How to Make a Seductive Chili

Dedicated Chili cooks always seem to be looking for an amazing recipe for a blow-you-out-of-the-water chili. Wouldn’t it be exciting to UNLEASH your chili and rock your family and friends’ worlds, save money and have a great time preparing it?

Searching the Internet, I found so many of you looking for new chili recipes. My husband, Coach, is a gourmet cook who has developed chili recipes that are easy, time and money saving and make your body tingle from the first taste right down to your toes.

Slow cooking is the key to this dynamic recipe. Due to this cooking process, less expensive cuts of meat can be used. Actually, they are more flavorful and tender using this process. We have found a sultry and seductive chili is produced using a slow cooking technique.

Finding a recipe that uses your local grocery store ingredients is a time and money saving benefit of this chili. There are no fancy ingredients that you have to go to a specialty shop to buy. So, you can get the ingredients during one of your weekly food shopping trips. This recipe is time and money saving and produces a sultry chili that your family and friends will think came from a high-class restaurant.

Try this recipe :

Dynamic Chuck/Pork Roast Chili

One Pot Chili that Cooks Itself

Ingredients

3-5 lb. pork roast

salt and pepper to taste

1 onion

1 red, green or yellow bell pepper

½ cup finely chopped parsley or cilantro

4 cloves of garlic

2-3 chopped jalapenos with seeds

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of cumin

1 tablespoon of chili powder

(A local grocery store brand is fine.)

3 16 oz. can of black beans

Use one 16 oz. can of beans for every pound of meat.

Trim fat down to you dietary requirement or remove after cooking. Leave the bone in to cook – it adds more flavor.

Put chuck roast or pork roast in roasting pan with a lid. Add 64 ozs. of liquid in with the meat. Salt and pepper the meat. Put the fat side up. Roast the meat only on 350 degrees for 2 hours. Leave the bone in the meat.

After roasting the meat for 2 hours, put in all of the remaining chili ingredients. Putting the vegetables in for the last hour will not only cook them through, but the vegetables will maintain their color and consistency. This cooking technique will not allow them to be absorbed into the broth.

Add onion of your choice, green, red, or yellow bell pepper. Add chopped cilantro, chopped garlic, and finely chopped jalapenos. If you want more heat, put the seeds in from the hot pepper. Otherwise discard the seeds.

For spices, add salt, cumin, and your favorite chili powder.

At the end of the 2-hour cooking time, add the vegetables and seasonings to the meat broth. Remove the meat and let stand. Be sure the meat is tender enough – it should be almost falling off the bone. Stir the vegetables into the meat broth. Roast the vegetables and V8 broth for one hour at 350 degrees.

Check the vegetable mixture after an hour, and if vegetables are cooked through, remove the pan from the oven. Stir in 3 cans of beans. Cover and let sit about 30 minutes until beans heat through.

Pull the meat apart into shreds. Discard fat and bone. Add the meat into the bean and broth mixture.

 

The Secret To Making Perfect Chili Fit For A King

Every autumn my thoughts turn to making chili. The garden is about done. The freezer is full of veggies. All the canning is done, and winter is coming. Just before winter hits, the price of beef drops as cattlemen sell off any remaining stock that they don’t want to “winter over”. It is the perfect time to stock the freezer with homemade chili.

There is nothing better than to come home at the end of a cold winter day, chilled to the bone, and sit down to a bowl of piping hot chili and steaming black coffee. It is more than food for the body. It is truly a comfort worth remembering.

By itself, chili is absolutely delicious. As a side dish to grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna melts, or toasted BLTs, it is out of this world. But there is a fabulous meal I call “perfect chili fit for a king” that is even better. It is a masterpiece of cookery.

There are two great secrets to making “perfect chili fit for a king”. One is in the making, and the other is in the serving. The first secret involves understanding the word “perfect”. More people disagree on what makes good chili than any other dish. Some think that hotter is better. Others say milder. Some like it soupy. Others like it thick. And that is the secret to this recipe. When you finish making it, you will have 3-4 gallons of chili that is perfect FOR YOU…not for me. Yes, I said 3-4 gallons. When frozen in quart containers, you will have 12-16 wonderful meals that can be served in a matter of minutes. Just remove it from the container, add about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water (depending on how you like it), turn on the burner, put on the coffee, and start the grilled cheese and garlic sandwiches. Your family will be eating in about 20 minutes.

To begin with, you will need at least a 16 quart pot. I use the same 20 quart pot normally used for canning just to be sure I have a pot that’s big enough. And you will need the following ingredients.

5 lbs. of ground chuck

5 Family size (40 1/2 oz.) cans of dark red kidney beans (drained)

1 Institutional size can (6 lb. 9 oz.) of whole peeled tomatoes

3 large bell peppers (washed, cored, and seeded) mixed colors preferred

3 medium to large oninions (about the size of an orange…peeled and washed)

2 to 4 TBS (tablespoons) Ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp (teaspoons) to 1 TBS of crushed red pepper

1 to 2 TBS of salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup of chili powder

grated sharp cheddar cheese

sour cream

chopped chives (fresh or dried)

Open the tomatoes and carefully pour the entire contents into the cooking pot. Making sure you keep your hand submerged below the liquid line, find the whole tomatoes one by one. Poke a hole in them with your thumb, then squeeze the tomato until the pieces squish out between your fingers. WARNING. If you do not poke a hole in the tomato before you squish it, I promise you that both you and your kitchen will be wearing tomato juice. The same is true if you squish them with your hands above the liquid. Continue squishing the pieces of tomato until they are the size you prefer.

Chop all the bell peppers into dime-sized chunks and divide into two equal portions. Put one half into a bowl and the other in the pot with the tomatoes. Do the same with the onions, placing half in the pot and the other half in the same bowl as the bell peppers.

Add the drained kidney beans to the pot.

Add 2 TBS (tablespoons) of Ground black pepper.

Add 1 1/2 tsp (teaspoons) of crushed red pepper.

Add 1 TBS of salt.

Add 1/4 cup of chili powder.

Take a strong spoon and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Put the pot on the stove, and set the burner on the LOWEST possible setting that will boil water. At this point, you may feel that the chili is too thick. If you are not sure, the best way to tell is if the chili is too hard to stir. If it is, add water to the pot until it is the consistency you prefer. Stir again. Cover the pot. (Note: if you are adding more than two glasses of water, you may want to substitute tomato juice for part of it.)

From now own, two things are very important. Always keep the chili at the consistency you want by adding water when necessary. So that when the chili is done, the consistency will be perfect for you. It is equally important to stir the pot every 5-10 minutes. When you are cooking this much chili at one time, it is possible to burn it on the bottom while the chili on the top is still cold. Stirring keeps the chili evenly heated from top to bottom.

Take a large frying pan and press enough ground chuck into the pan to cover the bottom with a layer about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. Salt and pepper the meat and then top with a handful of the chopped onions and peppers from the bowl. Cover and cook with the burner set about one notch higher than the pot is set on. Your goal is to partially cook the gound chuck, onions and peppers. Check the meat about every 5 minutes until it starts to firm. When the meat firms and starts changing colors on the bottom, take a strong spatula (the kind used for flipping hamburgers) and use the edge to start cutting the meat into pie shaped pieces. Flip the pieces to the opposite side, cover, and continue cooking. When the other side starts to firm, using the edge of the spatula, cut the hamburger into the size pieces you prefer (Again, I prefer mine about the size of a dime). Keep flipping the smaller pieces until they have completely turned on the outside and are firm. Remove the pan from the burner, and transfer the meat to the pot using a slotted spoon. Allow all the grease to drain from the spoon before you put the meat in the pot. Pour off the grease in the frying pan, and repeat until you have used all the ground chuck. When you are finished, pour any remaining chopped peppers and onions into the pot. Again, each time you add meat to the pot, adjust the consistency with water if necessary.

Now, everything is in the pot, and it is the perfect consistency. Now, it’s time to adjust the spices. If you haven’t been doing so, you should begin tasting the chili. If you want a stronger chili flavor, add more chili powder 1 or 2 TBS at a time. To make it more spicy, add black pepper 1 TBS at a time. If you want it to have more bite, add crushed red pepper 1 tsp at a time. If it needs salt, add salt 1/2 TBS at a time. Stir thoroughly each time you alter the flavor, and continue cooking for at least 5-15 minutes before tasting again. ALWAYS sir the pot thoroughly before you taste. Continue altering the flavor until it’s perfect for you.

Remember the half of the raw onions and peppers that were added directly to the pot? They will tell you when the chili is done. When the raw onions in the pot start to turn clear, turn the burner off. Do not overcook the peppers and onions as they add a wonderful sweet crisp texture to the chili. If you can stand it, allow the chili to sit covered for about an hour to allow the flavors to mature and mingle. Stir and serve. If you prefer, reheat a portion of the chili in a smaller pot and serve bubbling hot. Allow the remaining chili to stand in the original pot until it cools enough to place in containers and freeze.

There you have it. Perfect chili. Just the way YOU like it.

The second secret that makes perfect chili fit for a king is in the serving. While perfect chili is in a category all by itself, it can be wonderfully enhanced by making it into a meal that rewards all your tastes and senses. Hot, cold, sweet, spicy, sharp, flat … something for every aspect of your culinary pallet.

With that in mind, let’s plan the meal. To begin with dispense with the ordinary salad and add something with more zest and contrast. To accomplish this, there is nothing finer than an ice-cold fruit plate served with bubbling hot chili. For the fruit plate, you will need the following ingredients.

1 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks.

1 29 oz. can of peach halves (heavy syrup preferred)

1 29 oz. can of pear halves (heavy syrup preferred)

1 6 oz. jar of red maraschino cherries

1 6 oz. jar of green maraschino cherries

1 samll jar of spiced crabapple rings

crisp cold lettuce

jalapeno pepper-jack cheese

Put all of the ingredients in the bottom of the refrigerator for at least 24 hours (48 hours would be better).

Just before serving time, remove the ingredients from the refrigerator and drain all the fruit. Divide the pear and peach halves equally on six salad plates covered with a bed of cold crisp lettuce. Fill in around the fruit halves with pineapple chunks and crabapple slices. Spread the cold red and green maraschino cherries equally over all the fruit plates, and line the outer edge of each plate with bite-size nuggets of jalapeno pepper-jack cheese.

Fill the bowls of chili straight from the bubbling pot. Top with grated sharp cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Finish with a light dusting of chives. Serve the fruit plate and chili with hunks of hot buttered garlic bread and sweet iced tea. For dessert, follow up with pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, or hot blueberry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream … served with steaming cups of strong black coffee. Oh! My!

Perfect chili can be more than just stick-to-your ribs “down home” cooking. It can be a culinary masterpiece that produces such delicious complementing and contrasting flavors and sensations that it is quite literally “Fit for a King”.

 

Farm To Market Days

Summer may begin in June but, for many parts of the country, gardens don’t reach their peak until August. Modern grocery stores manage to keep us satisfied with produce year round, but there is nothing like the flavor of farm fresh tomatoes, peaches, or sweet corn. And there is nothing like the experience of buying from local growers who are proud of their wares.

The first farmers’ markets started over a century before the Declaration of Independence. Since then, it has become an American tradition to buy fresh produce, flowers, eggs and cheese from markets and roadside stands. In the beginning, farmers would brave muddy roads in their horse-drawn wagons. As time went on, farmers made the weekly trek to town in pick-ups, where they’d pile bushels of fruit and vegetables high on the tailgate of their trucks. Today, many lucky city dwellers visit markets that are open every day.

My favorite though, is our county farmers’ market held on the courthouse grounds. It’s open only on Saturday mornings, and only June – October. It may sound inconvenient but, for my family, it’s a summer ritual. We wake early and arrive disheveled, rarely taking the time to comb through our hair. For breakfast, we buy scones from our favorite bread stand and snatch up the best looking fruit we see. My son is an expert at choosing “chin dripping” peaches, always looking for the most fragrant and the heaviest peach that can sit in the palm of his small hand. My husband lounges on the grass and watches the people go by as I scribble a list of what is available, anticipating the culinary treats that only summer brings. There is nothing like fresh corn on the cob, cold gazpacho with homegrown tomatoes, or homemade fruit sorbet. We always have a batch of sorbet on hand, each week a different flavor. Sometimes we experiment by combining fruit with fresh herbs, but most of the time we simple puree 2 cups of fruit with a little citrus juice and a bit of honey, and then freeze it in an ice cream maker. My boys and their friends think it’s a decadent treat.

Summer vacation is about to end, and our weekly ritual will soon give way to soccer games and birthday parties. Lucky for me, the farmers will be back next year with their trucks piled high, just as they’ve done for generations.

MARKET FRESH FRUIT DIP

This makes a terrific afternoon snack on a warm summer’s day. When entertaining, serve in a honeydew melon half and decorate the rim with fresh blueberries and mint sprigs.

Ingredients

1 Pint Strawberries
2 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Honey
4 oz Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
1 Cup Plain Yogurt

Assorted Fruit Slices

Directions

1. Wash the strawberries and remove the green tops.

2. Place strawberries in a blender or food processor with lemon juice, honey, cream cheese, and yogurt. Puree until smooth.

3. To make a honeydew melon bowl, cut the melon in half and scoop out the seeds. Slice a 3 inch diameter circle off the rounded bottom of the rind so your bowl will sit flat.

4. Serve with slices of your favorite summer fruit. Peaches, plums, apples, and melons all work well and make a colorful presentation.

 

Spanish Food – How To Prepare Boquerones

Whilst on your travels in Spain and pausing to take a breath from site-seeing, you have surely experimented with “tapas” at a welcoming bar.

If this is the case, it is more than likely that you have come across the small, tasty filleted fish, preserved in olive oil, sliced garlic and chopped parsley, and highly popular throughout Spain. This delectable dish is usually known as “boquerones” but, depending on the area, can also be called “anchoas”.

Boquerones are small, fresh anchovies. Accompanied by crisp, fresh Spanish bread, a glass of ruby-red wine or refreshing Asturian cider, they are a delight to eat. Moreover – as with many traditional Spanish dishes which comprise the renowned Mediterranean Diet – they are extremely healthy.

Like its friend the sardine, the anchovy is an oily fish, packed full of proteins and minerals, protecting against heart disease, and “good” for cholesterol. What´s more, in many areas of Spain -in particular the Mediterranean coast – fresh anchovies are extremely cheap.

On first coming to Spain, I happily enjoyed many tapas of boquerones, completely unaware of one fact … all those little anchovies I had eaten were not cooked! For a moment, I deeply regretted asking my Spanish neighbor, Carmen, how to make them!

Fortunately, Carmen went into immediate action and saved the day! She frog-marched me to the local fishmongers, bought a kilo of the little fish, took me home and showed me “her way” of preparing them. They were so delicious that I quickly recovered my passion for boquerones and have been enjoying them ever since!

Methods for preparing boquerones tend to vary slightly from family to family. However, the basic principles are always the same. You first have to clean and fillet the fish, which is simple enough, but rather tedious until you get the hang of it.

Next, you soak the fillets, either in white wine vinegar or a mixture of half vinegar and half water. The vinegar will clean and bleach the fish and also soften any remaining little bones. Some people sprinkle the fish with salt; others (myself included) feel that the fish is salty enough already.

The fish has to be left for a good few hours soaking in the vinegar. Again, this tends to vary, with some Spaniards leaving them overnight in the fridge and others just waiting a couple of hours. Also, some families change the vinegar/water-and-vinegar mixture once during this process, whilst others don´t bother.

Once you have thrown away the vinegar, the bleached fillets are covered with a good quality virgin olive oil, which will preserve them. You can add as much, or as little, sliced garlic as you wish, plus freshly chopped parsley.

So … here is the actual recipe.

BOQUERONES

Ingrediants:
– 1 kilo fresh anchovies.
– White wine vinegar.
– Virgin olive oil.
– Garlic.
– Parsley.
– Salt (optional).

Method:

1. Top and tail anchovies.

2. Slit along underside and discard innards.

3. Open out fish.

4. Remove central bone by lifting from tail end upwards.

5. Rinse well.

6. Place a layer of anchovy fillets in a shallow dish.

7. Sprinkle with salt (optional) and pour on plenty of vinegar.

8. Repeat with another layer, changing direction.

9. Leave to soak in vinegar for a few hours or overnight.

10. Pour off vinegar.

11. Very gently rinse fillets.

12. Cover fillets in virgin olive oil.

13. Add slices of garlic and chopped parsley.

It is so pleasant to find something in life that is a delight to the senses, affordable, healthy and does nobody any harm (apologies to any vegetarians out there and, also, the little anchovies …). So … do make the most of fresh anchovies whilst you are in Spain and enjoy!