No Beans Chili

This is a little different since I usually have beans in my chili. There are some who will argue that it’s not chili if it has beans in it. I am just the opposite, it’s not chili without the beans so just call it what you like!

I went to my butcher’s Thursday to buy some meat and got 2 pounds of ground chuck for my chili. This was my second time out since my back operation just a month ago and my first time driving. When my wife fixed some store bought crab cakes that neither one of us could eat; I decided it was time to get back into doing the cooking!

I browned up the beef in two batches; draining the first batch and leaving the grease in the second; a little fat makes it better.  I added half the chopped onion to each batch when it was getting browned and let them get soft.  I put the beef in a large pot and added the 3 TBS. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin and some dried garlic flakes. I let that cook a few minutes then added most of a bottle of stout beer; I had to save a few sips for me! I let that simmer about 15 minutes.

I pureed the can of fire roasted tomatoes, can of Rotel tomatoes and stirred that into the pot. I added the can of tomato paste, a tsp. of 4S salt and about 1 TBS. of mustard powder. When that returned to a boil I turned it down to simmer and covered. I let it simmer an hour and a half. For the last half hour I added a TBS. of smoked paprika and a TBS. of brown sugar.

It hit the spot for cold weather food, even without the beans! I had some leftover rice so added some to the bottom of my bowl topped with the chili and a handful of shredded cheese. My wife did not have the rice. We both like buttered saltines with our chili.

I will probably freeze up most of the leftovers, some for Coney dogs and some for on top of spaghetti.

Ingredients

Browning the ground chuck

Chili powder and cumin added

Beer and tomatoes added

Ready to serve

My supper

Baked Steak and Parmesan Potatoes

Jan 13 2015

I really had my taste buds set for some good beef tenderloin steaks. Our Sam’s club has the best ones a good 2 inches thick and 4 inch diameter, about 6 oz. each. My wife went to Sam’s after a movie Sunday and I told her to get some, I told her the nice thick small tenderloins we always had. I should have known better. She came home with a package of six eye of round steaks about 6 inches diameter and ¾ inches thick!

So tonight we had baked steak, the only way I know to make round steak so it’s tender and good. My Mom used to fix this a lot and used cream of mushroom soup for the gravy. I did it that way a lot then found I liked using Campbells beefy mushroom soup better.  I didn’t have either soup but it’s been so cold and icy out I didn’t want the wife to run to the grocery; it’s 3 deg. right now and supposed to get -4 deg.

I had a package of Pioneer brown gravy mix so I made that up and added a teaspoon of porcini mushroom powder and a couple of dashes of Kitchen Bouquet.

I used 3 of the steaks and pounded with a meat mallet on both sides then cut in half. I seasoned with a little Penzey’s 4S salt, dusted with a little wonder flour. I browned them in a skillet with a little olive oil on med. high heat about 3 minutes per side. I poured half the gravy in a baking dish, a little dried garlic flakes, layered in the meat, poured the rest of the gravy over and some dried onion flakes. I poured the excess oil out of the skillet and then deglazed it with a little beef broth and added that to the dish.

I covered the dish and in the oven at 275 deg. at 4:00 pm. I got the potatoes ready to go in at 5:00. I melted some butter in a baking dish, added some parmesan cheese. The Kraft’s powdered works best for this. I had some baby gold potatoes and cut them in half then placed cut side down in the dish. They went in the oven and upped the temp to 300 deg. I heated up a can of green beans for a side veggie.

At 5:35 I removed the lid from the steak and gravy. I checked the potatoes and they were not browning well so I upped the temp. to 325 deg. I served it all up at 6:00 and it was tasty. The grandson ate with us and had a nice plate full. My wife had some bread and butter with hers; I saved the bread and after I finished my plate I had some gravy bread. I thought the gravy was extra good and the wife said she liked it better than the beefy mushroom soup I usually use.

Tenderizing the steaks

Seasoned and dusting with flour

Browning them

Deglazing the skillet

Ready to bake

Potatoes ready to bake

My supper

Skillet Stuffed Burgers

Jan 12 2015

I got the cooking method for the burgers from Mary at Deep South Dish. She made some stuffed meatloaf burgers using a Cuisinart stuffer. I liked the looks of it so I bought one before Christmas. I made up three burgers stuffed with crumbled bacon and some shredded cheddar vacuum sealed and froze them. I was happy with the stuffer.

I had them thawed for tonight’s supper and I had some baked Idaho cottage rounds and a small green salad for sides. Mary’s method of cooking the burgers was to fry on med. high in a cast iron skillet with a little oil for 5 minutes then flip and do another 3 minutes.  Then turn down to med. low, add about a ¼ cup of water and cover. Let them steam about 10 minutes. I used my Lodge steel skillet and they came out great. This method is like most do on a griddle; add water and cover with a lid at the end.

This is a great way to do burgers when cooking indoors. They came out nice and juicy. The next time I need to add more cheese when stuffing. I will also remove the burgers and pour of the grease before steaming. There was plenty of grease from using 80-20 ground chuck.

New England Spider Cake (iron skillet corncake)

Jan 06 2015

I first saw this recipe at Food52 and knew it was one for me to try. Any cake that has cornmeal in it and baked in a cast iron skillet is one I have to try. I baked it today and it is a taste treat, delicious! The edges and bottom get a little crispy and a brown top covers a nice gooey layer that is from pouring a cup of heavy cream in the middle of the batter before baking.

I am always interested in food history and wondered why they called this a spider cake. I looked it up on the net and found the three legged cast iron pots and pans used to cook over coals in an open hearth were called spiders. I had probably read this before but it never stayed with me.

I am not sure who to give credit for the recipe; it shows up several places like this one. There are a few others that have the same ingredients in different amounts but don’t add the cup of cream before baking. I would say the original recipe is probably pretty old since it is called a spider cake.

My wife and I had a small piece of it warm out of the oven and that’s the best way to eat it. I ate a piece after my supper and had it room temperature with some maple syrup. It might be better warmed a little in the microwave. Either way it is delicious!

Click here for printable recipe

Fermented Beets

Jan 04 2015

I have been going a little buggy lately; since my back operation about 3 weeks ago I haven’t been able to do much. I have cooked a few meals but things that don’t take much prep or a lot of standing on my feet. I am anxious to get back to full time cooking.

I have made my own sauerkraut the last couple of years and have done at least 6 batches. I have wanted to do some red beets since my wife and I both love beets. I have a recipe that says you have to be careful doing beets; they have a lot of sugar so can go to alcohol. It said it was best to do in small batches and mix some turnips in with them.

Since you can use canned beets I could get these on without much work; all I had to do was peel the turnips and slice. I had three 15 oz. cans of sliced small beets and three turnips. I drained the beets and filled my half gallon jar alternating the beets and sliced turnips. I placed one large slice of turnip on top then covered with the ceramic weights and topped off with brine. The brine mix was 2 tablespoons of salt to 2 cups of water. I use filtered water and coarse grey sea salt.

The recipe said 5 to 12 days and I will go the 12 days.

Good Luck Pork and Kraut 2015

Jan 01 2015

I don’t think I have missed having my good luck pork and kraut on New Year’s Day for about 20 years. I picked it up from a friend that was of German heritage. I think I have used about every cut of pork with the kraut. My wife makes knopfles, German drop noodles to add, that makes it better and I have made my own kraut the past two years. My wife is not the best cook but did learn how to make the noodles from her mother. I tried making them myself one year and she can do it better.

I have been having some black eyed peas too in honor of my southern cousin. She said her Dad always had to have his black eyed peas on New Year’s Day. She said when she was young the family was traveling on New Year’s Day and when they got hungry her Dad had to stop at 4 or 5 restaurants before he found one that was serving black eyed peas.

I think black eyed peas are pretty widely used as the good luck meal for southerners on New Year’s Day. For northerners I don’t think there is any one dish and it comes from ethnic heritage or from geographical location.

Since I am recovering from a back operation I chose brats for my pork; they would not require much prep work. I had 4 fresh bratwursts and 4 bockwursts from my butcher, Kah Meats and smoked them on my Traeger for an hour and a half.

I cooked it all in my Crockpot; sprayed with a little olive oil, a layer of cut up onions, two of the brats and 2 of the bockwurst, some chopped garlic, 2 to 4 cloves, and a layer of kraut and then repeated it. I added a bottle of Yuengling and then water to almost cover.  I got it on at noon and set it on high for an hour and then on low.

My wife was busy all day taking down her Christmas decorations and placed in tubs to store. She stopped long enough to make the knopfles, noodles for me. I added them to the pork and kraut at 4:00. At 5:00 I baked a take home garlic loaf and made some mashed potatoes with butter and sour cream. I opened a can of black eyed peas to heat up adding some dried garlic, onions, salt and pepper.

It all tasted great and hit the spot. This tastes good on any cold winter night!

Wursts smoked and ready for the Crockpot

Knopfles

My supper

New Years Eve Supper 2014

Dec 31 2014

I am not getting back to normal as fast as I thought after a back surgery Dec. 15^th; but I did manage to cook us a good last meal for 2014. We had rib eye steaks from my butcher with WOW compound butter, baked potatoes, sautéed wild caught shrimp and a salad.

I had the baked potatoes in the oven getting done, I did the steaks 3 minutes per side in my Lodge steel skillet and then all went in the oven while I sautéed the shrimp. The steaks were seasoned with some Penzey’s 4S salt and some fresh ground pepper and topped with some Savor All (WOW) compound butter while they rested. The shrimp were sautéed in butter, onions, garlic and a little 4S salt.

 It all tasted great; I needed a steak fix! I had a small glass of African Amarula cream liqueur after eating. We settled in and watched some TV. I went to bed at 8:00. I got back up at 11:00 and went to watch TV and ring in the New Year with my wife. I fixed myself some scotch on the rocks. It was some Speyburn 10 year single malt our son bought me for Christmas. It was perfect for toasting the New Year!

We watched the festivities at Times Square NYC and saw the ball drop at mid-night. I gave the wife the New Year’s hug and kiss and shortly after it was off to bed.

My supper