More Green!

I've recently made potato salad with salsa verde. Then there is my pollo verde. And now more verde. Chili Verde! I love this dish. A unique, for me, approach to chili! This is no tomato/beef based chili that I grew up with. And it all starts with a tomatillo base!

Get a few pounds of tomatillos from your market. You want a firm fruit with limited blemishes on the papery skin. I give mine a good rinse in the sink, which in turn helps the papers peel off.

Here's a close up of the green tomatillo. When wet, the skin peels right off.

Cut the tomatillos into quarters, roughly, then put under the broiler until they begin to blister and burn.

The main flavor component and heat for the chili. A variety of peppers. There's ancho (dark green). Jalapeno (small and dark green). And the two pale green & yellow peppers...no idea what they are! Rinse and put under the broiler until well charred. Also include some garlic with the peppers. The garlic will sweeten when roasted.

Peel off the charred parts and remove most of the seeds.

Now the peppers and the tomatillos go into the food processor or blender for quick whiz to break everything up. You don't have to whiz the tomatillos, but I like the texture better. I don't go too smooth, but mostly.

Simmer for while with some broth and add some diced pork (I use porkchops I dice up.)

Yum! Serve with rice. But something's missing...

That's better looking. You might want a dab of sour cream to help tame the heat, depending on how hot the chiles are. And some diced tomato for a cool color burst. Finish with a little salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Cold Meets Warm!

I'm not a big follower of the belief that there are certain foods that are appropriate or in appropriate based on the seasons. Sure, I try to use as many seasonal items as I can, but if I am craving a bowl of chili in the summer, I'm going to have it. Or if I want a light tangy salad in the middle of winter, I'll find a way to make it happen.

But there are certain times when you just need to fire up the stove to pull together a pot of chili when it's chilly! The past few days have been damp and cool. Last night were were hovering around 50 degrees and rainy. Perfect for a bowl of Cincinnati Chili full of warm, aromatic spices like cinnamon, all spice and cayenne pepper. Rich and mellow, a perfect chaser on a chilly night**.

Cincinnati Chili

...served with buttered pasta (best with spaghetti, but most any type works. Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, diced onions or tomatoes, beans, whatever your favorite chili garnish is, use it!

**And if you are a scrooge like me and are unwilling to turn the heat on; just waiting for the temp to drop just a bit more, you can temporarily avoid the chilly spousal wrath by providing a belly warming meal like this.

Quick Chili

In continuing my anti-grocery shopping spree...at least until Friday. Last night I had some work stuff, same for tonight. So it's all worked out!

But...on Monday night, I was cold. The heat wasn't working at the office and it was rainy and dreary, so something warm and comforting was necessary.

A quick, fast chili would work wonders. I had no intention of stretching the few ingredients I had in the fridge into a fairly large pot of chili, but it worked, was tasty and filling and even left some for lunch the next day.

To start I did something a little naughty. I chopped and browned up three strips of bacon. When the fat was rendered out and the pieces were crisp, I removed the bacon and poured out the fat. Then I added about a 1/4 pound of ground beef, and browned that up. Add some onions. Spices...use your favorite chili spices. I had some fresh tomatoes, so I used those up, plus a can of diced tomatoes. Some left over bell pepper and frozen corn. Simmer a bit. Added some broth and pasta to cook up. Taste and adjust for seasoning and spice. I stirred the bacon pieces in at the very end. They brought a nice flavor profile to the party and made this simple chili a little special.

YUM!

Ultra Beefy Chili

On Wednesday night we had the second half of our most recent "Two from One" meal. Previously I had a large hunk of braised beef that was to serve as two unique meals. The first was the braised beef with vegetables. I thought I would take the leftovers and turn it into a pot of chili. It worked pretty well.

If you have chili powder, you can use it. I thought I did, but oops...I didn't, so I mixed up something that worked pretty well.


For one hour, I simmered the leftover beef in a can of diced tomatoes and the juice, plus half of a 8oz can of tomato sauce. I seasoned the whole pot with 5 teaspoons of my spice mixture. If the chili is too thick, you can thin it out with some broth (chicken or beef).


I served the chili over rice. It was really tasty, extra beefy and full of lots of fun flavors.

Here's my blend of chili seasoning. Like I mentioned above, use a chili powder you have, if not, this works really well. I recommend playing around to find a blend you like.

Scott's Chili Seasoning:
1 tsp each: cumin, paprika, oregano, parsley, salt
1/2 tsp each: chimayo chile powder, coriander
1/4 tsp each: ancho chile powder, onion powder, cinnamon, black pepper
1/8 tsp each: chipotle chile powder, garlic powder, cocoa

It's getting chili

I love a big bowl of chili. I've been making it for years and I rarely make it the same way. Unless I'm making the Cincinnati Chili recipe, it's different each time. After a few times of making chili, you start to get an idea of what you're going to put in the pot. Which spices, how much meat, whether or not you're using tomatoes, how you're serving it...it becomes second nature.

Last night was no different, but I did write down what I was doing (a habit I'm trying to get in to).

Chili served over pasta with cheese

2 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 onion, small dice
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 TB chili con carne
2 tsp red & green bell pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground chimayo chile
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp ground chipotle chile
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp ground celery seed
1 TB tomato paste
1 14 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes (roughly chopped*)
1 10 oz can tomato sauce

*Why buy cans of whole, peeled tomatoes vs. cans of diced tomatoes? They are processed for a shorter period of time, so they maintain a fresher flavor--fresher for canned. The difference probably isn't noticeable in this application, but it's worth keeping in mind in all recipes you use canned tomatoes in.

Process:
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the beef. Break the beef up in to pieces and add the salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash (I've used this so much ground beef doesn't taste right to me without it.)

When the ground beef if browned, add the onions and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are softened. Add the spices and stir to incorporate and allow the spices to heat up and toast in the oil/fat in the pan, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for one minute. Add the canned tomatoes.

Cover and bring to a simmer. I let my pot of chili simmer for about 30 minutes before serving. The longer the better and if you want, bring to a simmer, turn of the heat, allow to cool, and stick in the fridge...everyone knows chili is better the second!

Serve with pasta, cornbread, corn chips, cheese, sour cream...whatever you like.

NOTE: If I understand correctly "CHILI" is the dish, the meal, the food and can also be a blend of seasonings/peppers/spices and "CHILE" is the the pepper, singular (chimayo chile, chipotle chile.) If I'm not lying, you now know something new.

Pollo Verde

This is another one of those dinners that does not necessarily look that great in the photo and the recipe isn't really exact, but it's pretty dang tasty and in my case, used up some extra peppers we picked up at the last farmer's market.

Pollo Verde, a marinade for your chicken

In the food processor add the following:
One Anaheim chili, seeds removed, chopped in large chunks.
Three or Four Poblano chilis, chopped into large chunks
Three or Four Jalapenos, seeds removed, chopped into large chunks
One bunch Cilantro (rinsed) and stems removed
Three or Four Garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Juice of two Limes
One TB salt
Few grinds of pepper
One tsp cumin & coriander


Whiz until combined and pastey. If it’s dry and lumpy, add some olive oil or a little water.

Roughly clean chicken parts of your choice (for this amount of marinade, I had one chicken, cut into eight parts). Cut off excessively fatty parts, but leave most the skin on. Rinse in cold water & pat dry. Place the chicken in a large zip bag, pour green sauce over the top. Put in a bowl (to catch any spills) and stick in the fridge for at least an hour, up to eight hours.

Grill or roast until done, depending on the size of the piece of chicken 14-20 minutes.


In this case, I roasted the chicken for about 20 minutes. Some of it was a little over done, some just right and super juicy. The skin had been removed, so a few of the leaner pieces (breasts) had a tendency to dry out a wee touch. I placed the chicken on the baking sheet and spooned over extra of the green marinade. Then I put chunks of potatoes that I had coated in olive oil around the chicken put the whole mess in the oven until done. The little fat that was left in the chicken rendered out and mixed with the olive oil on the potatoes and created some very luscious taters. I was very happy with the results.

A NOTE ON THE HEAT OF THE PEPPERS: The three peppers I used this time had three types of heat levels, which was represented in the quantity of each. The Anaheim was actually hotter this time around. So I used only one. The Poblano was very mild. The Jalapeno was mild, but the seeds were spicy. When it was all blended, with the cilantro and lime and spices, what was left was a zippy, green, grassy, herbal, vegetable flavor, not spicy/HOT, to the chicken. If you are looking for spicy/hot you can certainly leave all the seeds and/or use more of a particular pepper. I like spicy, but I also don't want to mask the flavors of the rest of the dish.

A Chili Night

I wanted great taste and something that would easily stretch to lunch another day...chili!

Get your spices together...this being Cincinnati Chili, we have cocoa and cinnamon in there!

Lightly brown some onions and toast the spices.

Simmer and bubble for an hour until rich and delicious.

Serve on spaghetti. So amazing. This really is my favorite chili...I've had many, but this is my current favorite.

Going Green

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had grand plans for my Monday evening. They were somewhat, slightly thwarted by my over zealous excitment to pre-make dinner for Tuesday evening. CB&SK were coming over for games and dinner on Tuesday and I wanted something super easy to serve and have been keeping an eye on a recipe over at the Well Fed Network.

The most exciting thing about the Chile Verde recipe had to be using tomatillos. I've never cooked with them. I've grown them when I was a kid in the country, but I've never cooked with them or eaten them in a homemade recipe. We had them in manufactured salsa, but again, not homemade.

What fun was in store! (recipe at the end)

Get your tomatillos. Peel the papery skin off and rinse them.

You'll need some Poblano Chilis and Jalapenos. 6 Poblanos and 3 Jalapenos. Rinse those guys as well.

The inside of the tomatillo.

For this recipe, we toss the tomatillos under the broiler to get all golden, scorched and delicious. They have lots of liquid in them that releases when heated.

The peppers are also roasted. Usually I roast my peppers on the stove top. Since I was roasting the tomatillos, I just did them the same way. Turn them about half way through.

Everything's ready. And that's pretty much it. The only thing not shown is some broth. I used three pounds of boneless pork loin chops, trimmed and cubed. 2 onions, diced. Some garlic--which I roasted with the tomatillos and peppers--I used less than the recipe called for, because I'm an idiot--5 cloves intead of a full head. The recipe called for whole cumin seeds toasted and ground. I was lazy and used the ground cumin on my spice rack. The other jar of seasoning, I picked that up in Puerto Rico. Salt, Pepper, Garlic and a few other mild flavors. I like it and have used it in several dishes since I've picked it up. A nice all purpose season salt.

The Chile after cooking for awhile. The recipe makes about a full quart of chile. Which was enough for four grown men to have hearty servings and a few smaller servings left over for lunch. I made the chile on Monday night and reheated it and served on Tuesday. Let those flavors do their magic!

The final dish. I served the chile over rice and topped with a dallop of sour cream and chopped cilantro. It was delicious. I had a second, smaller helping. The peppers bring a heat, but it's pretty mild and slightly sweet. The pork was tender and absorbed many of the flavors.

Chile Verde (recipe from Well Fed Network)

3 pounds of pork shoulder or sirloin of the same - Cube it
5 or 6 poblano chilies
2 small yellow or 1 large white or whatever - Dice it
1 head of firm & happy garlic - Smoosh and mince
1 heaping tsp of good salt (or none, you make the call)
2 tsp toasted cumin seeds, then grind to powder
2+ fresh, hot chile peppers - You decide
enough chicken stock, mebbe a quart or so
1.5 to 2 pounds fresh tomatillos
cilantro to finish, if you like

Before you do anything you need to broil the tomatillos until they’re pretty. Remove the husks and rinse before you broil, foo.

While they’re doing their thing, fire roast the peppers. Once they’re all black and happy, toss in to paper bag for 10 minutes. Scrape off the skin, do not do this with water. No washy away tasties, get it? Cut stem and remove seeds. Dice ‘em up.

Whiz the roasted tomatillos just a bit in a blender or food processor, all mooshy.

I’m going to make this REALLY easy on you. Get a huge pot and throw everything in there at once and cook it. Simmer until its done or your ready to eat, this is 2, 3+ hours.

Chili on a cool night-UPDATED

So this past week...we actually had some cold weather. Well cold weather means warm, comforting, filling food. My directive on Wednesday night was-chili.

Not a problem. I went and printed out the recipe, shopped and got to work.

I've made the America's Test Kitchen recipe of Cincinnatti Chili a few times and it's pretty damn good! We really like it, so that's what was up that night. The Cincinnatti chili is full of warm cinnamon, cocoa and all-spice. After a moment the heat from the chile spice comes in. And there's just a tiny bite from a little bit of vinegar.

There's one strange step in this recipe, but I think it's worth it. Boiling your ground beef. By boiling the meat, you get the texture that Cincinnatti chili is known for, and it also gives you a chance to render out some of the excess fat.

From that point, the chili moves along and takes just an hour to simmer and bubble away-bringing all the flavors together.

Here we have the boiled beef. It's unpleasant to look at, but it allows the pieces to cook and seperate into this particular texture which is special to Cincinnatti Chili.

Once your onions and garlic are softened in some oil, you add all your spices and allow them to 'bloom' in the oil. Most spices are oil soluable, so the extra time in the oil maximizes your flavor profiles.

Toasting/blooming spices. This is a great time to walk into your house-the aromas are amazing.

The next step involves adding the broth. This gives you a chance to deglaze the pan and let the spices dissolve.

I've now added everything to the pot. Stir every few minutes, while simmering on medium-low, for about an hour.

After about an hour, the chili has thickened a bit and concentrated the flavors.

Chili and corn bread go together like Gin & Tonic, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Bacon & Eggs. Throw together a quick box of Jiffy cornbread, drizzle with honey before baking.

Corn bread. Chili. Cheese. Sour Cream. It could be 20 below zero outside, but inside you'll be all comfy cozy.

*****

Before I leave you today I have to complain for a minute. WHAT is with that stupid frozen diet meal commercial with the two 'chefs' preparing recipes and the one says: "I've added flavor to taste."

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! I hate that commercial.

Carry on.

Another "Cook-What-You-Have" Night!

This was fun. I'm going to call it Cajun Chicken Chili with Couscous...Alliteration!

I had some chicken in the freezer, so I pulled that out to thaw. I almost always have canned tomatoes. An onion and garlic. Why not use up the remaining bag of frozen corn. Wine? SURE!!! Seasoning...I recieved a free bottle of Cajun Seasoning from one of my larger orders from Penzey's (link is to the cajun seasoning, so you can see what it contains). Why not try it out. Also added some extra cumin, cinnamon, coriander, oregano and parsley.


I sliced the chicken (2 boneless/skinless breasts) thinly and tossed it in 2 heaping TB of the cajun seasoning and a big pinch of salt. Set that aside. Slice the onions and throw in a medium dutch oven with a TB or two of olive oil until soft and translucent. Add a few cloves of chopped garlic. Scoop out of the pot and set aside. Add the chicken (in batches) and saute until nearly cooked through. Remove to a bowl. When done with the chicken deglaze your pan with about a cup of dry white wine. Add the chicken and onions back into the pan. Add the corn and one can of diced tomatoes and their juice. Add the extra seasoning (cumin, cinnamon, coriander, oregano and parsley...small handfuls of each...if you have them. Lower heat to a simmer, cover and let go for a few minutes.

Meanwhile make a bit of Israeli Couscous...about 1/2 a cup of uncooked couscous will give you enough for two big servings and enough for a second bowl each.

Serve your Cajun Chicken Chili with a scoop of couscous on top. Mmmmm! Ladle a bit of extra broth into the bowl.

This was a tasty treat..."It tastes like more!" So we each had more. I'd love to have more things in this dish, but it was what I had. Some peppers. Some chorizo or andouille sausage. Maybe I'd chop or shred the chicken. But overall, I really enjoyed it. Oh, and maybe some broth or extra wine, to allow it all to mix with the couscous...which worked really well with this!