Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Chili or not too chili...huh?



The mastery of the making of the “CHILI” is very personal.
Many find sharing their recipe is just not right, ya know?

Mine, on the other hand is somewhat difficult to share, since I never ever wrote down a recipe and have been known to make it entirely different each and every time that I do make it anyway.

It was never an item on our restaurant menu; this is a type of meal that I don’t really recall even making for our sons.
For them it was more simple meals of poultry, beef, fish sort of things, vegetables/ fresh salads and potatoes etc…, pastas such as: spaghetti and meatballs, or white clam sauce and linguine baked ziti or lasagna, and all those breakfast norms, cereal or eggs or pancakes, waffles, etc… But as we get older we forget; you know that I am more than sure…and so if I did make them chili I am not quite sure how or what was in it.

Any-who, for Hubby and me, most of the beginnings of my Chili recipes post grown sons were started with healthy ideas in mind and so at first I started making it with ground turkey, but then something happened, the turkey products were recalled or some such thing and this was years ago, and it was found not to be any less fattening/ cholesterol issue than good quality 97% low fat chopped beef, which is what we buy.

Sure the fatty stuff makes better/juicier burgers, but we don’t eat them that often. It has been used mostly in meat loafs and for meat balls these days and we have been known to even squeeze three meals out of pound of beef, with creativity meaning: a couple of burgers, meatballs and meat sauce/bolognaise!
Gosh there are only the two of us.

I got off topic slightly, well anyway now with Chili proving to be a healthier comfort food these days it is a must for any home cook’s repertoire, don’t ya think?
We all know that the beans are what they are talking about and that is where many have put most of their attention.
Why I myself have been known to use those 15kinds of dried bean soup ones and that goes on for days and days when made, but that can be frozen as all these recipes can.
The simplest way is the one pound, two can one.

I made that one tonight, fast and very easy!
Don’t ask me measurements, but if you are using a pound of chopped beef with a can of baked beans and a can of stewed tomatoes it is about right, but you might want to put the tomatoes through the food processor to chop them up smoother, that is unless you like it chunky? If in Texas forget the beans and tomatoes, just chilies boiled and peeled with the beef!
But I am NOT A TEXAN and so I use the two cans and beef recipe plus chili powder, salt and pepper, hot pepper flakes and cumin to taste, sliced and sauteed onions and garlic too…!
Lemon juice splashed, as well as another splash of your favorite tomato sauce, just little bit; heat all according to the meat and onions and garlic first, adding in the smashed tomatoes and beans as is, or sometimes I add an additional few slices of crispy bacon and a dribble of honey or brown sugar smidge, but not tonight…just a dribble bit of honey…

Now if you can decipher my recipe from all the stuff surrounding it, more power to you I say!

With all the FOOD PORN daily and nightly going on wildly on the social network and net itself, I thought I would give my own rendition through explanation of amazing food trends or just good ole plain classics, hmm? Besides, since my PICS would have been way too graphic for public consumption, ha!

On that note of what, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share those overages with you know who, and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

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