Cold Weather is Chili Weather

Growing up in South Texas, any time the mercury dropped below 40º, it was officially COLD.  Mom would whip up a big batch of chili and serve with homemade cornbread.  If she was feeling really industrious, she'd make a pan of cheese & onion enchiladas and top with some of the chili, pop in the oven and heat for about 30 mins.  To this day, I still prefer my enchiladas with chili rather than meat sauce or red sauce (or "gravy" if you're old school).  That's a recipe for a different day, though!

Now, something about chili. There's tons of ways to make it!  This is a basic recipe, but it's my favorite recipe. Also, chili isn't chili without beans.  Without beans, it's just meat sauce.  I'm not a fan of flaming hot chili  where all you taste is fire.  I prefer to taste the meat, the beans, and the seasonings.  My mouth thanks me for not setting it on fire, not to mention my intestinal tract!  Also, I have a very gringo husband who doesn't tolerate hot food, so I've had to tame down my original recipe and use "mild" chili powder rather than regular speed chili powder.  This makes an easy, slow-cooked meal that is not only tasty and filling, but fills your house with a lovely aroma throughout the day.

Homemade Chili With Beans

Pinto Beans  (Remember them from this post?   That's the base for this recipe.)
1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey or a mix of turkey/beef
Chili Powder (Gebhardt Chili Powder is the bomb if you can find it)

Start with the pinto beans that have been simmering on your stove or in your crock pot all day.  Add chili powder to taste.  I use about 4 oz.  Crumble your meat into the mixture.  Stir and allow to simmer until the meat is done, about 30 minutes to an hour.  I like to slowly cook my meat so it absorbs all the flavors of the mix and cooks down a bit so the chili is thick, not runny like soup.

Easy peasy! 

The consummate way to eat chili in my family is to take your piece of cornbread and slice it in half horizontally.  Lay it in the bottom of a bowl face up.  Pour the chili on top, add grated cheese and chopped onions to the top and devour.  I don't like soggy cornbread, so I eat my cornbread on the side.  You can also serve over corn chips and have Frito pie.

 I've carted this recipe through 6 moves over the past 25 years.  I treasure this because I had called my mom one day to get the "recipe".  She never used a recipe for anything so while I knew how to make it, I didn't really know how to make it!  I was teaching school at the time n Kerrville, was in my first apartment, and living on my own for the first time.  I need to transfer it to a recipe card & put it in my recipe box so it's on heavier paper and in a more safe place, but when I need the recipe, I just look for this piece of paper, which is from a pad of letter writing paper.  On second thought, considering my husband dropped my recipe box and broke it, maybe this piece of paper is better!  He did repair my recipe box, though and it works great!

Enjoy your chili, and Robin, you don't have to add the onions!

 

Amish Oven Fried Chicken

Amish Oven Fried Chicken

1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. butter
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried marjoram
8 or 9 pieces chicken

Place oil and butter in a shallow cooking pan and place in 375 degree oven to melt butter, set aside. In a large paper sack combine dry ingredients. Roll the chicken pieces 3 at a time in butter and oil then drop into a sack and shake to cover. Place on a plate until all pieces are coated. Leave any excess butter and oil in pan. Place chicken in the pan skin side down or its just as good if you remove all the skin first. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes with spatula, turn chicken pieces over and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until crust begins to bubble.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I found this recipe online several years ago. It quickly became my favorite spaghetti sauce and is better than just plain canned and is quick and easy to whip up. The recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground beef, but I've used 1 pound with great results.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

2 pounds ground round (or 1 lb. ground beef + 1 lb. ground Italian Sausage)
1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, cut up (I put them in the blender)
6 ounces V-8 juice
1 (16 ounce) jar Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix (I use 1/2 pkg.)
1/2 cup grape jelly (I use about 3/4 cup)

In a large skillet, brown meat until pink color disappears.* Drain off liquid and crumble with fork or potato masher. Stir in tomatoes, V-9 juice, Prego, soup mix and grape jelly. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 15-20 mins or until piping hot and to the desired thickness of sauce you like.

Yields enough sauce for 6 to 8 servings.

*I prefer to boil my ground beef. To do this, put about an inch or so of water in your skillet. Add ground beef and crumble. I also like to add about 1/4 of an onion, chopped, pepper, salt, and a bit of garlic powder. Bring to a boil and continue to break meat into small chunks. Boil on low heat until meat is done. Drain off water and rinse meat in a colander to further remove any excess grease. Place back into skillet and proceed with recipe.

Mexican Chicken (or turkey)

I make this whenever I have leftover chicken from cooking a whole chicken. You can also use turkey when you have leftovers at Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can use both white and dark meat. Personally, I think the dark meat tastes better in this particular recipe. This is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day, after it's had time to marinate overnight in the fridge. Serve with a nice salad and you've got a great, easy, one-pot meal.

Mexican Chicken (or Turkey)
---------------------------
1 pkg corn tortillas (about 8 or 10)
4 C turkey or chicken, cut or torn
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 t garlic salt
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
1 can (10 oz) Rotel tomatoes (any speed)
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 t chili powder

Line an 8" square baking dish with some of the tortillas (4 or 5). In
a large bowl, mix the turkey pieces, onion, cheese, and garlic salt.
Add the remaining ingredients. Pour into baking dish on top of
tortillas. Cut several tortillas into fourths and push them down into
the mix. Top with more cheese. Bake for 30 mins at 350º.

*I always dip the corn tortillas I'm going to put on the bottom of my dish in hot oil to make them more pliable and not stick to the bottom of the dish. I don't dip in hot oil the ones I put on the top. I also have made it both with the chili powder and without. It tastes great both ways.

Sunday's Best Oven Fried Chicken

Lest you thought we existed on only desserts and snacks, here's a great tried & true chicken recipe for you. This chicken really isn't fried; it's baked in the oven. However, it does have that fried chicken taste. Once you get the hang of this recipe, it's fairly easy to make. The original recipe makes enough to feed a small army, so I cut the recipe in half. Feel free to use the original amounts, half it, or double it to suit your needs.

Sunday's Best Oven-Fried Chicken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3-1/2 to 4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C all purpose flour
1 t celery seeds
2 t onion powder
1 t paprika
2 T lemon pepper
1 T salt
1 T fresh chopped thyme
2 lg. eggs, room temperature
3/4 C buttermilk (I use plain skim milk w/ 1 T vinegar added)
One 16 oz. package seasoned bread stuffing mix, crushed (I put it in a large ziplock and whacked it with the rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy glass, but I think bread crumbs would work well, too)
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Adjust the baking rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºF.

1. Rinse the chickens thoroughly under COLD water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, celery seeds, onion powder, paprika, lemon pepper, salt and thyme. Set aside.
3. Whisk the eggs and buttermilk together thoroughly. Pour into a shallow bowl.
4. Pour the crushed stuffing mix into a separate shallow bowl or large paper plate.
5. Pour the melted butter onto a baking sheet.
6. Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour mixture, then in the buttermilk mixture; thoroughly coat in the crushed stuffing mix.
7. Transfer chicken to the baking sheet and gently roll the pieces in the melted butter until lightly coated. (I use a 9" X 13" casserole dish)
8. Bake for 25-35 mins OR when the juices flow clear after a knife is inserted into the thickest part of the breast.
9. When the chicken is fully cooked, transfer the pieces to a platter lined with paper towels. Serve. Allow to cool to room temp before storing in fridge.



I use the Pepperidge Farm stuffing that comes in the large bag. This time I got sage and it tasted too much like turkey stuffing, so I might go with something different next time or try seasoned bread crumbs.

These taste great the next day, too!

If you use chicken tenders or smaller chicken breasts, cut your cooking time and check for doneness.

Don't skip the butter! This really does make the coating nice and crispy. Plus, who doesn't like the added taste the butter gives the finished product?!?

Foil Dinners

The other night, I had 2 packages of stew meat in the fridge, but it was too warm for stew, so I decided to try something different. I made foil dinners!! Being a Girl Scout for 20 years or so, I've eaten my fair share of foil dinners, but I've never thought of making them at home.

My foil dinners had onions, sliced potatoes, carrots, green beans, very thinly sliced celery (for seasoning), and very thinly sliced bell pepper in them. I made a total of 5 packets and some I topped with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Others I used seasoned salt, and on 1 I sprinkled some Italian salad dressing mix on. Cooked them at 450º for 50 mins and they were delish!!

While I used beef stew meat, you could use chicken breasts, round steak, or cubed steak. You could even marinate the meat overnight for a different flavor. Also, you can pretty much use any kind of veggies you have on hand, or some partially frozen veggies if that's all you have.

Give 'em a try!! You'll like 'em!

Beef Stew

This was originally posted on my cross stitching blog on 12/5/08.

I have very fond memories of beef stew since my mom would make this often during the winter when I was growing up. She would let it simmer all afternoon and it smelled heavenly. I'm not as patient as my mom was and I had a starving husband to cook for after I got home from work, so I did the speedy stew method.

I actually prefer picking out the meat and potatoes, then eating them separately. I generally don't like to eat mixed veggies or my food all mixed up, not to mention that I'm not a big soup eater. (I also don't like hot drinks, except hot chocolate once it's cooled a bit and hot tea with lots of sugar in it when I'm sick.) Anyway, I like to mash my stew potatoes and smother them with lots of butter. Because I wouldn't eat my stew like a normal person, I'd have to fix myself some kind of veggie to go with my meat, taters, and cottage cheese. Fast forward to tonight's dinner of beef stew.



Doesn't that look good?? It was!! And I ate it out of the bowl! My mom would be so proud of me. LOL For the first time in my life, I ate my stew as it was meant to be eaten and it was really, really good! I'm still tempted to pick out the meat and potatoes, but I shall overcome that urge. When I asked my husband what he thought about it, he told me it needed a bit more pepper and maybe some okra (ick!). Don't get me wrong, I like okra, but not in my stew. I guess it was good; he ate 3 bowls of the stuff! :)

I don't have a "real" recipe, but I'll share how I made it tonight. This is what I used for just the 2 of us. If you have a larger family, use more of the beef & veggies.

Beef Stew
~~~~~~~~~
1 lb. lean stew meat
1-2 T vegetable oil
4 or 5 normal size potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
1/2 - 1 med. onion, cut into chunks
2 or 3 carrots (cooked separately-boiled until crisp tender then mixed in once stew was done)
Frozen Corn (however much you want, 1-2 cups)
Frozen Cut Green Beans (same as above)
1-3 ribs celery, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

Brown the meat in oil over medium heat in a large skillet or stew pot/dutch oven until no longer pink. If you want, brown the meat, onions, and garlic together. (I didn't do that this time, but I will next time.)
Add everything else (except the carrots) and mix together. If you didn't add the onions and garlic with your meat, add those now, too.
Season to taste.
Add enough water to cover.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil. Once boiling, tilt lid, reduce heat a bit and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender (about 20 mins or so). Stir occasionally.

BTW, fork tender means that when you stick a fork in the potatoes it should go in easily and come out just as easily. If you have to stab the potato really hard, then it's not done. If you can't get your fork out, the potatoes aren't done either.

While the stew is cooking, slice carrots and place in a small pot. Cover with water and lid, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and cook until crisp tender, about 10 mins. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside. When the rest of the stew is done, (potatoes fork tender and it's thickened up a bit), drain the water from the carrots & stir them in the stew. Cooking the carrots separately will keep the carrots from turning into mush. (Mark doesn't like mushy carrots and I gotta keep the husband happy ya' know!)

Serve with crackers or your favorite bread. Whatever you do, enjoy it!!

Note: You can add whatever veggies you want. If you want a vegetable soup, omit the meat. If you like mushy carrots or you're lazy, just throw them in when you add the rest of the veggies to the meat. You can also add all kinds of different spices to liven it up. We're pretty plain folks, so we don't go "all out" with seasoning.

:o)