Tieghan Gerard grew up as one of eight children, so his standard for meals was just a little chaotic.
“Dinner was just really crazy. We were eating super, super late,” Gerard tells SELF. « So I started cooking to help my parents and cook dinner an hour earlier. I helped cook dinner for most of middle school and high school.
By the time Gerard turned 19, she dined like a science and felt the need to cook beyond family meals. She moved away from fashion design and, with her mother’s encouragement, decided to turn her love for cooking into a blog. Thereby, Semi-cooked harvest was born.
Ten years, thousands of recipes, three cookbooks, a host of several million Insta reels viewsand a mouth watering pumpkin scented candle later, Gerard honed her niche: she creates recipes that are « simple, easy to follow, and quick to prepare » while delivering a splash of flavor.
A driving force behind all of these recipes is a “warm vibe,” says Gerard, who is based in Colorado. It’s the kind of meal that makes you feel warm and cozy inside – think of the food version of a crackling fire on a cold day – and is heavily influenced by nostalgia and its cooking memories. during teenagehood.
“When the weather gets cold, you look for something to warm yourself up inside, literally,” she says. « ‘Comfortable’ food can be a kind of childhood memory that reminds me of what my parents used to do when we cooked together. »
For Gérard, the meal that does the trick right now is her Chilli chicken breast, a creamy, smoky and spicy take on the traditional tomato-based dish. Read on to find out how she sets the stage for enjoying this hearty dish with some major cozy vibes.
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Gerard, who grew up in Ohio, grew up with the Cincinnati chili, a tomato-based style, filled with onions, beans and cheddar cheese, and served over angel hair pasta. But because Gerard’s mother wasn’t a big fan of onions or beans, their dish omitted the two and instead relied on cheese.
At first glance, Gerard’s white chili — which uses shredded chicken, chicken broth, cream cheese and has no pasta threads in sight — looks nothing like the Cincinnati chili she ate. when she was a child. But there are a few key similarities in their composition.
« I really want it to have the spice of the Cincinnati chili pepper and the chili flavor, » says Gerard. « I got the jalapeños, chili powder, paprika – those are all still incorporated, but without the tomatoes. » She also uses poblano peppers and salsa verde for an extra kick of flavor.
Stack the toppings.
Cincinnati chili is rich in toppings, Gerard says, as is its white chicken variant.
« I love making lots of cheddar cheese, lots of cilantro, avocado, usually chopped scallions, » she says. « And then, if I’m feeling extra spicy, I’ll make sliced jalapeños with plain Greek yogurt. »
Bring the bread to mop it up.
Hot bread is a must with chili, says Gerard. And that’s since her mother used to bake beer bread — an easy-to-make bread that uses a can of beer and no extra yeast to rise — to serve with her chili.
