Classic Chili

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We had a chill and soup cookoff on our block recently and I was thrilled when my Classic Chili won for best Chili. My friend Jane made a fabulous, creamy Asparagus and Crab Soup that won best Soup. I’ll share that recipe if I can get it from Jane.

But I think it was awfully close – every chili and soup I tried was delicious!

This recipe is a blend of two chili recipes: the old Chili Con Carne recipe from the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook my mom used to make, and a Classic Chili recipe from TheWholesomeDish.com. I also added a couple of Poblanos and a jar of Rotel tomatoes and peppers. I made it a few days before the block party and that may have made it even better.

(I forgot to take a photo, but found one that looked remarkably similar by Leanna Myers on Unsplash.)

INGREDIENTS

4 big frozen hamburger patties from Costco or 1 lb. ground beef
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used a yellow bell pepper)
2 Poblano peppers, chopped
2 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped (the last from the garden!)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 can regular Rotel Tomatoes
1 large bay leaf
2 Tbsp chili powder
1½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 ½ tsp cumin powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1∕4 tsp smoked paprika
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups of water
1 (15 ½ oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Crackers (optional)

In a large dutch oven, cook the intact hamburger patties until pretty well browned on both sides. Break the patties up into small chunks. Add the onion and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent. Add bell pepper, poblanos and fresh tomatoes and cook another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add canned tomatoes, Rotel, and everything else except the kidney beans. Stir well and simmer for at least 30 minutes, uncovered. Add the kidney beans last and cook another 5 minutes. (The kidney beans won’t get so broken down that way.) Remove bay leaf.

Serve topped with cheddar cheese and with crackers. You could also add a dollop of sour cream.

Bhuta ka Salen (Corn Curry)

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This is the first dish I ever learned to cook when I moved to Karachi. I learned it from Kumy’s sister and mom and it remains an all-time favorite. I love to fish out the rounds of corn and dip them in the curry, but it can be messy! If you’re squeamish, cut the corn off the cobs before you cook it.

When sweet corn is in season, there is nothing better.

Ingredients:

6 ears sweet corn, cut into 1½” wide rounds
1 yellow onion, finely diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large bunch cilantro, leaves and about 2″ of stems, rough chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded (if desired) and rough chopped
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 large clove of garlic (or 2 small)
1/2 cup corn water
3 Tbsp gram flour (check online for substitutes)
1 can coconut milk
½ lemon

Boil water (do not add salt!) in a large pot and cook corn pieces for 3-5 minutes, until tender. Remove from heat and drain, saving a cup or so of the corn water.

Heat oil in a large frying pan and add onion. Sauté on medium heat for several minutes until onion is soft and transparent. Let cool a bit.

Add cooked onions with cilantro, jalapenos, turmeric, salt, garlic and water, and buzz with an immersion blender or food processor until smooth. Then pour back into frying pan and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

In a little cup, stir together a couple spoons of the corn water with the gram flour until smooth. Add gram flour slurry into the frying pan and cook a few more minutes to thicken, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat and add coconut milk. Stir well and finally add the sweet corn, tossing to coat with the curry.

Just before serving over rice, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the dish. Yum!

Corn & Tomato Salad

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Gorgeous Cherry Tomatoes by Gavin Tyte on Unsplash.

I love when little tomatoes are so sweet they’re like candy! Last night I made a super easy, really delicious salad form Southern Living – perfect for a warm, summer evening. I had good cherry tomatoes and frozen corn, so that’s what I used. I also added a little more seasoning and an avocado, Yum!

Ingredients

Dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
½ – 1 tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce

1 bag frozen corn, thawed (I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn)*
1 10 oz. container cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, cubed
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, chopped
3/4 cup grated mild cheese (I had a mozarella/parmesan blend)

Mix dressing ingredients in a big bowl until smooth. Add veggies and cheese and toss.

*Southern Living makes it with corn from 4 ears of yellow corn, so you could use that if you have it on hand, too. I’d cook the ears in boiling water for a minute or so and let them cool before cutting the kernels off the cob.

Garbanzo & Feta Salad

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I’ve made this amazing “Chickpea Salad” from The Pioneer Woman twice in two weeks. Does that tell you something? I did make a few changes to her recipe, but nothing too drastic. It’s a great side dish, or even main dish, since there’s protein in the garbanzos and feta. So delish!

I made it yesterday, holding back on the avocadoes and dressing until just before tossing it and serving it today at a picnic. So you can easily make it ahead of time.

INGREDIENTS:

2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
6 oz. feta, cubed (omit for a vegan version)
4-5 baby cucumbers, (or 1 English cucumber), cut into half moons (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 pt. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red or orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (optional – Kumy doesn’t like raw onions, so I didn’t add this.)
2 avocados, cubed
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

FOR THE DRESSING:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp dried Basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

Mix all veggies, beans and feta in a large bowl. If making ahead, don’t add avocadoes.

Mix dressing ingredients in a mason jar, close lid and shake like crazy.

Drizzle dressing over and toss well.

Note for photo: my avocadoes were quite ripe, and were very creamy.

Yogurt with Berries and Granola

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When you want a really light, delicious breakfast, snack or dessert, nothing beats good yogurt, berries and granola. This is a dish that I make all the time, but never think of writing down.

We usually buy the best whole milk plain yogurt we can find (Brown Cow makes amazing yogurt!) and then add a little honey or jam. My favorite jam to add is Spicy Peach, paired with Cinnamon Granola. But you can really use almost any jam or fruit, even a frozen berry mix if you want to, and any granola you have on hand.

Ingredients

1 cup any berries – blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are good
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp Spicy Peach Jam
handful of Cinnamon Granola

In a wide, flat bowl start with yogurt, and drop jam over in little plops. (Technical term.) Toss berries and then granola over. Stir gently and devour.

Cinnamon Granola

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Granola with fresh berries!

One of our favorite breakfast places, First Watch, has a great Chia Seed Pudding, made with coconut milk, berries and really cinnamonny granola.

I make it at home sometimes, but it’s the granola that I make over and over again, using a recipe from Melskitchencafe.com.

Mel bakes her granola at a higher temperature, and let’s it cool completely before breaking it up. It stays in little chunks that way.

I use this granola for snacking, or on top of oatmeal or with fruit over yoghurt. It’s so good.

Ingredients

6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (can use other nuts, too.)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt (use 1/3 tsp if using table salt)

Syrup:
½ cup light olive oil
½ cup honey or agave nectar
1½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper or a silpat mat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the granola ingredients and toss or stir to evenly combine.

In a small bowl, blend syrup ingredients until well-combined. Pour the syrup over the granola ingredients and stir until all the ingredients are evenly coated.

Scrape half of the mixture onto each sheet pan. Spread into an even layer.

Bake for 15-25 minutes, stirring once or twice and rotating pans halfway through. Keep an eye on the color – you want it to be lightly brown, without getting burned.

Leave it to cool completely. Gently break it up and store in an airtight container.

Mushrooms with Brown Butter & Sage

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This is such a delicious dish – mushrooms sauteed in brown butter and sage, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic with a little spinach and a dollop of Mascarpone cheese. These flavors always feel very woodsy to me and I love that it feels meaty and satisfying, but not heavy.

Ingredients
8 oz pasta, any kind
4 Tbsp butter
1 tsp dried Sage, crushed
1 ½ lbs mushrooms (Costco package), washed and halved
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
3 cups baby spinach
2 Tbsp Mascarpone cheese (Cream cheese is fine, too.)
Romano cheese grated as a garnish (Just a little)

Start a pot of salted water boiling, and add Pasta. Cook until done – but not mushy.

Meanwhile, rinse the mushrooms well. I know you’re not “supposed” to do that, but rinsing is so much quicker and any little water that they absorb cooks off anyway. For washing larger quantities of mushrooms, a basket strainer like this works great:

In a large frying pan on medium heat, melt the butter and continue cooking and stirring until the butter gets a nice brown color and smells nutty. Takes about 5 minutes or so.

Add the Sage and stir for about 30 seconds.

Add the mushrooms and toss well. Continue cooking and stirring until the mushrooms release their water, and then add the salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Continue cooking and stir occasionally, until only about a half cup of liquid is left. Add the baby spinach and stir to wilt. Take off the heat and add the Mascarpone cheese, stirring gently to combine.

Taste a mushroom and add a little salt, pepper or garlic powder if needed. Sprinkle a good-sized pinch of rubbed sage over the top, and grate a little Pecorino Romano cheese over.

Serve over pasta. Delish!

Dying Easter Eggs Blue, Naturally

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For a really fun alternative to commercially prepared egg dyes, try dying eggs using natural ingredients. One of my favorite, surprising ways to dye eggs is by using Red Cabbage. This is a great project to do with kids!

Ingredients

1 red cabbage, cut into thin slices
1 Tbsp vinegar
18 eggs (or as many as you want)

Place cabbage into a large pot and add water about 2/3 of the way to the top. Add vinegar and eggs, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 12-15 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool and remove eggs and rinse off any bits of cabbage stuck to them. (They won’t be dyed yet, but it’s easier to cook the eggs that way. Removing stray cabbage bits is important – I still had a good bit of cabbage on my eggs and I got a few blotchy spots.)

Place eggs into a large pitcher. Once cabbage water has cooled a bit, pour it through a fine mesh strainer over the eggs. Cover and store in the refrigerator for several hours for a light blue color. Keep them in overnight if you want darker. I kept mine in the cabbage water for about 18 hours total.

Carefully pour out the cabbage water and pat the eggs dry.

For more colors, try onion skins for pretty yellow and beets for soft pink, prepared the same way. You’ll never go back to commercial dyes!

Incredible Dill & Onion Dip

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Dill Seeds are well known, but Dill Weed deserves more credit! It’s the star of the show in this adaptation of the Pioneer Woman’s Dill Dip. I served it with raw veggies and as a sauce on Baked Salmon, at my brother Ron’s suggestion. So delicious!

How I fell in love with Dill Weed: My neighbor Gene has tons of dill growing in his garden and let me harvest quite a lot last fall. Drying dill weed is easy and it adds great flavor to many dishes. I often make Salmon with dried dill, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Ree adds 2 Tbsp of pickle juice, but I didn’t have any so I just added a little vinegar. She also only uses mayo and sour cream, but since I had a lot of plain yogurt, I drained it and used about a cup.

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt, drained (see note 1 below)
2 tsp vinegar
2 Tbsp dried dill (see note 2 below)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried minced onions
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic and store in the fridge overnight. Taste before serving and add salt if needed. The minced onions rehydrate and blend with the dill to make a truly delicious dip.

Note 1:

To make your own “greek” style yogurt at home you just need an empty yogurt container and a paper coffee filter. Cut a few notches in the bottom of the container, and tuck a coffee filter down around the bottom. Add the yogurt and let it drain into a deep cup in the fridge for several hours or overnight. If you let it drain until it is quite thick, you can actually season it and use it as a very soft cheese.

Here’s my notched yogurt container:

Note 2:

Drying Dill is also super easy, you can tie it as shown in the beautiful photo above by Elena Kloppenburg on Unsplash. Or you can just use a clothespin to hold it. Then just pop it in a folded down brown paper lunch bag and wait a few days. Keeping the stems intact, crush the leaves, leaving as much stem as possible. Store in a mason jar with a tight seal.

Cheesy Spaghetti Pie with Mushrooms, Onions, Peppers and Sausage

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My Mom used to make Spaghetti Pie and I always loved it. I recently stumbled across this recipe, loaded with mushrooms, peppers, onions, Italian sausage and tomatoes, all on a spaghetti “crust” and decided to give it a try. It was amazing and makes a lot – so it’s good for a larger group. For a couple or small family, I’d halve it.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
Kosher salt
4 oz dried spaghetti
1 Tbsp butter
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb. Italian sausage, removed from casing, or lean ground beef (90 percent lean or higher)
4 cups sliced fresh button mushrooms
1 cup chopped yellow or white onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 Tbsp dried Onion Flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated, or 1 ½ tsp garlic powder
One (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce, or 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup cottage cheese, drained (could also use yoghurt cheese*)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves, for serving (optional)

Step 1
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions until al dente, then drain. Return the spaghetti to the pot and stir in the butter until melted. Stir in the egg and parmesan cheese until combined.

Step 2
Meanwhile, in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the sausage or beef, mushrooms, onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring, until the meat is browned and the onion and mushrooms are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and oregano and heat through, about 2 minutes.

Step 3
Transfer the spaghetti mixture to the prepared pie plate and press it into the bottom and up the sides of the plate, forming a crust. Spread the cottage cheese over the pasta mixture and top with the meat mixture, followed by the mozzarella.

*Yoghurt Cheese is just plain whole fat yoghurt with a bit of salt, that’s strained in the refrigerator overnight in a muslin cloth or coffee filter, letting the whey run off into a bowl. It’s a bit like cream cheese but tangier.