Hello my fellow food friends,

This blog is being birthed on a very shaky train from Ottawa to Toronto. It’s a packed house comprising of mostly old people and kids. It smells like an old man stew. A handful of elderly musk, a pinch a dirty kids and a dash of stale train air. Each passenger seems to have packed their very own potent salami sandwich, so needless to say, I am thrilled to be riding the B.O express.

Unfortunately this was another sparse cooking week for me as I was out of town Thursday-Tuesday. I spent my time in Ottawa performing with my lover/comedian Matt O’Brien. We did the Valentine’s shows at Yuks Yuks Ottawa and almost every show was sold out. When I come to Ottawa it usually means that my parents spoil me with gourmet meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Before I left to Ottawa I had a few days to fend for myself and I made an AMAZING white bean chicken chili. I planned on making turkey burgers but realized I bought ground chicken instead of ground turkey. Ground chicken has a milder flavour and I don’t like it as much in burger form. I took to the internet and typed in “chicken chili” and found an excellent recipe from Food Networks Giada De laurentiis.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/white-bean-and-chicken-chili-recipe.html
With her tiny body, giant head and 1000 watt smile, this culinary beauty sure knows how to deliver the goods. I followed the recipe as directed but amped up the spice content. More cumin, chili powder and fennel seeds made this dish pop. Now, I do love traditional chili BUT this was almost (almost!) even better. The sweet corn and bold fennel seeds took this to another level. A few shakes of red pepper flakes and a spoonful of parmesan, served with a slice of toasty sourdough bread made this bowl of love the perfect winter meal.