Louisiana Boil

     How do I begin to explain the highlight of my summer!  My Louisiana Boil is an event that brings together great friends and great food.  This culinary treat goes by many names such as a Seafood Boil, New England Boil, Crab Boil, and so on.  I call it a Louisiana Boil for two reasons.  First, I don't focus on any one seafood, but instead I love a variety of them together.  Second, I try to honor Louisiana's great culinary style.  I must confess that I have never been to Louisiana, thus everything I am writing here may be bullshit.

     With that said, this party dish may or may not be a true taste of Louisiana, but it does have unbelievable flavors that will wow your friends.  It will also wow your wallet so don't be ashamed to let your guests bring some of the ingredients.  This really adds to the fun and community feeling of making this party dish happen.  Although you are coordinating the boil, everyone is involved and it creates a wonderful party atmosphere.  Your guests will have as much fun making the boil as they do eating it.

     This is an all day event of food and drink so if you're like me, hide the car keys and get ready for a great day.  At our boil, we had our pot showcased under a tent while we enjoyed numerous chips, dips and munchies.  We have it in the dead of summer with numerous summer beverages that add the feel of a southern boil.  Don't start the pot too soon, let the anticipation grow for a couple of hours.  What fun it is to drink, munch and talk about the food that is to come!

     Finally, timing is everything with this party dish, so I must abandoned my usual, "do this for about one beer" stuff.  It simply won't work with a boil of this sort.  Go ahead and get drunk, but not too drunk- you need to remember the order and time to cook each element.  This is sooooo easy, but it is also easy to screw it up.

     Enjoy!

     Missing from pictures Crab Legs!

Ingredients-

Water- 5 gals

Medium to Dark Beer- 3 bottles

Zatarain's Crab Boil- 3 boxes

Kosher Salt- 1/2 cup

Black Pepper- 1/4 cup

Garlic- 2 heads

Lemons- 3

Small Red Potatoes-  2 lbs

Small Yellow Potatoes- 2 lbs

Red Onions- 3

Sweet Bell Peppers- 3 multicolored

Kielbasa- 3 lbs

Corn On The Cob- 10 ears

Lobster Tails- 1 per guest

Little Neck Clams- 3 dozen

Mussels- 3 dozen

Jumbo Shrimp- 4 lbs

Calamari- 2 lbs

Snow Crab Clusters- 4 lbs

     I cannot stress enough that timing and order is everything for this boil.  The ingredients are only guidelines for you.  This was our boil, but you may want more veggies, different sausage or some other seafood. Whatever you want to put in this pot will work thanks to the broth that really makes it.  Trust me, and as Trump says, "it's gonna be great, your gonna love it".

     Preparations for my Louisiana Boil are easy.  I use all fresh or thawed seafood, nothing frozen or the timing will be screwed up.  Shuck the corn and break each ear in two.  Quarter the onions and the lemons.  Chop the sausage into 3/4 long chunks. All potatoes should be about salt potato size, if not, then cut them up.  I prefer small whole potatoes.  Clean and separate the garlic into individual cloves.

     You need a massive pot for this boil, I use a 55 quart pot with an insert over a propane powered burner. Are you jealous or what?!  I don't know how I ever lived without this thing.
 

    First add the water and the dark beer.  Then I lift the strainer out and put the 3 boxes of Zatarain's Crab boils under the strainer.  Next, add the kosher salt and the black pepper to your water.  Now turn on the burner and wait for it to boil.

     Once a full boil is reached add the potatoes, garlic and lemons.  The potatoes take the longest to cook and the garlic and lemon add deep flavors.  Cover and wait 10 minutes.

     Next, we add the kielbasa, onions and peppers.  These are three items that require less time to cook than the potatoes.  Cover and boil 10 minutes.

     See what I mean about the order being important? Next, add the corn- cover and continue to boil for another 5 minutes.   When this boil is finished, I think you'll agree that the corn steels the show!  It sucks in and showcases all those wonderful flavors.  

     Now comes the serious shit.  Here you must know your seafood and be cautious.  At this point we add the thawed lobster tails because they require a bit longer to cook due to their 3-4 oz size.

Along with them we added the fresh clams to make certain that they too are cooked completely.  Cover and wait about 3-4 minutes then check to see that the clams are opening. If your mussels are fresh they should be in with, and treated as the clams.

     That said, our mussels were precooked and previously frozen, so we thawed them earlier and added them after the clams began to open.  This was also the time to add our fresh, uncooked shrimp, because they cook so fast.  Cover again and boil about 2 minutes.

     The next thing we add are the calamari rings.  Again, cover and boil about 2 minutes.

     Finally we stuffed the precooked and thawed crab on the top to steam for about 2-3 minutes. We are really just warming them up! 

                                                         

     Get some oven mitts, shut off the gas, pull up the basket and allow it to drain.  We dumped it into trays on the table, but traditionally you dump it right on a table covered with newspaper.

      Dig in!

     

Turkey Carcass Soup

     This is a soup that I make just two or three times a year and I have been waiting to blog its preparation since this blog's inception.  Our family celebrates many holidays, Easter being one, with a roasted turkey, and turkey is a comfort food that offers numerous taste treats for days following the event.  I love turkey ala king, turkey sandwiches, and most of all, turkey soup.  Reading this blog entry will teach you how to wow your friends with the best turkey soup they have ever tasted.  The best flavors for a soup broth are hidden in the turkey's carcass bones.  In this short segment you are going to see how I release them into an unbelievable broth.  In most soups, the broth offers a salty medium to help you enjoy some noodles and veggies.  This is not the case with carcass soup, with carcass soup the broth is the treat.  We still enjoy the veggies and noodles in my turkey soup, but they become a tool who's purpose is to transport the lush broth to our mouth.

      I am starting this blog entry on Easter Sunday morning, and we celebrate Easter with a Thanksgiving-like feast.  My challenge today, will be to stay sober enough to make a great soup stock, which I will finish off on Monday night.  You'll be amazed how easy it is to make this great soup, but I'll warn you now that it does take time.  Two days are required to make this soup, so plan ahead.  On day one, I like to break out some beer, turn on the TV, and wander back and forth from the living room to the kitchen as the flavors grow.  Day two is rather fast, but I do manage to squeeze in a beer.  I make my soup with noodles, but as always, feel free to make your soup with rice or different vegetables.  You had better like your soup better than mine, or you haven't learned a thing from this blog.

     Ingredients-

Turkey Carcass

2 Yellow Onions

4 Stalks of Celery 

1 Cup of Baby Carrots

1 Clove of Garlic

Dried Parsley  

Water

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

1 Can Jellied Cranberries (Optional)

Wow! Is that a simple list or what? But it takes time.....

     Make it-

     Open a nice beer, wash your hands, and get a huge pot with a cover.  I start with a carcass that has had stuffing in it, the flavors are crazy good.  When the stuffing is gone and most of the meat is stripped off the carcass it looks like garbage.  This garbage will make fantastic soup!  Break the carcass up into parts so it will fit into the pot, and try to cover it with water.  Add a little kosher salt and black pepper, but you won't need much, especially if you're working with a carcass that had been stuffed.  Cover the pot with a tilted lid so the water won't boil and the steam returns to the pot.

     That's it for a few hours!  Go watch TV, drink, and shoot the shit.  Now that's comfort food.  After three hours or so, the carcass will be falling apart.  Shut the heat off and let it cool a bit before pouring the mix though a fine strainer.  Cover the strained broth and chill it over night in a refrigerator. Next, take the carcass pieces and separate (pull off) the good meat from the carcass, including the tasty dark meats.  This is a messy task, but well worth the effort.  Place the separated meat into a sealed container and store in the refrigerator over night as well.  I didn't bother to show this messy part, but common sense will guide you.

     The next day, remove the broth from the refrigerator.  Thanks to boiling the bones and all, you'll find that the grease has moved to the top of the container and the broth has jelled at the bottom.  This separation makes it a snap to scrape the grease off the top, leaving a wonderfully flavored broth that is much lower in fat.  No worries, all the flavor is there.  Now, put the broth on the stove and add the meat back.  Add a healthy tablespoon of dried parsley and turn up the heat to medium.

     As I said before, "This soup takes time, but it's so worth it!"

     Next, chop the celery, carrots, and onions.  Toss them in a pan with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper.  Simmer them a bit before adding a bit of minced garlic. Continue to simmer the veggies until they are almost soft.  When they are ready, toss them into the broth. bring the broth to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle boil for a half hour.  

     Add the noodles to the soup, as cooking in the broth gives them wonderful flavor.  Turn the heat off shortly before the noodles are fully cooked, as they will continue to cook after the heat is off.  If you don't do this, then the noodles might get mushy.  If you're using rice, sauté the rice with the veggies, as you would for pilaf, then add everything to the soup.  A quick fry of the rice always adds a great carmelized flavor to it.

     Finally, I love to serve this flavorful soup with a slab of jelled cranberry right in the center.  Try it and you won't be disappointed!  It's sooo good. If you hate cranberry, then you can skip it.

Utica Greens

     This post is dedicated to Jane, a great friend of mine that lives in Colorado.  While in Central New York, Jane had this local dish and she wanted to know how it's made.  As with any local cuisine, everyone makes Utica Greens a bit different, but they all share a few common traits.  Utica Greens are a combination of escarole, onions, peppers, prosciutto , cheese and breadcrumbs.  I don't often make greens, so I'm  sure a number of locals would criticize mine as being less than authentic.  We have other local favorites that I have a better mastery of, such as Chicken Reggies.  I'll share my take on Chicken Reggies in the coming weeks, and trust me you'll love them! 

     Most Utica Greens use only escarole but I like spinach better.  In this posting I used both spinach and escarole, the combination had good results.  Another break with tradition was my use of bacon rather than prosciutto.  I like the salty taste and crunchy texture of bacon with the soft greens, but most people do use prosciutto.  Using both might be a great option too.  Please remember that you're using my blog as guidelines only.  Make your greens the way you like them.  Look at the number of hot peppers I'm using, obviously I like my greens hot.  In fact, I'm not really big on spinach or escarole, so I use a lots of meat, peppers and onions.  You don't have to make it that way if your big on the green in greens.

     

     Ingredients-

Escarole 

Spinach 

1/2 pound Prosciutto or Bacon

1 Red Onion 

1 Red Sweet Bell Pepper 

6 Cherry Hot Peppers 

Sliced Mushrooms 

4 Garlic Cloves

1/4 pound Butter

1 1/2 cup Romano Cheese grated

3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese grated

1 1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

1 cup Red Wine

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Worcester Sauce

     Let's make them.

     I made these greens to go with lunch so it was a bit early to have a beer.  That said, use your own judgment.  I start by chopping the meat into small bits.  Next, I clean and chop the onions and peppers.  Clean the mushrooms and chop them also if they are too large.  The garlic is minced, as is usually the case.

     I use a deep electric skillet quite often, and this time is no different.  It works great later on when we are adding the spinach as the spinach takes up a great deal of space until it cooks down.  First, sauté the meat over medium heat until it's crispy.  Remove and drain the meat leaving a tablespoon or so in the pan.  Add all the peppers, onions and mushrooms.  Top it with butter, kosher salt and black pepper.  No garlic yet.  Sauté over medium heat folding the vegetables occasionally.

     While that's cooking I start the escarole.  Escarole can be a bitter green, so I add a generous amount of kosher salt and a bit of sugar to a large pot of water that will be used to cook it.  Set the heat to high and get that pot boiling.  This is a very dirty vegetable that requires lots of care in the sink.  Cut the bottom off and rinse each leaf carefully as the dirt is always present well into the upper part of the leaves.  After that, I give it a course chopping and toss it into the pot. Cook the escarole until it is fork tender.

     When the onions and peppers are almost soft, add the garlic, wine and Italian seasonings.  Reduce the heat a bit and simmer to reduce the wine.  Taste for seasoning as you go.  After the wine is reduced significantly add spinach and watch it shrink as you fold it into the hot vegetables.  I used a whole large bag, but I could have used even more.

     As that cooked I drained the escarole and it too went into the skillet.  I add a bit of Worcester sauce now and make a final check on the salt and pepper.  As it all cooks a lot of moisture gathers in the pan. You can drain it off if it looks excessive, but the next step will mop lots of it up.  How dry do you like your greens? That will determine how much, if any, moisture you want to remove.

     Reduce the heat to low before you add about a cup of Romano cheese and a cup of bread crumbs.  Incorporate these by folding them into the mix.  Now I put the greens into a shallow casserole which I top with 1/2 cup of romano, then 3/4 cup of mozzarella, and finally 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs.  Bake it at 375 until the cheeses melt.  Let it set for a bit before serving.  Greens are a great side dish to almost any meal.  In the Rome-Utica area we often see greens served on steak and chicken sandwiches and in the sandwich wraps.  If you haven't had one, trust me you're missing something.

Kielbasa and Hot Pepper Sandwiches

     There are sandwiches and then there are sandwiches!  This is a casual post that shows you how much fun it is to get together with friends and make simple, great food.  Nothing is better than a beer with a great sandwich.  We choose a manly classic sandwich made up of kielbasa and hot peppers.  Dam they were good.  You must choose your beer to match the great taste of these sandwiches.

     I think we will start by introducing my friends that made this night so much fun.  Dave Sampson is on the right and Scott Rutledge is on the left.  We all share a passion for savory foods and beer. 

     What you need-

Great Friends to cook with

Kielbasa 

Long Hot Peppers

Onions

Sturdy Rye Bread

Swiss Cheese

Assorted Brown Mustard

Salt

Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Assorted Dark Beers (or a gluten-free beer in Scott's case)

Pickles 

Chips 

Dips

Sour-kraut 

     We started this party with a few beers and conversation.  Dave found some unique bourbon maple pickles that were great.  Scott had a couple different chip types that I could not stop stuffing my face with.  We solved the world's problems and discussed our favorite sandwiches.

     Before we knew it, it was time to cook.  As I cleaned the peppers, Dave tossed the kielbasa in a big pot to boil.   I think Scott chopped the onions, but thanks to the beer and nonsense I'm not certain.

     The hot peppers were tossed with a few chopped onions, salt, pepper, and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Just because I thought we should, I started to saute some sour-kraut.  After all kraut and kielbasa are natural together.  Also as a fall back, we fried up some sweet peppers.   We boiled the kielbasa until it was a tender and bulging.  The pepper are done when they're fork tender.

     We had a number of beers to try, but the winner was obvious to me.  Dave found an oatmeal stout that stole the show.  It was going to be great with a man sandwich.

     I really didn't think the night could get better, but the sandwiches ere yet to come.

     Every man that is a man, knows how to make a great sandwich.  You do what you want, it's all good, but this is my blog so I'll tell you how I made mine.  The sour kraut would be good with kielbasa alone, but I had a another classic in mind.

 I started with 2 slices of a good sturdy rye and gave them but a spread of brown mustard.  Dave had 3 to choose from.  I pick a hot brown with horseradish.  Next I cut a piece of kielbasa long as the bread and I split it lengthwise.  I covered that with a fine deli Swiss cheese.  Then topped it off with some of those long hots.  What else can I say, the night got even better.

                                 What a sandwich!

Jambalaya

 

     Jambalaya is comfort food with an attitude!  I love this crowd pleasing Cajun special with a light beer such as a Corona.  This is a fun meal to make too, and mine never comes out the same twice.  Guidelines are all you'll need to make up a great variation of this meal to call your own.  I'll get you started with what I use, how I use it and when I add it.  For example, the shrimp only take a few minutes, so they go in last.  The kielbasa, on the other hand, it cooks slowly from the beginning and adds flavor as we go.  You may want to use beer rather than wine, or seafood stock rather than chicken stock.  Which, by the way, I would have used if I had it in on hand.  Hot peppers?  Brown rice?  Sure, it will work.  You can own this dish.  I must apologize for this posting if it sounds a bit forced.  I wanted to add to my blog this week, but time has been short as my second grandson was just born and the whole gang is living with us until their house is built.  It has been crazy.

     Next week will be a fun post as I'm going to a great friends house, Dave Sampson, and we are going to make kielbasa sandwiches.  I'll try to stay sober enough to blog the event for you!  Also, up-and-coming, are Utica Greens.  I actually had a request for this from my cousin's wife in Colorado.  If you're not from Central New York, you're in for a treat.  On to the Jambalaya!

     Missing from picture is ketchup

     Ingredients-

32oz Seafood or Chicken Broth

1/2 Stick Salted Butter

2 Can Chopper Tomatoes with Chilies

Tomatoes Paste

4 Cloves of Garlic

1 Large Onion

2 Bell Peppers 

1 1/2 cups of White Rice

Kielbasa 

Fresh Shrimp- cleaned with veins removed

Red Cooking Wine

Worcester Sauce

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Red Pepper Flakes

Fresh Parsley

Olive Oil

Scallions

     I start this dish by opening a beer, then I chop the celery, bell peppers and onion.  Melt about 1/2 stick of butter in a deep large fry pan, or an electric skillet works great.  Toss in the chopped vegetables and season them generously with kosher salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes to your taste.  Yes your taste, or whomever you're making this for.  Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and start simmering over medium heat.  Add some red wine and reduce by about half.

     While that's working, I mince the garlic and cut the kielbasa into 1/2 inch slabs.  Don't forget to mix the vegetables occasionally as they cook, and remember you have a beer open.  Cooking should be fun and relaxing; beer is a catalyst for this event.  Now add the kielbasa, rice and garlic.  As always, I must remind you not to burn the garlic.  Nothing will make a dish more bitter than burnt garlic.  I like to have the rice in there early so it actually fries for a bit to give it more flavor.  Keep mixing and as the flavors combine the resulting smell is better than any silly candle burning.

     Taste often as you go adding more salt and pepper if needed.  You may even want more heat, so have the hot pepper flakes ready.  If the dish looks too dry, hit it with more olive oil.  This is not exact and you don't want it to be.  You're having fun creating a wonderful dish.  Oops, I forgot to add a healthy drizzle of Worcester sauce.  Do it now.

     One last intense flavor I want is tomato paste.  Be generous and stir that in.

     Now that all the ingredients are enjoying each other's company we need moisture.  I start with two cans of chopped tomatoes and chilies.  The rice will thank you as it quickly sucks up the moisture and looks for more.  As you simmer and stir the dish, add enough stock to keep it very wet.  I cover it for a few minutes then open it up to mix the dish, making certain nothing is sticking to the bottom.  This gets harder as the rice softens and nears completion.  At this point, we are so busy even your beer might feel neglected.

     Now for the big finish.  When the rice is cooked just right, taste the dish.  Checking for salt, pepper, heat and anything else that might be off.  I found mine needed some sweetness added.  I used a bit of ketchup to balance the final flavor.  Now with the flavor right, make certain there is just a bit more moisture than you want for the finished look.  Toss in your cleaned shrimp.  Fold them in uncovered and stir them within the dish as they will only take a few minutes to turn pink.  The rice will take in that extra moisture in a flash, and you're ready to serve. 

     Top your jambalaya with chopped scallions.  I had a cheddar cheese biscuit with it as my side. Enjoy!

Shrimp & Crab Bisque

     I love a great bisque soup.  For myself, soup can be the entire meal, but a good bisque is a fancy intro for a number of meals.  When friends and family are over, meals become an event for me.  Salads work good with comfort meals where pasta is the show, but when meats and starches are given their own identities, I like to introduce them with a soup.  For example, serve this bisque to guests before a meal of surf and turf with a twice baked potato.  That's a meal they'll not soon forget!

     This creamy French favorite is best served with a sturdy bread, not crackers!   What I look for in a bisque is intense flavor with a bit of heat.  The texture should be creamy, yet the ingredient identities should still be intact displaying a bold show of the hosting seafood.  Finally, someone enjoying your bisque should know that there is wine within by the flavor alone.  You don't want the wine to overwhelm the soup, but If you don't taste it then you just made chowder.  This is not chowder!

 

     As usual, the picture is lacking one ingredient.  Onions!  How could I forget the onions?

Ingredients-

1-2 lbs Raw Shrimp

1 lb High Quality Canned or Fresh Cooked Crab Meat

4 cups Seafood Stock

1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

1 1/2 cup White Wine or Sherry

3/4 Stick Salted Butter

1/4 cup Flour

2 Stalks Celery

1 Big Onion

6 Baby Carrots

1/4 Red Bell Pepper

1/4 Green Bell Pepper

3 Cloves Garlic

Fresh Parsley  

Smoked Paprika

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

To serve-

Parsley Garnish

French Bread with Butter

Beer

Make it-

     For a bisque soup I usually prepare all ingredient beforehand. The timing of each step is important and you don't want your soup to wait while you're chopping something.  Once the ingredients are prepared this soup is easy and fast to make.  Open a beer, get out the chopping board along with a sharp knife.  Let's get started!

     I start with the shrimp.  Remove shells, veins, and tails, then rinse the shrimp.  I like to cut large shrimp in half, but small shrimp can be left as is.  Toss the shrimp with a bit of kosher salt and pepper before letting them rest.   Grind celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in a small food processor, keeping each ingredient separate.  Chop peppers with a knife to 1/4x1/4 inch pieces.  Mince the parsley with a knife.

     This soup is all made in one large pot on the stove.  Melt your butter and add the carrots, then simmer over medium heat for a few minutes stirring often with a wooden spoon.  This might be a good time to open that second beer.

     Next, add the onion and celery while seasoning with kosher salt and pepper.  Let that simmer several minutes, then add the peppers and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper again while simmering until the vegetables are tender.  You should be tasting your creation for seasoning as you go.  Lower the heat and incorporate the flour, mixing as you add it.  Raise the heat again; add wine and a generous amount of chopped parsley.  Simmer this mix stirring constantly to reduce the wine and intensify the flavor.  

     Reduce heat before adding the seafood stock, heavy cream, 3/4 teaspoon of paprika, and cayenne pepper to taste.  Obviously everything is "to taste" as these are cooking guidelines only, but the cayenne sets the heat of the bisque and that's a very individual taste.  Try to keep the palate of those eating your food in mind when you season it.  Turn the heat up stirring often - bring the mix to gentle boil.  Next, add shrimp. Cook until they turn pink, just a few minutes should do.

     Finally, add the crab meat and bring it to temperature. Then reduce the heat to keep warm.  Serve topped with fresh parsley and a nice French bread with butter.

     This dish goes well with a beer!

     

Texas Style Chili

     Every cooking hack, like myself, thinks they make the best chili in the world.  I don't think any dish lends itself better to weekend cooks and braggarts better than chili does.  We guys love to get in the kitchen and toss manly ingredients into a bucket and see what we get.  Here in the Northeast, it's our winter equivalent to a guy's barbecued chicken.  If you are following my blog then you know these are only cooking guidelines; they are suggestions and ideas.  This approach will allow you to refine my chili to become your famous chili, which will be the best chili you have ever had.  I made this chili at our first annual Post Christmas Chili Off!  At the time of this entry, I don't know how I'll do, but I am always overconfident.  I have some general info on all the other chili recipes in this competition, and they each incorporate beans.  This is a common ingredient of local chili recipes, but my choice is a bold move against the local palate. This recipe is a classic Texas chili with no beans.   The recipe you're about to read is a combination of various other chili recipes and cooking methods combined to make it my Texas chili.

     Now on to the recipe!

   
     There are three things missing from the above picture.   First is the beer that I usually enjoy while preparing food, second is sour cream, and finally cornbread mix.  The beer is absent because I prepared this meal in the morning for our afternoon chili off contest and I try not to drink before 12:00 pm.  As the chili cooked down, I realized it needed thickening.  As cornbread is a great side for chili why not use cornbread mix to thicken the chili.  Of course, I made the remainder to go with this dish.  Finally, the heat of my chili suggested a bit of dairy, thus the sour cream at serving.

Ingredients-

2 1/2 to 3 lbs Beef Chuck

2 Onions

4 Garlic Cloves

1 1/2 cups Beef Stock

2 Chipotle Chilies in Adobe Sauce

2 Small Cans Mild Chili Peppers

2 10 oz cans Chopped Tomatoes with Chili Peppers

1/3-1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Chili Powder

Cumin

Cilantro 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Worcester Sauce

2 tablespoons Cornbread Mix

To serve-

Cornbread

Chopped Scallions

Sour Cream

Pickled Jalapenos

Let's make it-

     First I trimmed the meat of most fat while chopping it into 1"x 1" cubes.  Next, the meat is seasoned with kosher salt, pepper and cilantro.  Let it stand for a few minutes.

I sautéd the beef in an electric skillet over medium high heat in a few teaspoons of olive oil.  While the meet is simmering, add at least half the brown sugar.  Cook until browned and the sugar is carmeling a bit then remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices behind.

      While that was cooking, I chopped 2 onions fine and seasoned them with kosher salt, pepper and cilantro.  After the beef was out, I added the onions to the beef juices and simmered them until they were soft.  While the onions simmered I minced 4 cloves of garlic and 2 chipotle peppers. 

     Add the minced garlic stirring constantly and reduce the heat a bit to prevent burning of the garlic.  After a few minutes add the chipotle peppers, seeds, sauce and all.  Stir well, to break the peppers up and blend them into the mix.  After a minute or two add 2 cans of chopped chilis.  After a bit more simmering, add the rest- 2 cans of chopped tomatoes with chilis, 1 teaspoon cumin,  2-3 heaped tablespoons of chili powder, a splash of Worcester sauce, 1 cup of beef stock and the remaining brown sugar.  Simmer this for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Be certain to gently scrape the bottom of the pan while stirring as flavorful sugars are hiding there.

     Transfer your mix and the beef to a slow cooker to simmer on high for about 4 hours.  After that time, mix 2 heaped tablespoons of cornbread mix with 1/2 cup of beef stock and add this to the slow cooker to thicken the chili.  Reduce heat to low and cook another hour or so before serving.  

This picture is prior to "cooking down".  The final chili should have a dark, rich, homogeneous look, as the ingredients have melted and blend together.

     Serve with a sprinkle of chopped scallions, a few pickled jalapeños, a glob of sour cream, and cornbread.

                                                 Don't forget the beer!

     How did the contest end?   Everyone was surprised by the lack of beans and they were a bit skeptical until they tasted it.  The chili eaters loved it; my Barbie, who has a 10 year old's palate, hated it.  That alone told me it was the winner.  There were compliments for all the chili recipes and anyone of them alone would have been a smash at a party.  Still no formal winner was announced as we wanted to avoid a drunken brawl, but I'm going to publish this recipe. So who do you think won?  Keeping in mind the theme of my blog, we all think we won, of course.  Try it and you'll have a winner.