Chili

Hi!  I know that we already have a few chili recipes but I needed a place to store this recipe which I am unofficially dubbing the best chili.  It is the combination of two of my favorite recipes.  I am of the belief that you can't really ruin chili, so modify as you see fit.  Want it to be juicier?  Add more tomatoes and broth/beer.  Like it chunkier?  Add more veggies/meat and cut back on the liquids.  You gals get my drift and know how to cook... no lesson needed from me. 

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic , chopped
• 2 1/2 pounds extra lean ground meat (turkey or beef) – be sure it is lean
• 2 large peppers, any color combination, red, green, purple, yellow or orange, chopped
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoons hot sauce, medium to extra-spicy
• 1 1/2 cups pinto beans (cooked or canned)
• 1 1/2 cups black beans (cooked or canned)
• 3 cups diced tomatoes or 1 (28 ounce) can roasted diced tomatoes , undrained
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth or  1/2 bottle beer (the alcohol cooks out)
• 1/2 cup smoky barbecue sauce
• 2 cups corn kernels, optional

Directions

1. Heat large stockpot over medium-high heat.
2. Add olive oil, then onion.  Cook until onion is fragrant.
3. Add garlic and ground meat.  Cook for about 5 minutes until it starts to brown.
4. Add the bell peppers, chili powder, grill seasoning, cumin, oregano, ground mustard, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.
5. Add the chicken broth or beer, tomatoes, pinto beans, black beans, barbeque sauce, and corn.
6. Simmer for at least 10 minutes and up to one hour. 

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Prep Time: 15 Min.
Total Time: 8 Hrs 15 Min.
Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef stew meat
1 cup chopped onion
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of onion soup (any other cream of soup will do)
1 jar (6 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1 container (8 ounces) sour cream
6 cups hot cooked noodles or rice

Preparation:
In 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-quart slow cooker, mix beef, onion, soups, mushrooms and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until beef is very tender. Stir cream cheese into beef mixture until melted. Stir sour cream into beef mixture. Serve over noodles.

Notes: I added some garlic and halved both cream cheese and sour cream.

New England Pot Roast (Crock Pot)

Thank you for suggesting the crock pot challenge! This is my favorite pot roast recipe, from my trusty Betty Crocker. Secret ingredient? Horseradish.

4 pound beef arm, blade or cross rib pot roast
1 to 2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 jar (8 oz) prepared horseradish
1 cup water
8 small potatoes, cut in half
8 medium carrots, cut into fourths (I usually just use a bag of baby carrots)
8 small onions

1. Cook beef in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until brown on all sides.
2. Place potatoes, carrots, and onions in 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Place beef on vegetables.
3. Mix horseradish, salt, and pepper, and spread evenly over beef.
4. Pour water into slow cooker, cover and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 hours.

Baby It's Cold Outside - Beef Fajitas with Mango Salsa

I was a bit in denial regarding our first big snow in Oberlin and decided to cook something nice and summery to see if Mother Nature might change her mind. No luck with the weather, but the meal and leftovers have been delightful. Also, this was WAY more fun to make with my newly sharpened knives. I am a chopping, dicing, slicing maniac. :)

Modified from - Weight Watchers Make it in Minutes
Makes 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS
1 mango, chopped (I used pre-cut store bought mango, way easier)
1 tomato, chopped
1 tomato, thinly sliced w/juicy seeds removed
1 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 lb flank steak, cut into thin strips (I hate touching meat, so I bought pre-sliced fajita beef, again, way easier...)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp canola oil
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tortilla
- the recipe also calls for a bell pepper (thinly sliced) and a jalapeno (seeded and thinly sliced) but I forgot to thaw some out so we went pepper-less.

INSTRUCTIONS
1 - Combine mango, chopped tomato, chopped onion, cilantro, 1/4 tsp salt, and lime juice in a non-reactive bowl. Ta-da - salsa is done. If you do this a little early that's okay, it will taste even better after sitting a bit.
2 - Combine steak, chili powder, coriander, and oregano in a bowl - coat the meat in the tasty spices.
3 - Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add the steak, sliced onion, Worcestershire sauce, and remaining salt (and peppers if you're using them). Cook, stirring occassionally, for about 6 minutes.
4 - Add sliced tomato and cook until steak is done, about one minute more.
5 - Assemble your tasty "take that winter" fajitas on the tortillas. We put the salsa directly on the meat but the recipe called for it on the side. We also had red beans and rice to make it a more substantial meal.

Meatloaf & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Meat Loaf

1 chopped white onion
2lb Betty's ground beef
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce (or ketchup)
1 cup uncooked old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 large egg whites
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Mashed Potatoes
8 large Idaho baking potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup cream
3 tbsp margarine
salt & black pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

For meat loaf:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine ingredients and mix thoroughly, using hands. Shape mixture into a loaf. Coat a 9" x 13" baking pan (or bread-loaf pan) with cooking spray, then fill with mixture. Bake 1-1.5 hour(s); let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. Optional: Top each slice with 1/4 cup warmed pasta sauce and basil leaf.

Mashed Potatoes

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and simmer 15 minutes or until they yield to soft pressure. Drain, then transfer to a serving bowl. Using a potato masher or hand mixer, combine remaining ingredients. Serve warm with meat loaf.

Beef, Potato, Onion Soup

I call it being resourceful, you might call it being lazy...
I challenged myself to make a meal for 10 people with only the food I had in the house. I should mention that we hadn't been to the grocery store for at least a week. After taking stock of what we had it seemed we had the largest portions of pasta, potatoes, and beef. Since we have had a good bit of pasta in the last couple of weeks, I thought potatoes and beef sounded like good choices. I didn't have enough ingredients to make a thick stew, so soup it was!

Ingredients:
12-16 cups of water
2 cubes of vegetable bullion
beef stock
one packet of french onion soup
onion
rib roast, cooked and cubed
5 large potatoes

Chop, throw together, simmer. Ta da! Unfortunately, the soup simmered a little longer than perhaps it should have, and the potatoes started to mush. It's tasty anyway!

Sandra's Barbecue Brisket & Hashbrown Casserole

This is another recipe from my family's yearly beach vacation. My aunt Sandra makes this and I look forward to it every year! It's great for a crowd and it's not too expensive. She usually serves it with cooked broccoli and/or a salad.

Oven Barbecued Brisket

5-6 lb brisket (first cut - has the fat cut off but you may need to trim it some more)

3 oz. liquid smoke

Celery salt

Onion salt

Garlic salt

Salt and pepper

Worchestershire sauce

6 oz. barbeque sauce

2 T. flour

1/2 c. water

1. Remove fat before cooking. (Bettie's brisket comes in 2 lb. and 4 lb. packages. The 4 pounder was really lean. I had to trim the 2 pounder for what seemed like forever and still couldn't get it all!)
2. Pour liquid smoke over brisket placed in baking dish. Sprinkle meat on both sides with celery salt, onion salt, and garlic salt to tenderize. Salt generously, but not too generously! Place in fridge overnight.
3. Next morning allow 5 hrs. for cooking, 1 hr. to bake with barbeque sauce, and a final cooling period of 1 hr. When ready to bake in a 275 degree oven, sprinkle both sides of meat with salt and pepper and a little Worchestershire. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.
4. After 5 hrs. uncover the meat and pour on barbeque sauce. Continue baking 1 more hour.
5. Remove meat to a platter and let sauce cool. Remove fat. (Since I remove fat before cooking, I don't worry about fat in sauce.) Pour sauce into small pot, add the flour and water and cook til thickens a little. Add more barbeque sauce to taste. Serve sauce hot. Serves 10.

Hash Brown Potato Casserole

2 lb. bag frozen has brown potatoes

Melt 1 stick butter or margarine in 9 X 13 dish and place potatoes over the butter. Mix and spread on top of potatoes:

2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

8 oz. carton sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 c. chopped onions

1 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Melt 1/2 stick butter and mix with 2 c. crushed corn flakes. Spread over top and bake at 325 to 350 for 45 min. Remove from oven 15 min. before serving.

Sloppy Joes

 

One of Zach's favorite foods is sloppy joes, so we decided he would make this for this segment of our blog. This is the recipe I grew up with, and it's one that Zach has requested all the time since we've been married. So now he knows how to cook it himself!

Sloppy Joes

2 1/2 lb. ground chuck
1 cup ketchup
2 T. vinegar
2 T. sugar
2 T. wet mustard
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped

Brown onion and green pepper in small amount of olive oil.
Add meat and brown slightly, drain fat.
Mix ketchup, sugar, vinegar, mustard, and worcestershire sauce together and add to meat. Simmer at least 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Beef Soup

Every year my extended family on my mom's side goes on a beach vacation/ family reunion. We rent a house and spend a week reconnecting and enjoying each other's company. Instead of eating out, each family takes turns cooking. It is tradition that on the first night there every year, we will have vegetable beef soup that my Granny has made and brought from home. We always serve it with cornbread. This soup is an approximation by my mom and me to replicate my Granny's soup. It's not nearly as good! But it's hearty and still pretty tasty. Also, I ran out of room in my crock pot so I didn't get to put in all the ingredients. Luckily, it's hard to mess up soup.

Vegetable Beef Soup

1 lb. round steak, stew meat, or ground chuck
1 large onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
1 can cut okra in tomatoes
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables
15 oz. can kidney beans
About 1 quart water
2-3 tsp. beef bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat with the onion and garlic. Remove excess grease. Add remainder of ingredients and cook until vegetables are tender – at least 2 hours on the stovetop or all day in the crock pot. About 8-10 servings.

I ended up doubling some things (meat, tomatoes) and not others simply because of space issues. And I totally didn't have room for celery or carrots which probably would have made it much tastier. Sorry, guys!

Mu Shu Pork & Beef

From Wei.ght Watc.hers "Take Out, Ton.ight"
Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless pork tenderloin, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into thin strips
6 tbsp dry sherry
2 tbsp + 2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp + 1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
1/4 c hoisin sauce
6 flour tortillas
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 lb shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
2 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 lb Chinese cabbage thinly sliced (I added bok choy, too)
6 scallions, chopped

Directions:
1) Combine the pork, 2 tbsp of the sherry, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp cornstarch, and the sesame oil in a medium bowl; toss well to coat and set aside.
2) Combine the remaining 4 tbsp sherry, 2 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp cornstarch with the hoisin sauce in a small bowl; set aside.
3) Stack the tortillas on a microwaveproof plate. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute; set aside and keep warm.
4) Heat a non-stick wok or large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Swirl in 2 tsp of the canola oil, then add the pork mixture.
5) Stir-fry until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes; transfer to a plate.
6) Swirl the remaining 1 tsp canola oil, then add the mushroms, ginger, and garlic.
7) Stir-fry until softened, 3-4 minutes.
8) Add the cabbage and 2 tbsp water; stir-fry until the cabbage wilts and is crisp-tender, 2-3 minutes.
9) Add the scallions, pork, and sherry mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute.
10) Spoon about 2/3 cup of the pork mixture onto each tortilla, roll up, and serve.

NOTE: I tripled the recipe and also used 2 lbs of strip steak to supplement the pork. Thanks to Courtney for the sherry!

Just for kicks, here are the nutritional facts in 1 roll: 272 calories, 9 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 716 mg sodium, 27 g carb, 3 g fiber, 22 g protein, 69 mg calcium

Mom's Lasagna with major additions

What was supposed to be a delicious lasagna recipe of my mothers, really turned into a free for all when I started to dig through the fridge/freezer to see what I could use for this weeks contribution. I'd love to give you all some idea of the recipe, but to be honest I just have no idea what portions I ended up using. Here's my best guess:

- Two tupperware containers of Sara's homemade tomato sauce which I made fresh this summer and froze - thaw before using
- One additional jar of Newman's Own Organic Marinara Sauce - I found that I needed to increase the sauce after starting to layer the lasagna
- 1lb of Hickory Acres ground beef
- One tupperware container of frozen veggies left over from the farm share, including tomatoes, kale, zucchini, yellow squash, radish, onions,
- One small butternut squash
- 4 cloves of garlic & one small onion sauted with meat
- Approx 33 cooked lasagna noodles
- Two 15oz containers of low fat ricotta cheese
- 1 cup of parmesan cheese
- Two eggs
- Oregano
- Two packages of frozen spinach - thawed
- One container of goat cheese


In some order do the following:
- Thaw and brown meat with onion and garlic then mixed with sauce
- Thaw veggies add to meat sauce of simmer
- Thaw the spinach and mix with ricotta cheese, parmesan, eggs and oregano
- Halve the spinach and cheese mix and add goat cheese to one half
- Cook noodles, sun under cold water and lay out on towels to cool and dry
- Add a 1/2 to one cup of sauce to the bottom of two 9x13 pans
- Begin to layer noodles, sauce mix, then dollops of cheese mix, sprinkle (or heap) shredded mozzarella between layers and repeat as necessary.
- I highly recommend using excessive mozz. cheese on the top layer before baking

I think that I ended up with 4 layers per pan.

Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered. I suggest using toothpicks to hold the foil up of the lasagna while the cheese melts. When cooked, set out to cool and place in fridge. If the lasagna has time to cool it's way easier to cut and the pieces stay together better. It's a great meal to make ahead of time and freeze!

Tater-Tot Hotdish

As a precursor, here is information from Wik.ipedia regarding "Hotdish": "Hotdish is a of a variety of baked casserole popular in the Midwestern United States, and especially in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. It consists of a starch, a meat or other protein, and a canned and/ or frozen vegetable, mixed together with canned soup. Hotdishes are filling, convenient, easy to make, and well-suited for family reunions, funerals, church suppers, and potlucks, where they may be paired with pan-baked cookies known as bars. The history of the hotdish goes back to when “budget-minded farm wives needed to feed their own families, as well as congregations in the basements of the first Minnesota churches.” And now, what you have all been waiting for, a variation of my little sister's Tater-Tot Hotdish recipe:
Tater-Tot Hotdish
Modified from the Kitchen of Jennifer B.
Oven: 350 degrees
Serves: 6-8 people/pan
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion (or 1/2 large onion), chopped
8 small cloves of garlic (my sister uses garlic-flavored cream of mushroom instead)
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 bag frozen sweet corn
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I use one low-fat and one-low sodium)
1 and 1/2 cans of milk (use empty soup cans)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 bag of tater tots

Directions:
1. Heat large skillet.

2. Add olive oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Add ground beef to pan and cook through.

4. Drain (and rinse) fat off of meat.
5. In a 13" by 9" baking pan, mix hamburger with soup, milk, frozen corn, and pepper.
6. Lay tater tots on top of soup/hamburger mixture
7. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees

Serving suggestions: canned green beans if you are going for authenticity; fresh green beans if you want to be fancy; and an iceberg lettuce salad if you are uber-sophisticated. Also, this is probably freezer-friendly, but I have never tried to freeze it.

Beef Stew at The Fowler House

5 lbs sirloin tip beef roast, fat trimmed off, cut into 1" cubes
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 bottles red wine (sugg: Merlot)
3 beef bouillon cubes
8 c. water (approx)
1 bunch celery, cut into 1/2" pieces
8 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
4 Red skin potatoes, cubed with skin on
4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Kosher salt to taste
pepper to taste
thyme to taste
hot paprika to taste

Season meat with salt and pepper. In a dutch oven over medium heat brown cubes of meat in olive oil on all sides. Add 1 onion and 3 cloves of garlic. Allow to cook 5 minutes. Add 2-3 bouillon cubes (to taste), 1 -1 1/2 bottles of wine, and enough extra water to cover contents. Cover, and allow to cook until meat is tender checking every half hour to be sure there is enough liquid (add more water if it looks low). Estimated cooktime: 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

When meat is tender add remaining onion and garlic and all vegetables, potatoes and herbs (except parsley). Add enough water to cover and bring to a slow boil. Cook until veggies are tender. Add parsley and let cook five more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe feeds ten adults.