Chili Theory 101

After having a long discussion about how chili should properly be made, I realized I did not have a chili recipe posted. I never use an actual recipe for chili, so this won’t have proportions but play around with it and see what you like. Experiment and enjoy!

Ingredients

• Meat – Use more than one kind. My favorite is beef and sausage. I don’t usually use ground beef, I’ll use whatever cut of meat I have available and cut it into small chunks. Makes a nice texture contrast with ground sausage.
• Beans – Again, use more than one kind. I usually use pinto beans and dark red kidney beans. I will fight to the death that if it doesn’t contain beans, it’s not chili.
• Onions, peppers, garlic – All diced. As for peppers I like to use bell & serrano. I’ve also added a chipotle pepper from time to time when I’ve had it on hand.
• Tomatoes – Fire roasted is best here (canned is perfectly okay, just make sure it’s diced). Om nom nom.
• Chocolate – My not-so-secret super-secret ingredient. Best is 100% cacao chocolate, by far. I don’t advise using anything below 70%. Compliments the flavor of the spices nicely.
• Spices – I rarely actually use chili powder. I prefer to add my own spices to taste so I have control over the ratios. Paprika, black pepper, red pepper flakes, etc, etc.
• Extra liquid – I usually use stock, but something acidic like beer would also work quite nicely and help tenderize the meat.
• Cornstarch – If you like thick chili rather than thin.

Directions

1. Brown the meat. (Drain the grease, if there is any.)
2. Add onions and peppers; cook until veggies are the right consistency.
3. Add garlic, chocolate, and spices; cook for several minutes to give everything the chance to flavor the meat. Keep everything moving during this time.
4. Add beans, tomatoes, and extra liquid. If you want thicker chili, set aside some of whatever liquid you are using to mix with cornstarch and add later.
5. Simmer for at least an hour. Better yet, put it all in the crock pot and let it cook all day long.
6. Add cornstarch mixture and stir in. Cook until thickened appropriately.

Butternut Squash Soup and Pesto Gnocchi & Meatballs

This is a wonderful warm, hearty meal for a cold day. Meatball recipe adapted from here and soup recipe here. The soup probably would’ve benefited from being topped with cream of some kind, but we didn’t have any.

Soup Ingredients

• 1 (2-3 lb) butternut squash, peeled and seeded
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock
• nutmeg
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Soup Directions

1. Cut squash into 1-inch chunks.
2. Melt butter in large pot. Add onion and cook until translucent.
3. Add squash and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
4. Puree mixture in blender (immersion blender didn’t work too well for me here).
5. Return to pot. Stir and season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Gnocchi & Meatballs Ingredients

• 1 package gnocchi
• pesto
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, divided (I used panko)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil

Gnocchi & Meatballs Directions

1. Combine breadcrumbs through basil and mix thoroughly. Roll into balls of a similar size as the gnocchi.
2. Place in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside, keep warm.
3. Cook gnocchi according to package directions, drain.
4. Mix gnocchi and meatballs, toss with desired amount of pesto.

Garden Vegetable Soup

As a general rule, I don’t like vegetable soup.  This is an exception.  From Food Network.

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white part only (approx 3 medium leeks)
• 2 Tbsp. finely minced garlic
• kosher salt
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds (approx 2 medium)
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 2 cups fresh green beans, broken or cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
• 4 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. fresly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup packed, chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat.  Add the leeks, garlic, and a pinch of salt and sweat until leeks begin to soften, approximately 7-8 minutes.
2. Transfer to slow cooker, add remaining ingredients, and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

If you would rather cook it on the stove, see the original recipe.  I love the simplicity of cooking it in the crock pot.

Chicken and Vegetable Soup

From an Italian cookbook I picked up at Borders on sale.  It was well worth the pocket change I paid for it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 white onion, diced
• carrots, sliced
• cauliflower, broken into bite-sized pieces
• 3 ¾ cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp. dried mixed herbs (I use oregano and parsley)
• 4 ½ oz. ditalini pasta
• salt and papper

Directions

1. Dice chicken.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, add chicken and vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is soft and chicken is fully cooked and lightly browned.
3. Stir in the stock and herbs.
4. Bring to a boil and add pasta.
5. Return to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking together.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Zucchini Soup

Inspired by Iron Chef to experiment with food, and having seen battle zucchini last night, I decided to see if I could make a soup out of zucchini.  No recipe, nothing aside from checking to see if it’d been done before (if it hadn’t, I’d be wary but still try it).  So I bought a few things that I thought might go well in a creamy vegetable soup and had a go at it.  After several taste tests and much tweaking, it turned out even better than I expected.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 pound of young zucchini (a little more is fine, i used about 1.1 lb)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 tsp. minced roasted garlic (or about 6 cloves, but less if you don’t want the garlic flavor so strong)
• 1 cup (1 pint, 8 oz, different brands say different measurements) heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 7-8 oz. fire roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• chicken or vegetable broth (I don’t know the amount on this, but the soup turned out heavy and I would thin it next time – I’ll update this when I make it again)
• parmesan cheese and bacon for garnishing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Put paprika in  a small pan on the stove on medium heat to toast for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, slice zucchini.
3. Toss sliced zucchini with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and the toasted paprika.  Spread on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.
4. Put zucchini in a blender and blend until smooth.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a soup pot on the stove.
6. Add garlic and cook, stirring continuously, for about 30 seconds.
7. Turn heat to between low and medium (3 out of 10 on my stove).  Add zucchini then heavy cream, mix.
8. Once thoroughly heated, add cheese.  Stir, continue heating until melted.
9. Add onion powder and fire roasted tomatoes (chopped up to whatever size you’d like).  Stir, cook until all heated through.
10. Add broth, stir, cook about 5 more minutes.
11. Serve topped with parmesan cheese and bacon crumbles.

Even my bf (who I’ve never seen enjoy zucchini, even though he tries it each time I make it) loved this soup.  We both agreed it was too heavy, but the addition of the broth will solve that no problem.  Make sure you taste the soup throughout if you change anything (or even if you don’t, to make sure your personal tastes don’t dictate any changes) because until the addition of quite a bit of extra garlic and cheese it had a bitter aftertaste.  I’ve gotta say, this is one of my original recipies that I’m most proud of.  I served it with pasta.  A nice filling meal.