydrate until they are soft. Place the chile in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Melt some of the butter in a large skillet and sauté the onion and mushrooms until the onions are browned. Remove and keep warm.

Dust the livers with flour, shaking off any excess. Brown the livers in the onion pan, adding more butter if necessary.

Return the onion mixture to the skillet and stir in the chile puree and the broth, then season with the salt and pepper. Simmer the mixture until the livers are almost done, about 10 minutes. Mix a little of the hot broth into the sour cream and add this mixture to the livers. Gently simmer until the sauce has thickened and the livers are tender.

Serve the livers over the noodles and garnish with the chopped parsley.

There are many ingredients in this recipe. Please read the entire recipe before you start.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts,
  cut into ½ inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons plus ¼ teaspoon Angel Dust
  Cajun Seasoning
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup diced yellow onion
• ½ cup diced red onion
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion, white
  and green parts
• 2 tablespoons Roasted Garlic Puree
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• ½ cup seeded, diced green bell pepper
• ½ cup seeded, diced red bell pepper
• ½ cup seeded, yellow bell pepper
• 1/3 cup seeded, diced poblano chile
• ¼ cup seeded, diced cubanella pepper
• ¼ cup seeded, diced banana pepper
• 1 tablespoon seeded, minced Fresno chile
• 1 ½ teaspoons seeded, minced habanero chile
• 1 teaspoon seeded, minced jalapeno
• ½ teaspoon minced serrano chile
• ½ teaspoon seeded, minced fingerhot chile
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Hungarian paprika
• ¼ teaspoon Spanish paprika
• ¼ teaspoon chile powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ cup peeled and diced ripe banana
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup unsweetened coconut milk
• ¾ cup pineapple juice
• ½ mango juice
• ½ cup papaya juice
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon Key lime or regular lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Hot as a Mutha hot pepper
  sauce or habanero sauce
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and
  cut into pieces
• 2 pounds dried rigatoni pasta, cooked
  accordingto package directions

Instructions

Season the chicken with 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning. In a 5-quart Dutch oven, preferably enameled cast iron, heat the oil over high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking add the chicken and brown for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the yellow, red and green onions and the garlic puree cook for 2 minutes. Add the celery, peppers, and chiles cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add honey, sugars, paprikas, chile powder, allspice, coriander, tumeric, salt, black and white peppers, red pepper flakes, remaining ¼ teaspoon Cajun seasoning, stir for 2 to 3 minutes to coat meat and vegetables with the seasonings. Mix in the banana, tomato sauce, water, coconut milk, juices and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil reduce the heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. When ready to serve, stir in the butter until well blended and toss with rigatoni in a large bowl.

Be sure to serve this dish right out of the oven for the best taste.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken thigh meat
• 1 ¾ cups diced tomatoes
• ½ cup Red Chile Sauce
• Kosher salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 4 large poblano peppers, roasted and peeled
• 2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Monterey Jack
• ½ cup (about 2 ounces) goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions

To prepare the chicken stuffing, heat the oil in a saute’ pan and add the chicken. Saute’ the meat over medium heat, turning it several times, until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the heat and allow it to cool. Coarsely chop the meat, and put it in a bowl. Add the tomatoes, chile sauce, salt and pepper. Mix gently.

To prepare the rellenos, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put one quarter of the chicken mixture in each pepper, with the cut side facing up. Place peppers on a lightly oiled sheet pan. Mix together the Monterey Jack and goat cheese and divide it evenly among the peppers, piling cheese on top of the chicken mixture. Bake the peppers for 20 minutes or until filling is heated through and cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve at once.

You can buy ground chicken from your butcher, but be sure to specify that the skin should be removed before grinding. Or you can use a food processor with a sharp blade chop your own chicken, but use the pulse mode to get the proper consistency. Serve this with a cold Tsingtao beer.

Ingredients

For the Soup:

• 1 pound ground chicken (dark meat)

• ½ cup finely chopped spinach leaves

• 1 ½ tablespoons sherry

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 cup shredded fresh ginger

• 2 stalks lemon grass, minced

• 1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh Asian chiles, or substitute serranos

• 40 to 50 prepared wonton skins

• 3 quarts Wonton Soup Broth (see recipe)

• Peanut oil

• Chopped parsley for garnish

For the Broth:

• 3 ½ quarts homemade chicken stock

• 2 teaspoons ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon five-spice powder

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon hoi sin sauce

• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine

• 1 cup chopped scallions (1/8 inch long, cut on a bias)

Instructions

For the Soup:

Heat the stock in a large pot and add the ginger, five-spice powder, sugar, and hoi sin sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium, add the rice wine, and cook for 5 minutes. 

For the Broth:

Heat the stock in a large pot and add the ginger, five-spice powder, sugar, and hoi sin sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium, add the rice wine, and cook for 5 minutes.

Every year on the Saturday preceding the Super Bowl, Wild Oats Market in Albuquerque sponsors the Chef’s Invitational Souper Bowl Soup Contest. In 1995, W.C. defeated a dozen of other Albuquerque chefs with this grand prize winner. Use whatever wild mushrooms you have to make 9 ounces—we have suggested a mixture, below. W.C. gathered most of the musrooms from the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque and urges aficionados to learn about wild mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 pound chicken breasts, marinated in ½ cup teriyaki sauce and 1 ½ tablespoons grated ginger for 20 minutes

• 9 ounces mixed wild mushrooms (suggested: 2 ½ ounces, boletes, 2 ½ ounces cepes,
  2 ounces morels, 1 ounce golden trumpets, 1 ounce black trumpets)

• 2 large shallots, minced

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 4 quarts homemade chicken stock

• ½ medium onion, chopped fine

• 3/4 cup butter, divided in thirds

• 1 pound domestic mushrooms, sliced

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 2 ounces hard romano cheese, finely grated

• 1 quart cream

• ½ cup dry sherry

• 2 cups V-8 juice

• Salt to taste

Instructions

Grill the chicken until done, chop fine, and set aside.

Soak the wild mushrooms in 3 cups warm water for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and repeat in 2 cups water. Reserve the water. Remove the mushrooms from the water and chop fine. Place the mushrooms, reserved water, shallots, garlic, black pepper, and chicken stock in a stock pot and boil for 30 minutes, adding water to keep to the original volume.

Saute the onion in the 1/4 cup butter and set aside.

Saute the domestic mushrooms in 1/4 cup butter with the garlic. Add the sauteed onions, mushrooms, and garlic to the stock pot.

Melt the remaining 1/4 cup butter in a pan, add the flour, and make a roux until lightly browned. Add the roux to the pot, stirring well. Add the chopped chicken breast and romano cheese and stir well. Add the cream, sherry, V-8 juice, and salt and heat for 10 minutes.