I'm Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!!

After last weekends Salmon Mousse disaster, I was ready for something a little less . . . mousse-y. So I was psyched to try Paula Deen's recipe for Poblano Chicken Chowder. It looked much more appetizing!

I pre-chopped all of the veggies before I left for South Carolina so they wouldn't get all soft and limpy and it ended up being a huge time saver! I also decided to use cornstach because the whole butter and flour roux looked like too much work and would dirty another dish. I subbed fat free half and half for the heavy cream and omitted the salt.

The original recipe called for 3 quarts of chicken broth. Even though I normally cut the recipes in half, that still seemed like a ton of fluid, so I cut it back to just one quart. I usually like my soups thicker and less runny.

And here's the final product:


Looks good, doesn't it?! It was SUPER HOT! I couldn't even eat it and I eat just about everything! I ended up baking a potato in the microwave the next night and added it hoping it would reduce the spice and it helped a little bit. But still hot enough to declare this a failure. Argh!!!

How do you bust out of a recipe rut of failures??

Here's the stats. I know normally Kat and I complain that the original recipes underestimate serving sizes, I think this one actually overestimates with 12 servings! I double checked the ingredients in our recipe calculator because ~100 calories seemed kind of low, so I think the serving size is just super small (so keep that in mind if you decide to try this recipe).

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 12	Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 278	Calories: 103
Fat: 21 g	Fat: 5 g
Sodium: 1238 mg	Sodium: 386 mg
Fiber: 1.6 g	Fiber: 2 g

And here's the recipe, if you like things HOT!!

Chicken, Potato and Poblano Chowder

1/4 c olive oil
3 large carrots, diced
2 large onions, diced
5 stalks celery, diced
1/8 c garlic, minced
2 to 3 poblano peppers
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp chicken bullion granules
1 quart low sodium, fat free chicken broth
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, minced
3 c diced chicken2 tbsp cornstarch
1 c fat free half and half
1 medium Russet potato, baked

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, poblano peppers, white pepper, cumin and thyme. Saute for 7 to 8 minutes or until the veggies begin to soften. Stir in the chicken bullion, chicken broth, cilantro and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Stir in the chicken and cook until the chowder is thick and the chicken is heated through.

In a separate bowl, mix ~1 c broth from the soup mix with the corn starch until smooth. Add to the large pot and mix.

Remove the pot from the heat and add the half and half. If it's too hot, chop up the baked potato and gently mix in.