chili, chilly, chilli, Chile

 

Many moons ago I had a cooking site on livejournal.  It was a good site and I enjoyed posting to it.  Over the years I lost touch with the people there and stopped posting, partly because I lost interest in social networking sites but mostly because my personal life became complicated as hell and I stopped doing a lot of things in general.

Since I'm going through a bit of a dry spell with my cooking at the moment I thought I'd go back to that site and re-post some of the recipes here.  The first one up is my Cincinnati Chili.  It's really easy to make and tastes like a dream.  

Cincinnati-ish Chili

4 cups water
3 - 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
1 - 14 1/2 ounce can stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 large onions, chopped
3 teaspoons garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
2 pounds beef, finely ground
salt

Stir all ingredients, except ground beef and salt, in a large pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Add ground beef and stir with a wooden spoon to break up.  Turn heat to medium-high and boil until ground beef is cooked thoroughly.  Lower heat to medium and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add salt to taste.  Serve with the traditional accompaniments of spaghetti, kidney beans, onions and huge mounds shredded cheddar cheese.  Oyster crackers could be served on the side and if you're feeling really non-traditional you could dollop on some sour cream, because it's yummy....really, really, yummy. 

Make sure the ground beef is as finely ground as possible.  You can get it this way from a good butcher.  When you put it into the liquid mixture while it is raw and break it up with a spoon, it should almost homogenize.  I know, sounds weird, but it makes for a very smooth chili.  Also note that this chili is thin, not thick, like a marinara sauce.  If you can hold out I would suggest putting the whole pot into the refrigerator and eating it the next day.  As with most stews and soups, it truly is better after sitting for a good 24 hours. 

Serving suggestions:
2-Way:  chili served over spaghetti
3-Way:  chili served over spaghetti topped with copious amounts of shredded sharp cheddar
4-Way:  chili served over spaghetti topped with chopped onions and then copious amounts of sharp cheddar cheese
5-Way:  chili served over spaghetti topped with kidney beans, chopped onions and copious amounts of sharp cheddar cheese

I Control the Spice, I Control the Universe

 

The other night I was feeling like having beef.  And not the ground kind.  I wanted a slab of meat that would make a t-rex weep with joy.  Unfortunately, all my beef was frozen solid.  So I did what any self-respecting carnivore would do; grabbed a 3 pound chuck roast in it's solid state, doused it with some stuff in a baking pan, tin-foiled it to death and threw it in the oven.  Several hours later I had spicy beefy......spicy beef you would run over your grandmother to get to, trust me.  Not that I advocate running over grandmas, that's Santa's job.

Spicy Beef

3 pound chuck roast

7 ounce can chipotles in adobo sauce

8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 1/2 large onions, sliced

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

12 ounce bottle dark beer

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place frozen roast in a 9 x 13 deep baking pan.  Salt and pepper to taste on both sides.  Place sliced onions all around the roast.  Drizzle the meat and onions with the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and beer.  Toss a little more salt over the top of the roast since you washed it away with the beer.  Now add the chipotles.  If you're very brave and love very hot-spicy, add the entire can in addition to the adobo.  If you're not so brave or just prefer to keep your taste buds intact, add as many of the peppers as you wish along with a bit of the adobo.  Cover the whole pan tightly with tin foil and shove it into the oven.  After an hour, turn heat down to between 325 and 350.  Cook for two more hours.  Allow beef to cool a bit, shred it up and set aside.  Skim the excess fat off the pan sauce, pass the sauce through a strainer and pour over shredded beef.  Serve over pasta or rice, in a sandwich or tortilla, or maybe just stand there and eat pieces out of the serving bowl.  Oh, and it's also divine with a dollop of sour cream to cool some of the heat.  

The Odd Couple

 

For reasons that I just don't understand the weather has been more like October than March around here.  Which is to say that it's cold, rainy and dreary.  So I think I can be forgiven for making Guinness stew yesterday instead of something bright and spring-ish.  What I might possibly NOT be forgiven for is pairing it with potato salad.  Yes, you read that correctly, potato salad.  

I really can't tell you why I did it the first time as I rarely have exact reasons for strange pairings outside of "that might taste good".  However, I'm glad that I did.  It's an amazingly good combination, both of them strong and distinctive in taste, and very hearty.  Brendan doesn't eat it this way, but Karina and I do.  She was with me the day that I first put them together and surprised me by trying it (on any other day she really hates it when her foods touch).  The bowl you see above didn't last long after the photo was taken.  Karina carried it off like a prize kill and devoured it.  I should say that she did ask if I was done taking pictures first.

Guinness Stew

2 pounds beef, at room temperature and cubed

1 pound carrots, diced

2 medium onions, diced

1 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes, diced

1 12 ounce bottle Guinness Extra Stout

1 1/2 cups meat stock, homemade if possible

3 small bay leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

4 tablespoons oil

salt

pepper

Salt and pepper the cubed beef to taste.  Heat a medium stock pot over medium-high heat and add the oil (I used a combination of canola and olive oils).  Brown the beef in small batches, removing them to a warm plate after each batch.  When all the beef has been browned and removed, add the diced carrots and onions to the pot and sweat them for about 5 minutes.  Add the beef back to the pot.  Stir in the Guinness, tomatoes (with the juices from the can), stock, bay leaves and thyme.  Bring the stew to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer until the beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.  Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary.  Serve with whatever strikes your fancy (boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, or even potato salad).

Potato Salad I (just for the record, I make four different potato salads)

10 pounds potatoes

6 hard-boiled eggs

4 dill pickles, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 1/2 to 2 cups mayonnaise

1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/4 to 1/2 cup half & half

salt, to taste

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their jackets in a large stock pot until a fork inserted in them comes out easily.  The time will depend on the size of your potatoes.  In the meantime, in a large bowl break up the eggs into small pieces with a fork.  Add the other ingredients and stir everything together until well combined.  Make sure that the dressing is a bit saltier than you would usually make something as the potatoes have not been seasoned.  When the potatoes have finished cooking, drain them and let them cool until they can be handled (or even until they are room temperature, though they will be harder to peel).  Peel the potatoes with a knife as you would a peach that has been poached.  Slice the potatoes into the bowl with the dressing and fold them in carefully.  Let the salad sit for about 30 minutes and then taste for seasoning, add salt if necessary.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  It is best eaten at room temperature, whether by itself or as a base for the Guinness stew.

Beef, It's What's For Dinner

Cooking steak intimidates me. It always has. I think it's because I can't grill or barbecue to save my life. I've tried pan frying and broiling before, always with lackluster results. But with the meat bundle I bought from Jaworski's I got some really, really nice Angus steaks like the ones you see above; sirloin tip. And I couldn't just let them sit around...I mean look at them! They're beautiful! And I couldn't get the image of Gibbs and Shepard eating steak au poivre out of my head (I really do watch too much NCIS). So I brought out one of my French cookbooks to see how this wonderful sounding meat was made.

To say that it was simple is an understatement and as long as you have a good piece of beef, your taste buds will sing "happy, happy, joy, joy".

Steak Au Poirve
4 - 1 1/2 inch thick steaks
4 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 medium onion, finely diced
1/4 cup semi-dry white wine
kosher salt
cracked black pepper

Make sure to let your steak sit out of the fridge for about an hour before doing anything with it. I set mine on paper towels to make sure that any excess moisture would be wicked away. Sprinkle kosher salt lightly on one side of the steak, then sprinkle that side generously with cracked black pepper and press it into the steak firmly with your hand. Repeat on reverse side. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy bottomed saute pan with the olive oil over medium-high heat. When oil and butter are shimmering add two of the steaks to the pan. Sear steaks without turning for 3 to 4 minutes (for medium rare). Turn and sear on opposite side for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a heated plate and put in a warm oven while searing the remaining steaks. Lower heat to medium and add the finely diced onions to the pan. Saute until onions begin to turn translucent. add wine and deglaze pan. Taste for salt and add if needed. Turn off heat, add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and swirl to incorporate. Spoon sauce over steak and serve immediately.


I served my steak with sauteed asparagus and mashed potatoes. There was a general cry of joy as we all dug into our steaks and then we all sort of fell into a beef coma. That coupled with losing daylight made for a dark picture. Tomorrow I'll show you the asparagus. God, I love asparagus.