Chili, Rice, and Oh My Gosh!

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Bad Kassie! But I've been busy, or something.

But the weather is right for cooking, so I guess I'll just pick up where I left off.

So, with the weather cool and football on TV, I made some chili today. I never have an actual recipe for my chili, but this one turned out pretty good, so I'll see if I can write it up.

Start by browning 1 lbs ground pork and 1 lbs ground beef. I used organic grass fed beef and organic pork for this. I think with chili, choosing high quality meat matters. You want the meat to stand out and be distinct.

Drain and set aside.

In a Tablespoon or so oil, saute a chopped onion and 5 cloves garlic. I add in a lot of my spices at this time so they can be toasted sort of in the oil. I added in about 2 T. of cumin, 2 T. of cinnamon, 2 t. of cayenne, 6 T. of chili powder, salt and pepper. I use a lot of chili powder because I used the cheap brand. I have a really good spicy Indian kind and 6 T. would be a killer. All these spices are approximate amounts and I adjust by adding more as I go along to see how it tastes. A bay leaf or two would be good here too, but I was out.

I let the onions cook down, careful to not burn them, for about 10 minutes.

Then I add 28oz can of whole tomatoes, 28oz can and a 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. For the tomatoes I always use Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes. They have a really great taste.

Then add in 1 big box of organic beef stock, 1 bottle of dark beer, 1 small can of rinsed black beans, 1 small can of rinsed pinto beans, and the meat. Finally, add in some chipotle peppers from a can. I added in 4 chopped. CJ thought it was too hot. I thought it wasn't hot enough.

At this point, the chili will seem really runny, and it is. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then cover partially and simmer on low for the next few hours. I'd say at least 2. You want to condense all the flavors and reduce the liquid. I cooked mine for about 5 hours today.

You need to stir every 30 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't burn. It really needs to be on low heat or it will burn and ruin the whole pot.

I served with sour cream and cheddar corn bread. It was very good. We now have 3 big servings in the freezer and one in the fridge for my lunch tomorrow.

---------------

Additionally, we got the greatest cooking contraption of all time today- A RICE COOKER. I already cooked up one pot full and portioned it into individual bags and put them in the freezer. This will change how we eat forever. We love rice, but have little patience for cooking it.

Tomatoey Pasta with White Beans and Tuna

I got this from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's new book, How To Eat Dinner. Basically, it is pasta, Cannellini beans, tomato paste, onions, tuna, garlic, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Tasty.

Presidents' Day Weekend

It was a long weekend of treats and dinners. Did I take lots of pictures? Of course not. Friends were in town, guests had to be fed, and I was absent-minded.

Friday started out with some homemade Mexican. I made a nice meal of tacos, beans and rice. The filling for the tacos was chicken in a green pumpkin seed sauce. It was outstanding, in my opinion, and you can get the recipe here. I tweaked the recipe a bit, but it is close.

Have I mentioned my love of homemade beans? Beans are the easiest things in the world to make from scratch and one of the most satisfying. Bean juice is the greatest tasting substance in the world some days. Everyone should spend time next weekend making beans at home. Pinto beans are a very easy place to start and give you the most bang for your buck.

Saturday dinner was a bit complicated. It had to be a vegan gluten free dinner. Yikes. I ended up with a mushroom ragu (that was way too watery) on polenta. Tisha brought a spinach salad, that was perfect. Dessert was a bizarre concoction of prunes, oranges, and cardamom syrup on ice cream (and soy cream). It was an okay dinner, but not my favorite by any means.

Sunday, my feet hurt from two days of cooking, so dinner was takeout.

Today, was sort-of-meatless Monday. See, CJ gave me these great crocks for my birthday and Valentine's Day.
I also had a lot of chicken stock left over from making chicken Friday night and no room in the freezer for it.

What could I do? I made super nummy, super tasty, super awesome French Onion Soup.

I used the recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It took over four hours to make; 2 1/2 half were inactive. It was very good and well worth it. While very few ingredients are used in the recipe, it would be too much work to paraphrase, so I suggest you get to the library and get the recipe yourself for your collection.

You do have a collection, don't you?

Anyone is Better Than Bush Beans

With possibly the exception of Huckabee, anyone would be a better president than Bush.
So, while at the grocery store, thinking about my political meal, I found these massive beans in the bulk foods section.
So big, so beautiful, so pure, everything Bush isn't.

I soaked them overnight. I covered them with water and added half an onion and three cloves of garlic. I brought them to a boil, and simmered them for an hour and a half.

Then I added a bunch of Mexican oregano, two slices of bacon, and a beer.
You know, a real American beer. The Champagne of Beers. This beer would never deny anyone their rights. It would never detain someone at Guantanamo. It isn't shifty or creepy.

After another 45 minutes or so, I seasoned with salt and served.

They were tasty, but be warned, take a Beano with the beans or suffer the consequences.

Lamb Shanks with Lemony White Beans

CJ really liked this dish, I liked it a lot too. The recipe came from Cooking Light, which I have newly subscribed to. The lamb was very tender and the bean mixture was tangy and tasty. Unfortunately it takes 3 hours to make, mostly inactive time, but not a weeknight meal.

I am a Slacker

Sorry about the weeks of not posting. It wasn't that I haven't been cooking, I have. It is just that I didn't get pics of everything and that I'm lazy.

So, here you go, a big long list of things I've made recently, with some pics.

1) Roasted chicken- One of CJ's favorites. Super easy and real tasty.
2) Split pea soup
How I love split pea soup. I made a whole bunch last week, froze some, and have been eating it for a few days.
3) Squash- Sauteed with some onions, one of my favorites.
4) Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Ugly, but good.
5) Fava beans and tomatoes- I threw this together real quick one night, and it turned out good. By real quick, I mean under 3 minutes.
6) Homemade applesauce


7) Carnitas

These were really good. Take a couple pounds of pork shoulder and cut into cubes. Add enough water to cover, the juice from a small lime, and a couple pinches of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes on medium low covered. Uncover once tender and let water boil off. When it does, it will start frying itself in its own fat.

We ate it as we do tacos. It was really good. REALLY GOOD. The recipe came from my new cookbook, The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. The cookbook is also great. If you are interested in learning to cook real food, it is a great starter. She does the basics, then goes on to other things, all which look excellent and simple.

Not Pretty, I know

Last Friday, I spent HOURS in the kitchen making this not so pretty meal. I make "Mexican Pot Roast" using bison. We chopped it and used it as taco meat. It didn't taste very Mexican to me, probably due to the lack of Mexican spices. I should have known better and used cumin, cinnamon, chilies, and/or nutmeg. Also, the bison was a waste in tacos. Alone, you could taste it, but in the tacos it just tasted like beef.

To the left of the pic, you can see beans. Beans made from scratch. Tasty, tasty refried beans with cheese. They were very good, though I'm not sure they were worth 2 hours of cooking. I guess if it wasn't 80 degrees right now I may think that of course it was a good idea, but the last thing I want to do right now is cook.

Lately, we have been eating meals at other peoples' homes. What is better than a home cooked meal that you don't have to cook? Not much.

So tasty

Oh, lord. Jesus has risen and I made the tastiest ribs for dinner. Ribs and bean salad. The salad is my recipe, the ribs are Alton's. They were so tender, tasty, and a bit spicy.