Category: Recipes

It’s pretty cold outside – a perfect reason for Chili!

Posted on by Jo Anne
Zak Chapman at Pexels

I have never been a fan of chili.  I have worked at companies that have annual chili cook-offs.  I have friends who get that faraway look of dreaminess and the promise of comfort food when they say, “Nah, I made chili today!”

I have never wanted to eat it.  I wasn’t afraid of the spice.  I wasn’t afraid of the heat.  But everyone I know makes their chili with BEANS.  I don’t know why, but I am not a fan of beans.  They have an odd texture when you eat them, a little too mealy or something.  It took me a long time to get used to the idea of refried beans.  I went out to eat and they served the refried beans in a tortilla cup and I ate them like a dip with the free tortilla chips.  But I digress.

I don’t like beans.

But about 2 days ago, when I was anticipating a blizzard, I had this brainstorm of an idea to make chili.  But what goes into chili?  I had to find a great recipe – that didn’t require beans.  And then I panicked.  I like to try to be authentic.  If chili without beans is not authentic, I did not want any part of it.  But all I could think about was scoops of beef surrounded by some delicious sort of gooey, drippy, sauce or gravy that tasted nothing like tomato sauce, or barbecue sauce.  What was I to do?

Well, I know I’m not the first person to know that Google is your friend with quandaries such as this.  A simple search of “Does an authentic chili recipe require beans?” yielded several resources that all quoted the same source.  And here, I am writing another post that will quote the same source.  The International Chili Society.  Their official rules state, and I quote,

“Traditional Red Chili is any kind of meat/combination of meats cooked with red chili peppers/powders, various
spices and other ingredients. Any non-meat fillers are not allowed, including beans. Preference is not given to
either cut meat or ground meat. “

So I was totally thrilled and super excited!!! The next step was to find a recipe.  First I tried trusty Google.  However, my Google-fu is not as strong as that of my friends.  So I turned to my trusty Epicurious.com.  I settled on this Beef Chili recipe from Claire Saffitz in Bon Appetit in February of 2018.  Sadly, this recipe did not involve ground beef, but boneless beef chuck.  It also involved 3 types of chilis: Ancho, Guajillo and Pasilla.  The local grocery store chain here does not really carry dried peppers of any kind.  I purchased fresh poblanos.  Then I went back to my trusty Google.  I looked for alternates for the others.  Well, I was able to find guajillos at another store, but not pasallas.  Mulato chilis were given as an acceptable substitute.  Buuuut, since I didn’t write that down, when I got to the store, I found dried Moritas and purchased them.  It wasn’t until I got home and reread, that I realized I didn’t have the same peppers.

It didn’t matter.  Apparently, if a recipe calls for dried peppers, you should never substitute with fresh.  The flavor profile is completely different.  Since the kids would be eating said chili, I decided that was ok, as the fresh poblanos would soften the heat.  And let me tell you, that the flavor of this chili was A-MAY-ZING!!!

I have one regret.  I didn’t take any pictures.  I didn’t take pictures while I cooked it.  I didn’t take pictures while I ate it.  I didn’t take pictures of the leftovers.

I will make it again, for sure.

Nommy apply crispy

Posted on by Jo Anne

My break tonight consisted of a trip to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for my favorite fall/holiday dessert to make…Apple Crisp.  Admittedly, I’ve been making the same recipe for so long, that I don’t remember where I got it.  Certainly, both my immediate and extended families never made apple crisp for the holidays, so I have no clue where it came from.  All I know is it is yummy and delicious.

I start with about five to eight good sized Granny Smith Apples.  If you are in-the-know, you understand that using a nice tart apple like the Granny Smith helps to offset the sweetness of the crisp topping.  This is true of any baked apple product.  The only time I opt for a sweeter apple is when there is minimal sugar involved.  Anyway, so I start with the apples.  Core them; peel them; slice them.  Then toss them with some lemon juice.  The acid in the lemon juice will keep the apples from browning.

Truly the best part of the apple crisp is the crisp.  Top it with Breyer’s Natural Vanilla ice cream, and it’s a winner beyond measure.  The crisp is made of rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Now, the butter does not make it the healthiest dish.  However, butter will make the oats and sugar and cinnamon bake together into the yummy crispy goodness it is.  I usually make more than the recipe calls for because the crisp topping is the best.  Let’s face it.  You know it’s true.

I cook it, and then I serve it warm.  And as I said before, it requires Breyer’s Natural Vanilla ice cream.  Whipped cream doesn’t cut it with this apple crisp.  Ok, I suppose ANY vanilla ice cream would work.  But I’m partial to Breyer’s.  It has just the right level of “sweet” and that’s the truth.

After making my first apple crisp of the season, I start to think about Christmas Cookies.  And so, tonight, in the wee hours of the morning when I return home from work, I will commence the preparation of our first Apple Crisp of the season.