COOK | CHIPOTLE CHICKEN STEW & CORNBREAD

As we move into this post-October/almost Thanksgiving/almost Christmas (!) time of the year, the days are getting colder and busier. The recipe was actually titled chicken pot pie in the magazine but it's more of a chicken stew in my option. Still, this crockpot recipe allowed me to throw it together after lunch and go on about the rest of my day. My family has been obsessed with cornbread, and since it's so easy to make, I mixed together together the cornbread batter when my dad got home from work and in 20 minutes we had fresh baked muffins and dinner was ready. My sister and I added some shredded Monterey Jack cheese because it just seemed right. This was a little spicy to me but I'm totally weak sauce when it comes to heat (my eyes literally start crying when I eat "mild" ramen). My little sister said it wasn't spicy at all so it was probably just me. Crockpot meals make dinner prep and clean up easy peasy; so take the 20 minutes and bake up some corn bread muffins. Because everything is better with cornbread...with butter...and honey or if you're really special...honey butter!

xoxo, allison

Recipe Adapted From Ladies' Home Journal 

Ingredients

CHICKEN STEW

• 5 carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 lb chicken thighs, boneless skinless
• 1 and 1/2 cups chicken low-sodium broth
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 and 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 minced chipotle pepper in adobo
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (for topping, optional)

CORNBREAD MUFFINS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Chop carrots, onion, and red bell pepper into 1 inch pieces. Place veggies and chicken into crockpot.
2. Whisk together chicken broth, cumin, salt, garlic, cornstarch, and chipotle pepper in adobo.
3. Pour sauce over veggies and chicken.
4. Cook on high for 4 hours. Begin making cornbread in the last cooking hour.
5. Break chicken into pieces and gently stir in sour cream.

CORNBREAD MUFFINS

1. Mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another bowl, beat together eggs, milk, and oil.
3. Add wet to dry ingredients. Mix and pour into a greased muffin tins or 9x9 inch baking pan.
4. For muffin tins, fill pans 2/3 full and bake at 425 degress for 12-15 minutes, until brown.
   For 9x9 baking pan, bake in 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.