Chili Recipe #1

I am experimenting with chili recipes again. I just enjoy chili, and enjoy trying new ones. I have one lined up to try out on the hungry crew soon, but for today, I want to post my tried and true chili. This one is thick, meaty, and delicious.

Texas Chili #1
5 pounds hamburger (chili grind is nice, but too expensive unless you happen to find it on sale)
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Brown meat with onions and garlic
drain if needed
Add:
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 can rotel (your choice on the heat level)
about 6 T. chili powder
2 T. cumin
1 T. oregano
4 T. paprika
2 tsp. "superior taste- better than bouillon" beef base- this is sold at Walmart and is right next to the cubed beef bouillon
several good splashes of Tabasco sauce
beans- sometimes I cook mine, sometimes I use canned. Whatever, just add as many beans as you like, or none if you don't think they belong in there
salt and pepper
Heat almost to boiling then cook over low heat.
If it dosn't seem tomatoe-ey enough, add a can of diced tomatoes
To make it hotter (this chili is not at all hot) you can add red pepper (cayenne) or several small whole red dried peppers, such as anchos, which really make it look good as well.

Very good served with fritos and a little cheese sprinkled on top.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day- a book review

I used to make bread, by hand, very often. I loved making bread. The whole process, even the kneading.
But making bread takes time, four or five hours or so from start to finish, and that kind of time is in short supply these days.
So, I make bread on special occasions. Rolls for Thanksgiving, that sort of thing.
For the most part, the smell of bread baking is gone from my kitchen.
Or should I say was.
In the last week I have made 4 loaves of fresh, French style bread, and it took me about 15 minutes of actual hands on time. The rest of the time, the yeast and time were doing all the work.

This is thanks to an an article in Mother Earth News reviewing a book called "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day".

The process is quite simple. Mix your dough, (about 5-10 minutes mixing time) which is much more moist than the traditional dough, and let it set. A couple hours on the counter, and then pop it in the refrigerator. With the basic "boule" dough, you can use it to make loaves of bread for 14 days. The idea behind the title is that it takes only 5 minutes of hands on time on baking day to get the dough ready to pop in the oven. I have found that to be very true.

When you want fresh bread, simply take the dough out of the refrigerator, (I keep mine in a big 1 gallon ice cream container) dust the dough with flour, cut off what you want, shape it into whatever shape you want, and pop it on a bakers peel to rise. You are done! It does the rest of the work! When ready, slide off the peel and onto your baking stone, and in 20-30 minutes you have bread that you would think came from an expert baker!

They do recommend you baking the free-form loaves on a baking stone, with a broiler pan underneath to fill with a cup of water at the last minute. This produces a steamy environment in your oven and gives the loaves a crisp, cracking crust.
I bought an unglazed ceramic floor tile for my stone, but it cracked in half on the first use. So I went to Tractor Supply and bought three fire-bricks, around $3.00 a piece. They have worked great so far.

Here is the basic boule dough recipe, which was in the Mother Earth News article. The book advises you to get familiar with the basic recipe before moving on to the others. I strongly suggest you buy the book, there is much additional info, tips, and many, many more recipes.

Basic recipe-
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
Cornmeal for pizza peel

Mixing and Storing the Dough

1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.

4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. We recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf. And relax! You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes.

On Baking Day

5. Prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into the oven.

Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-sized) piece with a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four “sides,” rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn’t need to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf will flatten out during resting and baking.

6. Place the ball on the pizza peel. Let it rest uncovered for about 40 minutes. Depending on the dough’s age, you may see little rise during this period; more rising will occur during baking.

7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on another shelf.

8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing, serrated knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1⁄4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tick-tack-toe pattern into the top. (This helps the bread expand during baking.)

9. With a forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. With wet dough, there’s little risk of drying out the interior, despite the dark crust. When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will audibly crackle, or “sing,” when initially exposed to room temperature air. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing. The perfect crust may initially soften, but will firm up again when cooled.

10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks: You’ll find that even one day’s storage improves the flavor and texture of your bread. This maturation continues over the two-week period. Cut off and shape loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in an airtight container and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.

Next I will try the oatmeal bread and some of the others, like European peasant bread, deli-style rye, pumpernickel, and 100% whole wheat. There are many recipes in the book, including even some recipes for things to do with the bread, such as sandwiches, soups, ect.
There are also recipes for flatbreads, pizzas, panettone, and even sticky pecan rolls. This is quite a bread book, all based on the "five minutes a day" principal.

Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois have written a revolutionary book with "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day!- The Discovery that revolutionizes home baking." I highly recommend it!

Green Enchilada Casserole, aka "chip casserole"

This one is a real winner at our house, and has also been popular at any pot-lucks I have taken it to.

I have had this recipe since 1984, and have made it many times. It is truly one of our favorites.

Brown 2 pounds ground beef with a large onion.
Drain if needed.
Add 1 or 2 cloves garlic and 2 cans diced green chilis, salt and pepper.

In a 9X13 pan:
Layer the bottom with tortilla chips, crush them a bit into place.
Add a layer of the meat mixture.
Add a layer of grated cheese. Use lots of cheese. (I buy the grated "Fiesta Blend" cheese at Walmart.)
Add another layer of tortilla chips, pressing into place as before, more meat, cheese, ect, until all is used up.
Pour 2 cans of chicken with rice soup over the top. (store brand works fine)
Now add 2/3 cup water around the edges of the pan.

Bake at 400* until hot throughout, 20-30 minutes.

Aunt Nell's Curry Dip, aka " yellow sauce"

It's been called "yellow sauce" around our house for years. My first knowledge of it was that is was from Aunt Nell, although where it originally came from I don't know. Maybe Aunt Nell invented it.

It has been my experience with this stuff that you either like it, or don't. I have not encountered any in-betweens with this stuff.

We use it as a meat dip, a sauce to use especially with ham and turkey. In fact, I find it hard to eat either without this sauce.

CURRY DIP:
2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. tumeric
2 tsp. curry powder
4 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I use real-lemon)
2 cloves garlic (1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
1/4 cup minced parsley

"Mix ingredients together and refrigerate. Will keep a long time."

Its also good as a sandwich spread for ham or turkey sandwiches.

I would also think it might be good as a vegetable dip.

Date Loaf Candy

This is a very old recipe that was common years ago, not as common today, but still just as delicious. Gran's tattered copy in her old wooden recipe box is yellow, splattered and torn. Well used.

I looked online for a little help, as her recipe called for "butter, the size of a walnut" and had you using the cold water test which I have had little success with. I found an identical recipe online (assuming a walnut's worth of butter is a tablespoon) but this one gave temperature readings instead of dropping into cold water.


DATE LOAF CANDY

2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 T. butter
In a large heavy saucepan, cook and stir until it reaches 235*.

Remove from heat, add:
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped dates**
1 cup chopped pecans (Gran says walnuts, but I use pecans 'cause I don't like walnuts)
Stir, or better yet have someone else stir, for about 5 minutes. Have a damp tea-towell laid flat on counter. Form a log on the tea-towel, roll the tea-towel around it, and then wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight. Slice. Dates are very good for you so this is considered health food.

** use whole pitted dates and chop them yourself, the pre-chopped ones are sugared and I think that would cause your candy to crystalize.

Gran's Deviled Eggs

One of my earliest memories of my Mom's mom (Gran) was her taking a plate of deviled eggs to a sick friend. This had to be in about '66 or'67.

Gran's deviled eggs were the best, and I am so glad that I had her write it down, as it is one recipe that was not in her wooden recipe box, which I now have.

There are no exact measurements here, you just have to use your own judgement.

I usually boil 18 eggs, peel and cool, cut in half
Mash yolks, add a cup or so, give or take, of mayonaise. NOT miracle whip. Its easier to add more than to take it out if you get too much.
Now Gran used regular yellow mustard. I have taken to using spicy brown mustard. Either way, a little less than a tablespoon of it.
About a tsp. of salt, again, go easy, adding more if needed.
Now add a "little bit" of apple cider VINEGAR. I usually just pour a little bit into the cap.
Mix all up, put into egg halves.
Sprinkle with paprika if you want.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies

This is an extremely easy recipe for Christmas cookies.

Take any flavor of cake mix. Add 1 pound butter. (yes, pound of butter). Add 1 1/2 - 2 cups flour, depending on the consistency you want. Mix up good. These can be rolled out and cut, rolled up refridgerator style and sliced, or put through a cookie press. Decorate as you want.

**You can add a tsp or so of peppermint extract to white mix and make candy canes.**

They are a shortbread textured cookie.

Merry Christmas!

Apple Dumplings

These things might sound unhealthy, but they're not. They have apples in them, so how can they be bad for you? I made them for a church pot-luck not long ago and they were a hit.


2 granny smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2- 1 tsp. cinamon
bottle or can of mountain dew

Butter a 9X13 pan. Peel, slice and core apples. Wrap each slice in one of the unrolled crescent rolls. Lay them all in the 9X13 pan.
In a sauce pan melt the butter; add the sugar. Add the vanilla. Pour this over the top of the dumplings.
Pour a cup or 2 of the mountain dew all over and around the dumplings. (drink the rest!)
Sprinkle with cinamon.
Bake at 350* for 35-45 minutes. You want it nice and crispy-browned on top.

We had a pot-luck at church a few months back and I took these. They were a hit.

Yummy!

Pozole

Pozole, posole... however you spell it, Pozole is "muy delicioso!"

Pozole is a Mexican stew. Pork and hominy stew to be a little more precise. Now don't run off! Its really very good! And it lacks the somewhat questionable ingredients of some other Mexican stews/soups. No tripas in here! Just good eating stuff!

Here is how I make my pozole:

I buy a good sized pork roast, cook it in the crock pot, and we have it for supper one night. The next day I use the leftovers to make pozole!

Saute 1 onion, and quite a bit of garlic. Add 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce*. You will want to mince the pepper a bit. Add about 1 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. cumin, and salt and pepper. Add about 2 pounds of the meat, cut up. Add more garlic. Add 1 can rotel (hot, regular or mild to your taste) 1 good sized can green chilis or a couple small ones, and 4 cups chicken broth. Now add 1 large can white hominy. Simmer a bit, then eat up!

There are many garnishes suggested for pozole, chopped onions, cabbage, many others. I haven't tried it that way yet, I think its complete just like it is.

*these are smoked jalapeno peppers in a rich tomato sauce. They are canned and should be in the Mexican section of your Walmart. You will only use a small part of a can for this recipe. The rest can be frozen by individual portions on waxed paper and then bagged for later use.

Try it, you'l like it!

Corn Bread

The Carrot Stew (below) turned out delicious. I served corn bread with it. I made my usual corn bread, but substituted whole wheat flour for regular white flour. The result is a bit heavier than with white, and I actually like it that way. (If I was talented, I would add a picture here of a steaming slice of corn bread with buttter melting on the top. It would make you really want to make corn bread.)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup corn meal
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg

Mix it up, bake it in a 375* oven for 20-25 minutes. Use a greased cast iron skillet to cook it in. Nothing makes corn bread like baking it in cast iron!
Corn bread is quick and easy to mix up. No need for mixers or a lot of time. I like to mix mine up in a bowl with a humble wooden spoon.

Carrot Stew, courtesy of Jenny

My first recipe to post, Carrot Stew. Stew, heavy on the carrots. Jenny, 13, came in last night with a Walmart sack full of carrots, carrot tops, and dirt.

A neighbor had planted a garden in spring. Illness in the family forced her to bequeath the garden to another neighbor. Later, that neighbor moved, and gave the dwindling garden to my youngest daughter. It was late summer, and we enjoyed several batches of cherry tomatoes.

Its December, and fresh, organic, healthy carrots sounded great. I washed them up in cool running water, no need to peel these guys and loose the vitamins in the peel.

This morning I cut up a small roast we had in the freezer, added about 3 pounds of carrots, a couple potatoes, onion, garlic, three stalks of celery, and a large can of tomato soup. Its in the crock pot right now, and I know the house will smell delicious when we get home.