Comfort Foods

As you may know we (in the Northeast) are continually being SLAMMED by snow every few days.  Now I love a good snowstorm but this my friends is getting ridiculous.  Seriously, getting on my nerves.  So I decided the other day that I would make chili this weekend knowing it was going to be FREEZING.

For years I have been making an Indian Summer Chili courtesy of Rachael Ray, I know ironic I want a summer chili but really Chili is for anytime and I think she calls it that because it has turkey not meat.

I love it with cheese and a really good crusty bread.

Chili Recipe
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 lbs of ground turkey meat (2 packages)
4 Tablespoons dark chili powder
2 Tablespoons grill seasoning blend
1 Tablespoon cumin
2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1-3 Tablespoons hot sauce (how you like it)
1/2 Large onion
2 large peppers, any color combination, chopped
1/2 bottle beer (alcohol cooks out)
14 ounce can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup smokey barbeque sauce (we have been using bone lickin' sauce - yum)
1 can of kidney beans (if you like)

Heat pot over medium to medium high heat.  Add EVOO and the turkey meat.  Season the meat with chili powder, grill season blend, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Break up meat with a wooden spoon into small crumbles.
Chop the onion.  Brown meat 5 minutes, then add onions and chopped bell peppers - cook 10 minutes more.  Add beer and deglaze pan, scraping up the drippings and cooking off the alcohol  Add tomato sauce and barbeque sauce and bring to bubble. If using beans add them now.  Let chili simmer 10 minutes.  Adjust seasonings and heat level to your taste.  I let simmer longer, usually cooking early in the day and serve later on.
Also, a dark beer works nicely (I am not a beer person but it really gives it a nice flavor).
Enjoy!

Zizette

Cake Pops part 2

So I let my cake pops chill overnight as the recipe stated.

I melted the orange chocolate since Maya wanted to have "pumpkin" cake pops. I dipped the sticks in the chocolate and then put into the cake ball.

After that I started to dip them in the orange chocolate. It was not coming out well. The chocolate started to harden so I melted it some more BUT one of the balls broke in the chocolate and needless to say, there was a mess. Dump orange chocolate. No more orange.

Day 3: White chocolate. Modified the recipe a little. Good coverage. All covered. Then I drizzled chocolate to make them look like Mummies. Drew some eyes on them, very good.

I let them dry in a floral foam block. They came out pretty cool for a first time, I think.

Another New Recipe

Recently Kasey from Lola b's made this amazing sounding Mac 'n Cheese.

So I decided to try it out.

I bought the cheeses and the Truffle Oil (can you say yumm-o?)

I mean it has a few of my favorite ingredients: Cheese, cheese, cheese and Truffle Oil.

I made it tonight and amazingly enough, Maya liked it.

Sam has not tried it yet.

Actually it is not surprising Maya liked it, she likes to try stuff all the time.

Sam, well, he wants it to be with American Cheese, what?

I know that we (my husband especially) sometimes are food snobs (he is a Culinary Institute Graduate) but we do use cheaters sometimes.

It was any easy recipe and fun to make. Best of all, the family liked it (we will have Sam try it soon - he does get a quarter for it).

Why don't you hop on over to Lola B's and check out the recipe.

Zizette

Keeping My Promise

To try new recipes weekly has been hard.

Some weeks I can do and others I cannot.

This week I tried two new recipes so that should make up for missed weeks, right?

SO, tonight I tried to make Corned Beef (in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day and my Irish roots somewhere) and Braised Red Cabbage (why do they call it red when it is really purple?).

The recipe for the corned beef was rather simple, I just followed the directions on the package. It took longer than the package said but my husband the Culinary Graduate said I did not have it on a TRUE simmer. Umm, okay.

The recipe for the Braised Red Cabbage came from Epicurious.

Everything was tasty. The Corned Beef a little salty but that is expected from that kind of meat, I guess.

Zizette

Braised Red CabbageGourmet | December 2001

Yield: Makes 8 servings Active Time: 30 min Total Time: 1 3/4 hr 3 1/2 lb red cabbage (1 medium head), quartered, cored, and thinly sliced crosswise 4 bacon slices, chopped 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced 1/2 cup white-wine vinegar 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper Rinse cabbage under cold water, then drain (do not pat dry). Cook bacon in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, reserving it for another use. Add butter to bacon fat, then increase heat to moderate and cook onions, stirring, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in cabbage, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 1 1/4 hours.

Oops, I forgot

I had promised myself and my good friends here to post my new recipes that I try this year and I have already forgot!

Well, I need to get on the ball.

Today, after a huge day of wrapping for my event (we did 70 baskets yesterday).

I have decided to make my beef stew. It's not new but I have only made it once before so let's see if it just as good the second time!

I also like to make the wide egg noodles to go with it since the kids like noodles and who doesn't like noodles covered in such a delicious sauce!

I also make this because here in the BITTERLY COLD Northeast a good comfort meal is great on a Sunday night.

Beef Stew

2lb Stew Beef

2 Tablespoon vegetable oil

2 Cups water (I use beef stock)

1 teaspoon Worstershire sauce

1 clove of garlic peeled (2)

1 or 2 bay leaves

1 medium onion sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

dash of ground allspice or cloves (I used allspice)

3 large carrots sliced

4 red potatoes quartered

3 ribs of celery chopped

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.