Quick and Easy, Fool-Proof Chili

Company coming . . . what to fix?  Try my favorite cool-weather recipe:  Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili turned into No-Alarm Chili for tender taste buds.  It only takes half an hour to make.  In fact, it will probably take you longer to read this post than it will to make the chili!  But read the post, anyway!  The way I make it, it pretty well fills up a 6-qt. crock pot and will feed 8-12 people, depending on their greediness!

Here's the package back showing ingredients and directions.  I change it up a bit, of course--I'm allergic to following any recipe!

For my version:

Break up 2-3 lbs. of ground grass-fed beef and pastured pork into pecan-sized bits and brown on medium-low heat.  The more meat you use, the milder-flavored your chili will be.

Use 1 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes.  I like Cento brand best because they're thick, not runny.  You can opt to use tomato puree for less texture or you can crush canned whole tomatoes with your hands, but it's more work and the chili won't be as rich and tomato-y.

Instead of water (that's for ducks!) use 1 bottle (forget cans!) of good beer.  Negra Modelo or Dos Equis are good.  This time I used Guinness Stout.  
Very Important:  Taste the beer first to be sure it's good!  You do not want to ruin your chili with bad beer!  :)


Follow the Mild Chili directions.  More in a minute.

Stretch your chili with canned beans.  I usually add about 1 15.oz. can per pound of meat.   My favorite is dark red kidney beans, but I also use black beans, pinto beans, or light red kidney beans as the mood strikes.  Adding beans makes the chili perfect for "Make Your Own Taco Salad" or "Mexican Pile-Up."

Since this recipe is as easy as browning meat and opening cans, I didn't insult your intelligence by posting photos of that process.  I'll just give a quick run-down of the steps:

1. Brown the meat in a skillet over medium-low heat.
2. While periodically stirring the meat (too much manipulation or too-high heat can make it tough), I heat the crock pot on high.
3. Drain and rinse the beans in a colander, then dump them into the crock pot.
4. Add the tomatoes on top of the beans.
5. Use the beer to rinse out the tomato can and pour the entire bottle (minus your taste test; don't worry--the chili is going to simmer and kill any germs the beer didn't kill) into the crock pot.
6. Drain the browned meat in the same colander.  You can put a bowl of your dog's food under the crock pot, and he will thank you at supper time!
7. Add the browned meat to the mixture in the crock pot and stir well.

In case you were wondering what the sign behind the crock pot says, here it is!

Now comes the fun part!  Open the Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit box and take out the goodies inside.  Separate them into three piles:

1. Chili powder, salt, cumin/oregano, onion/garlic and paprika in front.
2. Masa in the middle.
3. Red pepper in back.

Now put the red pepper packet back into the box.  Save the box for the directions.  When you're done you will toss the box with the hot pepper inside!  This will ensure that you won't accidentally put the hot cayenne pepper into the chili, making it inedible.  Trust me, it will have plenty of flavor and a bit of heat without the cayenne!

Here's a look at the spices you're going to use right now in assembling your chili.  Note:  You could stock chili powder, cumin, oregano, onion flakes, garlic flakes and paprika.  You could try to figure out the right proportions.  Then you could open 6 jars, measure all the spices into your chili, close the jars and put them away.  Or you could just be smart and pick up a package of Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit at the grocery store.  You decide!

Grab a scissors, cut open the packets and dump them onto the chili.  It's that easy, and you're almost done.

Stir the chili and keep the crock pot on "High" until it simmers.

After the chili simmers, take 1/4 c. of warm water, dissolve the masa into it, then stir it into the chili.  You can then turn the crock pot to "Low" and leave it.  Contrary to what the directions say about simmering 15 minutes, there will be enough heat left in the crock pot to thicken the masa mixture.  This saves you from having to remember to come back and turn the crock pot down later, and it ensures your chili won't have a burned taste if you forget.

Now you just have to wait till supper time!  While you're waiting, briskly scratch this photo on your computer screen with your thumbnail to enjoy the odor of simmering chili.

We like to serve the chili on top of corn chips and top it with:

• Grated sharp cheddar cheese
• Chopped sweet bell peppers
• Chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Sour cream
• Salsa
• Guacamole

We call this "Make Your Own Taco Salad," but I like our friends' name better:  "Mexican Pile-Up."

Be sure to have plenty of cold beer to serve with the chili.  Your guests will probably prefer if you don't taste test those bottles!

This recipe is so easy and the result is so delicious, it's almost a crime not to invite someone over for dinner!  If you're lucky and your guests aren't too greedy, you'll probably have enough leftovers for supper tomorrow.

Bon appetit!

Praise the Lard and Pass the Biscuits!

Right before we took the pigs to the butcher, I read a newspaper article about lard which turned around my thinking on this much-maligned kitchen staple.  The internet is a great source to learn about the benefits of lard and the fact that pasture raised pigs make the healthiest lard.  I realized that our pastured pigs would give us lard that was FAR healthier for baking than highly processed commercial lard, shortening, or even butter.  No more need to use olive oil in my biscuits in an attempt to make them healthy!

Here's how we turned 9 lbs. 5 oz. of fat scraps into some heavenly lard:

Teamwork made short work of a big job, separating the fat from the meat scraps.

We got 6 lbs. 11 oz. of fat pieces . . .

 . . . and 2 lbs. 10 oz. of pork scraps to put in the freezer.

We heated the fat in a heavy stainless pot over low heat for several hours, stirring occasionally.

It worked!  The fat scraps melt into lard, leaving cracklings behind.

Ready, aim, pour!  A wide-mouth funnel holds a strainer lined with a coffee filter, ready to ladle the hot lard into sterilized pint jars.

This strains out any fibrous bits . . .

. . . leaving pure, clear lard.

As it cooled, the lard began to turn from clear yellow to cloudy yellow.

The nice, crisp cracklings cooled in a colander before we froze them.

In the morning, five pints of snowy white lard greeted us.  Four went into the freezer while Jenny immediately dug into the fifth jar to make some amazing biscuits!

When it comes to lard, I'm a believer!

Smoking Hot Bacon on a Freezing Cold Morning

Dec. 1 was a snappy cold morning with a heavy frost on the ground, and we got up before the sun came up.

Jenny went out to feed the animals in the barnyard while I got dog food ready in the house.

As soon as we'd fed the dogs and ourselves, we got to work on the bacon.  The first step was to rinse it, removing all of the curing salt.

Each plastic container that had held two slabs of bacon yielded about a half cup of liquid this time.  I had drained the bacon once before, but got only a little liquid.  This is liquid that was pulled out of the meat by the curing process.

There was less liquid to drain out of the bacon that had been cured in Ziploc bags, but that was because some leaked out onto the bottom of the fridge.  I personally found the Ziploc method not worth repeating.  The salt that rubbed against the "zippers" when putting the bacon into the bags made it impossible to close the bags tightly.  For the small investment, I much preferred the large rectangular plastic containers with lids.  I can easily stack and store them till they're needed next time.

Next we patted the slabs of bacon dry with paper towels and stacked them up to await their turn in the smoker.

We made foil packets of wood chips and poked holes in the top with a fork, laying them directly on the heating coil of the smoker.  We smoked two batches with applewood chips and two with hickory.

Once the smoke was evident, we put the bacon on the racks and closed the lid.

Then we set the timer for 45 minutes and waited . . .  Tai was very interested (and hopeful) about the whole project.

What a marvelous smell wafted forth!  We were feeling very interested and hopeful, too!

After we took the bacon out, I discovered that the electric coil was burning right through the foil which was then sticking to the coil.  I learned several things:
1)  Even when you think the packet of coals has cooled off, do NOT drop it into a plastic can lined with a plastic garbage bag!
2)  If the hot coals melt through the plastic bag and garbage can, do NOT dump them out inside the house!  Especially if your aim is bad and some misses the sink and ends up on the throw rug.

3)  Do NOT dump burning coals off a throw rug onto the vinyl floor!  It is much easier to replace a throw rug than to live with coal holes in the floor!

I also learned that chips placed directly on the coil make very good smoke because they catch on fire.  The bacon will still get smoked, but the fire isn't good for the paint on the smoker.

We have since purchased a stainless steel smoker box to hold chips when smoking for a short time, and we have switched to chunks of wood when smoking for a longer time (like for a ham).

I also learned that despite making a few silly mistakes, smoking turns out some beautiful-looking bacon!  Did you know that store-bought "Hickory Smoked Bacon" has probably never been near a wood chip, much less a smoking one?  An article from the University of Wisconsin-Madison magazine describes their bacon-curing class:  "The class observes how to add flavor using an injector machine, a method that replicates the results of older and much slower practices of dry curing. The pork belly moves along a conveyor belt beneath a row of pumping needles connected to hoses that deliver water and a foamy mixture containing the liquid smoke. While the smoky smell is almost overpowering, there’s no smoke anywhere."

Yum!  Just think about it--when did you last see bacon that looks like this in a grocery store?  I assure you, smoking involves heat which partially cooks the bacon, so if your bacon is pink and raw-looking, it has more likely been poked than smoked!

Once the bacon was cooled, I packaged it with our Vacmaster Pro.  I love using the bags with a ziploc on one end because that way you can remove the bacon, slice some off and return it to the fridge.

After marking the packages with weight, wood flavor and date, we put them into the freezer.

Except, of course, for one slab that we couldn't wait to try for breakfast the next morning!

Limoncello

After reading a recent post on The Greening of Gavin, I was inspired to use some lemons that were beginning to age in my refrigerator and try my hand at making Limoncello, too.

My version is lazier and perhaps not so green as Gavin's, and I can't taste his all the way from Australia, but here it is:

7 medium-sized lemons, zested and juiced

My trusty zester removed the zest without the pith.

I put the zest into a large, clean jar with 3 c. of vodka.  I added the fresh lemon juice, about 2/3 c.  I sealed the jar and put it on a dark countertop to age.

After 5 days, Kara and I tasted the lemony vodka and found it plenty lemony.  I strained it through cheesecloth into a large clean bottle and added 1 c. Trader Joe's simple syrup. Then I put some in an attractive serving bottle, and voila!

Delicious, homemade, easy limoncello.

Yummy Carrots

The bounty of our garden seemed to point toward Korean food one night recently.  I made gochu-jang sauce for cucumbers, sautéed a bizarre little squash in sesame oil and garlic, and invented a Korean-style recipe for some baby carrots.

Korean-Style Carrots

1 pint baby carrots, cleaned

1 heaping tsp. grated ginger root, fresh or from a jar

several cloves of fresh garlic, minced or pressed

sesame oil

Using about 1/2 T. of sesame oil, sauté the ginger root and garlic till they begin to brown.  Add the baby carrots and sauté gently till coated in oil, ginger and garlic.  Add enough water to almost cover the carrots and heat until water begins to boil.  Reduce heat to keep carrots simmering briskly and cover pot.  Keep an eye on the carrots and cook until the water has been reduced to a few tablespoons of sauce in the bottom of the pan and carrots are just tender.  The carrots should look glazed, although there is no sugar in the recipe.  Remove from heat.  Serve hot, room temperature or cold, as desired. 

We all agreed that this carrot recipe is definitely a keeper!

"Ducken" Liver Pâté

Ingredients:


1 lb. 10 oz. fresh chicken (and duck) livers
Scant 2/3 c. brandy
1 stick unsalted butter
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
1 garlic cloves, crushed
1 heaping tsp. fresh thyme, crushed
5 juniper berries
2 bay leaves
Sea salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/2 c. whipping cream

Clean the livers of veins, etc.  Rinse and pat dry.  Pour brandy over livers in small bowl and cover in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.  Then proceed as follows:

Sauté onion in half of the butter over low heat until soft and transparent.

Drain livers, reserving liquid, and add to onions.  Increase heat to moderate.

Add seasonings.

 Continue to cook, stirring, until livers change color.  Make sure there is no red.  Add the rest of the marinade and simmer gently for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool several minutes.

Place livers and liquid in food processor.

Make sure Zephyr has a toy in her mouth to stifle her crazed barking at the food processor!  (Note Tai looking at her as if to say, "What are you on about?")

Now, process livers till smooth.

Add remaining half stick of butter, cut into chunks and process till completely blended.

Pour cream in, processing till just blended.

Pâté should look like this.

Spoon pate into clean jars.  Use spoon to push out most of the air bubbles.  Cover top of pâté with a layer of clarified butter.   Place lids lightly on jars, but do not screw shut.  Put pâté jars in freezer.  When frozen, screw jar lids on.  Store pâté in freezer until ready to eat.

Be sure to save a bit out to taste on toasted French bread or crackers!

This recipe was mostly adapted from The Food of France: A Journey for Food Lovers by Maria Villegas and Sarah Randell.  I had a little less liver than 1 1/2 times their recipe; I cut the butter a little bit to make the amount an easy 1 stick; and I increased the brandy because I used almost enough for 2 recipes.  :)  I also doubled the garlic amount and probably used a bit less onion than called for, although they did not specify size or weight on the onion.  Juniper berries and bay leaves were inspired by The Wonderful Food of Provence by Jean-Nöel Escudier and Peta J. Fuller.

Herb, Zephyr and I can all testify that this pâté is delicious!  I have six various-sized containers in the freezer that I will share with family and friends, keeping two nice-sized ones for Herb and me.

Sowing and Harvesting

Note: I've been sick in bed with sinusitis and bronchitis since Tuesday evening, and today was the first day I got out a bit to help poor Herb with chores. I didn't even think of taking a camera along (although I saw something I'm dying to get out and photograph--and I already have a blog title for it!) Meanwhile, I'm going back to use some photos from April 29 that got overlooked.

This was the day (April 29) that I finished planting seeds I hadn't gotten to yet.  I planted more pole beans and bush beans to extend the harvest from the ones Charis and I started indoors.  I also planted two kinds of cucumbers.  The pepper seedlings are still too small to put out, and we're still waiting on Shumway to send our tomato plants.

After working outside till quite late, we were hungry, and I needed a quick supper.  It had to be something with eggs since I had an extra dozen this week that I didn't sell at church.  When I found a pint of cream that Kara left in the fridge, I knew what it would be--curried eggs!  (The recipe came from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian cook book, and I'll be glad to share it if anyone is interested.)  While I hardboiled 8 eggs, I started the sauce with onion sautéed in oil and some tomato purée.  Cumin and a bit of garam masala were the seasonings, and I finished the sauce by adding cream until it looked good.  The eggs peeled easily, being very fresh, and were easily halved with a wire cheese slicer.  I placed them gently in the simmering sauce and couldn't resist taking a picture before I called Herb for supper.  Now those are beautiful yolks!

As Herb and I admired the color and taste of our eggs, we enjoyed yet another chuckle about one man at church whose wife won't be buying my eggs again.  She made him a frittata out of them, and he refused to even taste it.  He was put off by the color--eggs should be pale yellow, he told her!  All I can say is, if he's happy eating anemic battery eggs, then he deserves them!  

Our curried eggs were accompanied by our first salad of the season, made from our new mesclun blend, young arugula, and a volunteer leaf lettuce that came up from last year's crop.

It is SO rewarding to eat the fruits of one's labors!  We can't wait till our garden begins to produce some more!