My chili recipe

I sent this to David on FB, and realized others may want it. It's actually a reworking of a recipe one of Will's friends sent him, adjusted to how I cook. Since I tend to play with almost every recipe I try, this is the one that has made Will decide I make better chili than he does. :)

All weights and measures are estimates and depend entirely on how much you need/want to make/desire in flavor. I tend to cook by taste, and usually use the cup of my palm to measure for stuff like chili.

2lbs ground beef (I would recommend against the extra lean kind as the fat is an important factor in the texture and flavor)

chili powder (some people use it to the exclusion of other spices. I prefer to use a mix of spices and use chili powder to boost the flavor. But that's me, and I have a fully stocked spice cabinet ;)

one (at least one) good sized whole coarse chopped onion

5 or so whole garlic cloves, peeled and pounded or very thinly sliced. Use a garlic press if you have one.

Variants:

Depending on how tomato-ee you like your chili, you can add any combination of the following to suit your taste

-tomato sauce (about an 8oz can or so) You can get various kinds that include various seasonings (here, we have a brand called "Rot-el" that has chilis, or jalepenos in it. )

-canned whole stewed or cut tomatoes (My personal preference. I prefer my tomato flavor to come from actual tomatoes). Do not drain.

-tomato paste (great tomato flavor but adds less liquid for a firmer body) Sometimes I use it, sometimes not.

Add salt to taste. I tend not to use a lot of salt while cooking, preferring to let people salt their food at the table.

Black pepper - a good palm full. 1/4th tsp minimum (to me at least)

Cayenne pepper (be careful, a little goes a long way. Start slow, add more as needed and sampled)

Cumin - sparingly. Too much, and it's all you'll taste. It's chili, not curry ;)


Espresso powder -- dash or two. You get almost a mole-like flavor. Not too much. It's chili, not mole.

Cinnamon -- same as for my marinara, just a dash. You don't really want to taste it. 

The rest:
Chopped bell peppers
Chopped jalapeno or chili peppers (to taste. A little goes a long way with these.) I've been known to add a habanero as well...but they are HOT! Make sure you wear gloves to de-seed them.

Beans:

Whatever kind you like or have on hand. I usually use a combination of black beans and red or pinks. I also add corn. Don't drain the beans, the juice adds the needed water and gives it good body.

Prep: Can be done in a pot on the stove, or a crock pot.

Brown the beef with the onions, garlic and peppers. Once the beef is browned and the onions are caramelized, drain. Add to the pot with the rest of the ingredients. If you're doing this in a crock pot, start out at high and then turn it to low. If on the stove, allow the mix to come just to a boil and then lower the heat.

After about 20 min or so of this mix working together, sample and start adding spices to taste. Go slow with spices as you don't really get the impact of them for about 30 min to an hour after adding them. Adjust it slowly upward in the heat factor/salt factor/flavor factor until it suits you.

Cook covered at least an hour, stirring gently on occasion. If you're doing this in a crock pot, you can leave it on low for the day.

If needed, you can add masa flour, which acts as a thickener. I don't usually use it, but I have in the past. Make sure to add it slowly or it will clump. I don't think it's usually needed unless you added too much liquid. We have a spice here called "Caroll Shelby's Chili Kit" (or something like that) which has all the basic spices in it. I don't know if it's available in Canada, though.

Serve over rice, or polenta or whatever. Cheddar cheese and sour cream toppings are always good.

Well, there you go. Chili. I don't think I've ever made it the same way twice. It's kind of like my marinara sauce: I just throw it together and let it bubble.

Basic Marinara Sauce

I put this together for a friend, figured I'd also post it here since I haven't post anything in months.

Basic Marinara Sauce
I start with canned tomatoes. You can use fresh ones, but you end up going through the same process as canning them (blanching, peeling, cooking, etc.) This is just the basic sauce, you can make variations on it according to taste. It’s also the amounts I normally use, which will make 2 quarts or so.
Ingredients:
6 large cans of tomatoes. NOT paste, NOT sauce. I usually use 4 cans of whole tomatoes (or crushed) and 2 cans of puree. If using whole tomatoes, I squish them as I add to the pot, giving a chunky sauce. Sometimes, I’ll use 2 cans each of puree, crushed and whole.
4-5 cloves of garlic, pressed.
Basil, Oregano, Parsley
Black pepper
Salt
Olive oil
Carrots (you’ll see why)
Medium Onion, finely chopped (if no allergies or dislikes)
Cinnamon (my secret weapon)
Bay leaf

In a big pot, sauté onion and garlic in a little olive oil (about 1T) until tender and fragrant. Add tomatoes and start bringing to a low boil. Don’t heat too quickly, or it’ll burn. Add a palmful each of the herbs. If using fresh herbs, chop very finely and use 2-3 times the amount. Add a pinch of salt, a few dashes of black pepper, and keep stirring. Toss in a bay leaf or two. When it starts to bubble, cover and lower heat to simmer.
Cut carrots into big pieces. Toss them in. The carrots will release their sugars and soak up some of the acid from the tomatoes. If you want to get more veggies into the kids, finely shred the carrots and leave them in the sauce. If doing this, you’ll still want a couple of larger chunks to fish out after cooking, taking a bunch of the acid with them.
Add a dash of cinnamon. Not a lot, you don’t want to taste it. It’s simply to counteract the acid.
Let this simmer for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.
Sauce will thicken as the water evaporates. Taste it after a couple of hours and adjust to taste. You can add a pinch or two of sugar if it’s too acidic or you want more sweetness than the carrots release. Make sure you take out the bay leaves and carrot chunks before using the sauce. You can let it simmer for as long as you want, really. Mine usually sits for at least 4 hours before I use it, if not more.

Variations:
I do the following, depending on my mood and what I’ll use the sauce for.
Add red wine (or marsala if I don’t have red). Not a lot, and add this after it’s simmered for a few hours. Let simmer at least another hour to burn off the alcohol.
Roast the garlic instead of sautéing.
Add parmesan or romano cheese. Do this toward the end of the cooking.
Red pepper flakes will give a spicier sauce.

If you like mushrooms, peppers, olives, etc. in your sauce, sauté and add them with the tomatoes. I don’t usually do so until I’m ready to actually use the sauce. Same goes for meat. I don’t add meat until I’m using the sauce for a recipe.

More tips for the perfect turkey

I've already posting instructions on brining a turkey to make the meat tender and flavorful. But what's the point of brining if it's not cooked correctly? Roasting a turkey is more than sticking it in a pan and leaving it in the oven for a few hours. Here are some tips and tricks to make your bird delicious and tender.

1. If you're going to stuff the turkey before roasting, make sure all the ingredients of the stuffing are fully cooked. Allow the stuffing to cool to room temperature before putting into the bird. Stuffing needs to be 165° in order for all bacteria to be killed. If it's not at the proper temperature when you take the bird from the oven, put the stuffing in a casserole back into the oven until it's fully cooked. I usually make the stuffing a day ahead.

2. If you brined the turkey, then the giblets and extra fat should have already been removed. If not, do it before stuffing the bird. Rinse the inside of the cavity and outside of the bird with water then blot dry.

3. Bend the wings behind the top of the breast, so the tips don't burn. Tie the legs together. Fold back the neck skin and use a skewer to connect.

4. Season with olive oil, butter, cooking spray ... whatever you're using, along with preferred seasonings. If you've brined the turkey, DO NOT use any more salt. Depending on how much spice you used in your brine, you may not need to season it at all, just drizzle some oil on top.

5. ALWAYS cook the bird on a rack. Even if you're using a throwaway foil pan, place the bird on some sort of rack. I've improvised and used the small rack from the inside of my toaster oven when I didn't have anything else. Roasting the bird flat in a pan allows it to sit and cook in fat. Not exactly a healthy way to cook a low-fat bird. Cook at 350° for at least 3 hours. Stuffed birds need to cook about 30 minutes longer than unstuffed birds. When the skin has turned a light golden color, cover the top of the breast with a foil tent. Remove the foil for the last 45 minutes of baking so the skin turns a nice brown color.

6. Basting. Some people baste, some don't. Basting helps it to brown evenly, but it's not necessary to do so. Especially when the turkey has been brined, there's no danger of losing juices from the meat. DO NOT roast the bird breast-side down and then turn. I've seen a 20-lb turkey fall to the floor half-cooked because someone did this, thinking the juices will redistribute through the bird. There's no need. Just roast it breast-side up. Here's why:

7. Let it rest. When the bird is fully cooked (registering 165° on a meat thermometer), take it out of the oven, place it on a cutting board and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. This crucial step allows the meat to relax after tightening up during the cooking process. After resting at room temperature, the juices are redistributed throughout the turkey and the meat stands up to carving better--so the juices stay in the slices, rather than on your countertop. This resting period is the perfect time to make gravy, heat up side dishes, etc. Just keep the critters out of the kitchen!! You can cover the bird loosely with the foil tent from step 5 if your house is too cool.

So there they are, my tips for a perfect roast turkey (or chicken, goose, etc). I've never gone wrong roasting poultry this way.

Country French Beef Stew

I got this recipe from the Century 21 Realty magazine. I think it was originally printed in Better Homes and Gardens.

1/2 cup dry navy beans
4 cups water
1/4 cup flour
2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tbls olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup dry red wine
1 3/4 cups beef stock or one 14 1/2 ounce can of beef broth
1 cup chopped tomato
2 tsp dried thyme, crush or 2 tbls snipped fresh thyme
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1/2 inch slices
snipped fresh parsley (optional)

Rinse beans. In a large saucepan, combine drained beans and the 4 cups water. Bring to boiling, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for one hour. Or, soak beans in a cool place for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse

Add 1/2 tsp pepper to flour, and dredge beef a few pieces at a time. In a Dutch oven, brown half the beef in a tablespoon of hot oil. Remove beef and add the remaining oil, beef, onion and garlic. Cook until beef is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat, if necessary.

Stir in wine, scraping until all the brown bits are dissolved. Return all beef to pot. Stir in beans, soup stock or broth, tomato and dried thyme, if using. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.

Simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots and parsnips and return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 25-30 minutes or until beef and vegetables are tender. Stir in fresh thyme, if using. Garnish with parsley.

Serve with a nice red wine and crusty baguette.

554 cal, 31 g total fat (10 g saturated fat), 99 mg chol, 295 mg sodium, 29g carb. 8 g fiber, 34 g protein.

"Spanish chicken"

Last night I made something I call "Spanish chicken". It's a rip-off of a dish I used to get at the Latin American deli across the street from where I used to work. With my made-up recipes, measurements are always approximate...I eyeball most things and tend to just dump spices in by the palmful or shaker.

Main ingredients:

Chicken pieces, not boneless.
Red bell pepper
Green bell pepper
Onion
Garlic
Goya Adobo
Goya Sofrito (red)
Canned tomatoes, small can of tomato sauce if using a small can of tomatoes
Chicken stock

I usually do this in the crockpot, but it can be done on the stove as well.

Slice the peppers and onions (I usually use one of each per pound of chicken). Chop the garlic (2 cloves per pound) and put in the bottom of the crockpot. Put the chicken on top and dust it all with Adobo. Add a can of tomatoes (whole, diced, smushed in your hand, whatever) and make sure to use the juice as well. If there isn't enough liquid from the tomatoes, add in a small can of tomato sauce. Add the entire jar of Sofrito. If you still need more liquid, add enough chicken stock so it's "stew-like" in the pot.

With a crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours. I also cook on high for a couple of hours and then lower. On the stove, bring to a boil then cover and simmer for about 3 hours. The cook time will depend on how much you're making.

Serve over yellow or white rice. I usually add some mixed vegetables to the rice as it cooks.

How to have a perfect holiday turkey

It's not how long you cook it, baste it, season it or stuff it. It's in the preparation BEFORE you start. Brine your turkey!


Depending on the size of your bird, you'll either need to use a large stock pot or a cooler.

After taking out the giblets, rinsing and cutting out extra internal fat, sprinkle 1 1/5 to 2 cups (depending on bird size) of KOSHER salt in the cavity and on the outside. Dissolve about a 1/2 cup to a cup of brown sugar in 3 quarts of water, then add herbs and spices. I usually add a couple of torn bay leaves, a palmful of thyme, sage and oregano. Place the bird in the pot/cooler and cover it with water. Keep it overnight in your fridge, if you have room, using a can inside the bird to keep it from floating. If you don't have room, put all of this in a large, unscented garbage bag, squeeze out the air and stick them in a cooler and cover it all with ice.

That's it. Make sure you rinse it well before cooking and don't add ANY salt to as it cooks. You won't need salt if you make pan gravy either. Make sure you use KOSHER salt, not table salt or sea salt. Kosher salt has the right coarseness for brining and won't break down. Regular salt just makes the meat salty and gross.