Winter Chili for the New England Crowd

A chili bar is a perfect snowtime, daytime crowd. While I have a few other chili recipes on this blog, I am going to duplicate the lovely chili I made yesterday for my cousins. Our oven broke the night before, so I was glad I had chosen a chili that cooked on the stove and in the crockpot.

Here's the chili seasoning I used for my large  crockpot that was filled near full of cooked chili when done. It's hard to use less ingredients because I add three cans of beans to the pot, so I used all of this batch of seasoning.

Homemade Chili Seasoning (Click on the link)

Instead of any sugar, I used 2-3 T of nice, dark New England maple syrup. If you don't have tomato powder, don't worry about it, but I use it in soups and chili for added flavor. I used all the other ingredients and actually added 2 tsp. of Cocoa-Chili powder and Chipotle Chili powder. The chili had a nice bite. Note that Masa Harina is fine ground cornmeal and you should shop for it in your International Latin foods aisle. Corn meal, fine ground cornmeal, masa harina and corn farinah are different products made from corn. Here you are using it to thicken the chili and any of those products, including white flour, can be used.

If you make up a batch of three times the seasoning recipe, you will have enough for a few more big pots of chili when you are in the mood to make chili!

As in the other recipes on this blog, my chili is always a unique recipe. I add extra things sometimes. This batch included 1 pound of chopped beef that I buy at Aldi's - its cut up beef "perfect for Tacos." There are other beef cuts* you can use -find your best one from ground chuck to extra pieces of steak you find in your freezer. I also added a pound of ground sausage meat. I sauteed these both in a Dutch oven with 2 chopped medium onions and 4 minced cloves of garlic. Add the chili seasoning (the whole recipe) and stir to blend well. You can also add some diced multi-colored peppers, but I didn't this time. When the onions and garlic are golden and the meat mostly cooked, add 2 T. any kind of mustard and 2-3 T. of maple syrup. Stir. I then added the 1/4 cup of thickener (Masa, etc.) and let these flavors blend while the flour quickly cooks. 

*Actually ground or shredded chicken, bison, turkey, pork and beef work well in chili. Experiment. 

Note: You can do this in a hot crockpot, instead, but it is slower.

Because I was saving the chili to serve the next day, I continued to use the Dutch oven. You could transfer this to the crock pot as I did (refrigerating the Dutch oven over night). I cooked it in the crock pot for another hour or two before serving.

To the pot, add 2-3 cans of fire-roasted, diced tomatoes (about 12 oz each). Cook on high to blend all the flavors.  Add some frozen fire-roasted corn and/or a can of white corn. Add one jar of Trader Joe's Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa, if preferred.  It adds a nice sweet and spicy flavor. Add about 4 cups of beef stock or broth (you can substitute half the broth with beer!) to the pot and simmer. You can also add Better Than Bouillon and water, if you'd prefer. Add this point, add another small or large can of chopped Roma or Baby Roma tomatoes or tomato sauce (especially is you did not use tomato powder in the chili seasoning.

Add 1 can each of drained and rinsed beans: black, Cannellini, and red kidney. You could add hominy (I have before, and garbanzos or Great Northern beans and pinto beans - depending on your preference of meat to beans.) That would be a lot of chili! I simmered this in the large Dutch oven for about an hour - in the crock pot cook on low for up to 8 hours. 

The next day, or an hour before serving, add another cup of Masa or corn flour to the very hot chili and stir well.

Serve with bowls of sour cream, chopped cilantro, chopped chips, sliced black olives, chopped avocado and shredded cheese. I also served with a bowl of tomatillo sauce (that broke the oven. But the good news is that 36 hours after, with the oven unplugged, it started up just fine.)

Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce

My daughter's garden produced many more tomatillos than they could use this year - they were overflowing with them. My daughter, granddaughters and I gathered around the table and removed hundreds of husks and filled about four Ziploc bags. 

I washed them when I got home (the removed-husks leave a sticky residue) and when they were dry I put the bags in the freezer.

I decided to make the sauce (not to can, but to use this month) and placed the small, whole tomatillos on parchment on a grilling sheet with1 large onion cut in chunks, 2 garlic cloves, and 1 chopped jalapeno pepper. If I could have found one at the grocery store here in the New England winter, I would have added a chunked Pobano pepper. I didn't oil, salt or pepper but decided to add the seasonings later when I pureed the lot.

I roasted in the oven for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. 

At this point, I made a huge poor decision.  I turned off the oven and let the vegetables sit in the warm oven for about an hour. The moisture in the oven condensed on the oven floor, on the walls and door, and apparently the inside the oven window. It also apparently condensed in the upper oven display panel. (It is a GE Profile electric double oven.)

The oven does not turn on (yes, we tried the circuit breaker over and over after drying out the oven by leaving the doors open for hours.) I seem to have shorted out the display panel and we are waiting for a technician next week.

In any event, I put these cooled vegetables in the Magic Bullet (food processor or blender of any type works) with 1 zested and juiced lime, some sea salt, and a 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro and pureed the mix.  Salt further to taste. I made 1 pint of very thick and spicy sauce. 

Can't wait to use it for enchiladas, although it can also be used as an added garnish to any Latin dish. When I bake with it, as I will with enchiladas, I will add some Corona beer to the sauce. 

HOLIDAY LUNCHEON

 

Apple Cranberry Tart

 With so may fresh cranberries every fall, I look for ways to use them. This week I was having some local women I walk with three times a week here in Marion. I decided on a menu of some of my favorites, but with one new recipe. This was delicious.

I was inspired by the Apple Cranberry Tart on the Inspired by Charm recipe blog. The recipe is in three layers - the crust, the filling and a Streusel.

Getting the Crust ready:

Blend 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp. salt in a separate medium bowl. In another blend one egg yolk with 3 T. half-and-half (or milk and heavy cream) and 1 tsp.of vanilla extract. Finely chop 1/2 c. walnuts. Blend these with the dry ingredients.

Keep one cup of unsalted butter that is cut into small squares in the frig or freezer until you are ready to blend all of the above in a bowl.

Getting the Filling ready:

Core, peel and slice thin 2 apples. Measure 2-1/2 cup fresh cranberries.

Blend 2/3 cups sugar with 1 T. flour, 1 T. fresh orange zest, 1/2 tsp. ginger and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. allspice and 1/3 tsp. salt. Mix in the apples and cranberries. Add 1 T. bourbon if desired.

Getting the Streusel ready:

Mix 1/3 c. flour with 1/4 c. brown sugar, 2 T melted unsalted butter, 1/4 tsp.vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. 

With a pastry cutter, blend the dry crust ingredients in a large bowl and cut in the cold butter. Make a well in the crust mixture and add the egg/cream. Mix well, continuing to use the pastry cutter. Break up large clumps with your fingers. 

Press the dough firmly into a large fluted quiche pan with a removable bottom, lined or unlined with parchment. Place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove from the pan with the chilled crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Fill the crust with the filling mixture. Alternatively, place the sliced apples in a circle on top of the crust and pour the rest of the filling over the apples. Top with the streusel. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes in the 350 degree oven. Cool before cutting.

Creamy Polenta - What's the Scoop

I made polenta for tonight's Verandah Gourmet dinner. I've made it before in the instant pot and it turned out well. Tonight, I had to bring a double recipe and I decided to do a little research and get some advice.

There are tons of recipes out there - using tubes of polenta, instant polenta, and coarse-ground cornmeal. There are tons of different procedures and plenty of "no-nos!"

Here is what I gleaned. I made a double recipe using 8+ cups of liquid to 2 cups of cornmeal. I brought the polenta in my Dutch oven while it was just cooked. I covered the pot and traveled with it in my trunk. I left the cover on until the meal was served (pork ossobuco and sauce served over a nice big spoonful). The polenta looked wonderful - I scooped it out leaving the glossy layer on top in the pan.

• Use coarse-ground cornmeal, never fine or medium. Not all polentas are created equal. Polenta should mean coarse-ground. Well, I made the mistake of buying fine cornmeal and decided to go in search of polenta meal. I ended up with Bob's Red Mill Polenta, but I found out later that there is also a Bob's Red Mill Stone-Ground Polenta. I think the one I bought was good. The medium or fine ground create a mushy polenta, apparently. All grocery stores do not always carry the coarse-ground. Read labels carefully.
• Don't use milk to start and actually avoid using stock that causes the polenta to taste less like corn. While I did not use milk, the Gourmet hosts provided me with a recipe using all chicken stock. I used 3 cups chicken stock (not bone broth!) to 5 cups water. In actuality, I added a bit more stock and water as the polenta once it began to thicken. One comment was that the 4/1 ration of fluid to grain is just not enough and I agree. 
• Never start with milk! Always water. I went with the mix - 5 cups water and 4 cups stock.
• Good polenta takes nearly an hour to cook to creamy. Many recipes do not call for that much time. Gerry and decided that we like our polenta, like our pasta, to have a little toothiness.
• Soak your cornmeal in the liquid for a few hours or overnight in the frig. This decreases cooking time so I did do this for a few hours. I then strained out the cornmeal (as much as I could) and boiled the liquid, adding the wet polenta and stirring it constantly until it thickened.
• Add whole milk or cream, butter and parmesan cheese (pecorino is sometimes preferable) towards the end when the polenta is nearly cooked. I grated my own parmesan (huge chunk from Costco) with a fine hand-held grater which is how I prefer my cheeses anyway. It melted in immediately. I used heavy cream just barely a half cup. 
• Polenta should keep its form (not be runny) but should not be too thick to scoop or spoon. 
• Use some salt and coarse-ground pepper to taste. Be careful - I used too much sea salt in my test recipe. If your butter is salted, delete the additional. 
• Don't use too much cream, butter and cheese. One piece of good advice was that good food should be delicious during AND after the meal. Inotherwords, you should not feel yucky after the meal is over!

4 cups water and broth for a total of 4 cups

1cup coarse-ground cornmeal

1/2 tsp. salt and some pepper

Good butter - 2 T

Cream - 1/2 cup

Finely grated parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup

Use any good recipe and follow it to find how much cooking time you like.

Samin Nosrat's Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken

If you haven't watched Netflix's SaltFatAcidHeat yet, you really must. The book is also a must, and this way of cooking whole chicken will change your chicken forever.

Chef and food writer Samin Nosrat is so much fun to watch. Who knew salt was so good for you? And that you should be adding acid (lemon or lime juice or vinegar) to practically everything you cook?

This chicken is so juicy - and you can use it for so many things if you just cook up a couple once a week.

3½- to 4-pound (about 1.5 kilograms) chicken

Salt

2 cups (475 ml) buttermilk

or cook two at once.

The day before you want to cook the chicken, remove the wingtips by cutting
through the first wing joint with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Reserve for stock. Season the chicken generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Stir 2 tablespoons of kosher salt or 4 teaspoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the chicken in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. If the chicken won’t fit in a gallon-size bag, double up two plastic produce bags to prevent leakage and tie the bag with a piece of twine.

Seal it, squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate. If you’re so inclined, over the next 24 hours you can turn the bag so every part of the chicken gets marinated, but that’s not essential.

Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C), with a rack set in the center position.

Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Tightly tie together the legs of the chicken with a piece of butcher’s twine. Place the chicken in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or shallow roasting pan.

Slide the pan all the way to the back of the oven on the center rack. Rotate the pan so that the legs are pointing toward the rear left corner and the breast is pointing toward the center of the oven (the back corners tend to be the hottest spots in the oven, so this orientation protects the breast from overcooking before the legs are done). Pretty soon you should hear the chicken sizzling.

After about 20 minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 400°F and continue roasting for 10 minutes and then move the pan so the legs are facing the back right corner of the oven.

Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and the juices run clear when you insert a knife down to the bone between the leg and the thigh.

When the chicken’s done, remove it to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Tarragon Chicken in a Bowl

Yesterday, I searched for a recipe to use with fresh tarragon, potatoes, carrots and chicken thighs. I found this one and tweaked it a bit and made it early in the day. I love the taste of fresh tarragon and chicken and had lots of fresh leaves from my summer planters.

This made a dish that we ate from soup bowls. The chicken was so tender and I had the other vegetables to use up before we take off on summer fall vacations.

I love the meat on chicken thighs and in this case I used bone-in thighs. I always remove the skin and cook it up for the dog who gobbles anything down once there is chicken skin in it.

Brown 4 chicken thighs in a bit of heated olive oil, skin removed, and bone in. I actually sprinkled it with a buttery herb spice I had on the kitchen counter and some fresh pepper. Remove from the skillet once it is browned and place the thighs in a deep oven dish that will fit the chicken and vegetables and sauce.

Deglaze the skillet with about 1/2 - 1 cup of white wine.  Remove to a pitcher or glass measuring cup and put aside. Add some olive oil and 1/2 c. of chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves. When soft, mix in 2 T. Wondra or white flour and cook for a minute.  Salt and pepper, and add the wine back in with 1cup of chicken stock (or water and BetterThanBouillon Roasted Chicken).  Toss in about 2 T. of fresh tarragon leaves. Cook together until it has thickened a bit.

Top the chicken thighs in the baking dish with slices of potatoes and thick sticks of carrots. (Peel if you'd like.) Add chopped chives, parsley and capers if you'd like. 
Pour the sauce over and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes until the potatoes are done. Pour over 1/2 cup of heavy cream and bake 10 more minutes. 

Serve in bowls with crusty bread.