Alex and I made ham steaks tonight, and literally the entire time we were fixing them, we kept yelling, “Ponyo loves ham!!!” If you’re ever seen the Disney/Studio Ghibli movie Ponyo, you’ll know what I mean. Long story short: the title character loves ham. However, we weren’t yelling for long because ham steaks are super speedy! Here is all I did:
Open ham.
Lay ham on roasting pan (I’m sure you could use a baking sheet as well)
Sprinkle salt and pepper over ham.
Cook for 5 minutes. Flip. Cook for five minutes.
Eat ham. Eat more. Maybe a little more. Now go lay on the couch because you can’t move.
If you’re feeling a little fancy/bored because you’re ham steaks were so speedy, you could make some mashed cauliflower like we did. I’ve recently because obsessed with mashed cauliflower. I love potatoes, but I try not to eat too many carbs (other than bread and cake, of course!). This mashed cauliflower is so good that I actually like it more than mashed potatoes – sorry Idaho! It’s soft and creamy, and practically just melts in your mouth. You can find the recipe here
O0h! Ham and cauliflower – so yummy!You’re getting hungry…very hungry…
.
I hope you love your ham and potatoes as much as I did! Now I’m going to go lay on the couch some more. Happy cooking!
I love mushrooms. Unfortunately, Alex does not. We often lament over the food one of us likes, but the other doesn’t. I can’t share in his love of chipotles (too spicy), wings (too much work for too little chicken), or jalapeño flavored chips (that’s just gross). Likewise, he doesn’t understand my love of Brussels sprouts (too cabbage-y), artichokes (only if they’re surrounded by cheese), or mushrooms (he thinks they’re slimy). This means that as much as I love to use fresh mushrooms in my food (at least, my half), they usually go bad before I can eat them all. Luckily, I found out that mushrooms can be frozen as long as they are cooked first. Now, I’m a mushroom buying machine! I’m all about getting a deal, so I like to buy the mushrooms that are on sale because they are getting close to their sell by date. I bring them home, sauté them in my pan, and boom. Now my fridge is full of frozen mushrooms that I can reheat in the skillet and toss into my dinners. Yummy!
Ingredients:
8 oz container of fresh mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic
Heat a greased skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and garlic. Let cook about 1 minute, or until the butter melts.
Add the mushrooms. Cook for about 4 minutes. Mushrooms should begin to darken.
Transfer mushrooms to a greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Let the mushrooms cool for about 10 minutes, and them place the baking sheet in the freezer. Let these set for 1-2 hours, and them place them into a freezer bag.
When you’re ready to use your mushrooms, take out as many as you need and let them thaw a little. Sauté them in a pan for 3-4 minutes until they are heated through.
Yay! Now you can add your fresh mushrooms to anything you like!
As a Catholic, there are many deep and important reasons that I love the Lenten season. However, one of the more superficial reasons I love Lent is the food. To me, Lent is about fish. I didn’t grow up in a family who ate a lot of cheese pizza or pasta during Lent. For my family, it has always been about fish. The Lenten season makes me think of crispy, fried fish, dipped in cool tartar sauce. It makes me think of hush puppies, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. In my elementary school years, I spent many a Friday night at my school fish fry. This Lenten tradition brings together the community to share in delicious food, get to know each other, and of course, play the cake wheel.
The cake wheel was always a magical place for me. I love cake. At the fish fry, I could put down a dime on a number, and that if that number was called I got to pick whatever dessert I wanted. I always went for a cake, especially the homemade ones. No self respecting kid at a fish fry picks the store bought cookies. You pick the cake, ask for a knife, and share with your friends. It’s the perfect melding of friendship and food.
In the past few years, I have cooked more during Lent. This has opened me up so many new foods. Last year I made a salmon loaf. I’d always loved salmon croquettes, but I’d never had a salmon loaf. Alex and I both loved it. This made me think that I could make more seafood dishes. We made crusted salmon, and baked cod. I tried mussels and tuna noodle casserole for the first time. Looking for new seafood dishes has opened Alex and me up to so many new foods. I’m excited to try new things this year.
Alex and I have already begun to plan our Friday meals (okay, mostly me, but I tell him). The plan this year it to hit the neighborhood fish joint and a few fish frys. However, I’m also excited about making my own seafood dishes. I had a great seafood pasta salad at a restaurant that I’m eager to re-create. I also have a few seafood casseroles from my mom’s old Taste of Home magazines that I think would be interesting. So, here’s to Lent, however you celebrate it. I’ll still be remembering the important part, but I’ll do so while eating some really good food.
…or at least, that’s what Bubba said in Forrest Gump. Then he listed all the ways to make it. You probably remember that part.
I however, had never cooked shrimp, until tonight. I’ve eaten shrimp, and Alex has made it for me, but I’d never actually made it. Tonight, Alex and I made shrimp and grits. I’d never had this dish either. I know that grits are the food of the south, but they weren’t in my family. I don’t think any of my family members like grits, and they were always talked about as more of a breakfast food. However, there’s no time like the present to try new things!
I was pretty intimidated making the shrimp and grits, since it was so new to me. However, it went really well! By the end I felt like I had made something fancy, but without much effort. All we did was cook the grits, then sauté the shrimp with some butter, olive oil, and garlic. That’s it! It took about 30 minutes, but most of that was just letting the grits cook. Cooking the grits was basically like cooking rice. You just let it soak up the water. I was happy to have a pretty delicious and quick dinner. I hope you enjoy it too!
Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 cup grits (not instant)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups shredded cheese (I used half cheddar and half mozzarella)
4 tbsp butter
½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp Cajun Seasoning
1 tsp Jerk seasoning
2-3 tbsp olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of a skillet
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup White wine, Pinot Grigio or similar
Directions:
Bring four cups of water to a boil. Add the grits, salt and pepper. Let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When the grits have about 5 minutes left, begin the shrimp. Heat a skillet over medium – high heat, and add the olive oil. Add 1 tbsp butter and garlic. When butter melts, add the shrimp. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add wine. Turn heat up to high to cook off alcohol, then return to medium-high to finish the shrimp. Shrimp are done when they turn pink. Remove from heat.
When the grits are finished, remove them from the heat. Add the remaining 3 tbsp of butter and the cheese. Stir in until melted.
Spoon the grits onto plates and cover with shrimp.
In the winter, there is nothing better than a hot, comforting casserole. Lucky for me, this is what I got to eat tonight. Alex and I have been trying to clean out the freezer, and we had half a bag of cheese ravioli in there. Cheese ravioli isn’t my favorite. Don’t get me wrong; I love cheese and noodles. However, I need a little more than that to keep me full. Otherwise, I’m chin deep in a bowl of popcorn by 8pm.
My mom always makes this meat and noodle bake with penne pasta. I decided to do a spin on her bake by using ravioli in addition to the penne (I didn’t have enough ravioli to use it by itself) and adding in some veggies. I used green pepper, onion, and mushrooms, so Alex said it looked like a supreme pizza; thus the name. I threw in some bacon and Italian sausage to make it a little more hearty. It was quick, easy, and delicious. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
Half of a 25oz bag of Cheese ravioli
2 cups penne pasta
½ lb Italian sausage
3 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
½ package fresh mushrooms, chopped (you could also use a can of mushrooms, drained)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ jar of spaghetti sauce
1 tsp each Italian seasoning, basil, and salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil cheese ravioli according to package directions (about 3 minutes). Drain ravioli and boil penne according to package directions (about 9 minutes).
Brown sausage in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain and set aside. Add bacon, green pepper, onion, and mushrooms to the skillet. Saute until the bacon begins to crisp and vegetables are tender, but not mushy, about 10 minutes.
Mix ravioli, penne, sausage, and vegetable mixture together in a casserole dish. Add the spaghetti sauce, ½ cup of the mozzarella, and seasonings. Fold together. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes:
This is pretty versatile. You could put in any vegetables and meat that you wanted. Try using different combinations. You could even use meat ravioli and leave out some of the other meat.
I used whole wheat penne, but you could use whichever type you prefer.
I love bread. I love it a lot. My title comes from a line in Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, where Michael Cera’s Scott exclaims, “Bread makes you fat?” This was a life changing line for me. Okay, maybe not life changing, but in my younger years I never really thought about the adverse effects of carbs. I even once owned a shirt that said, “I love carbs,” and had a dancing cow and pig. Oh, those were the days.
Now, every time I eat bread that line, “Bread makes you fat?” rings in my ears. But I’ve decided that I don’t care. I will continue to eat my beloved bread, in moderation of course. I will even continue to make it, like I did this past weekend.
You may have realized by now that I have a lot of cookbooks. In the evenings when I’m tired, I pass the time by perusing through these cookbooks looking for hidden gems. Recently, I was looking at an old cookbook of my mom’s that contained recipes from our local newspaper. I came across a recipe for Molasses Oat Bread from 1952. It had simple ingredients and didn’t require any kneading, which was a bonus for me. I was also excited because I bought some molasses around Christmas to make gingerbread cookies, but I had yet to find another use for it. I decided to make the bread the next day.
I made the Molasses Oat Bread on a rainy Saturday, and, to be honest, I wasn’t really excited to make it. I was looking forward to the bread, but I was tired and just wanted to lay around. Luckily, this bread was super easy! I began by scalding 2 ½ cups of milk. I was a little worried about this because I wasn’t entirely sure what scalding meant. After a quick Google search and a call to my mom, I learned that scalding means you get the milk almost to the point of simmering. So, I scalded my milk, added molasses, shortening, and oats, and then let it sit to cool. While this mixture was cooling, I sprinkled my yeast into hot water. When my milk mixture reached 125 degrees, I added it to the yeast mixture. According to my mom, if the mixture it too hot when added to the yeast, it will kill the yeast, and the bread won’t rise. I put this batter into two pans to rise for 40 minutes. The recipe called for two bread pans, but I don’t have two break pans. Instead, I used a bread pan and a round cake pan. It still came out fine. After rising, the bread went into a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. It came out perfectly! The bread was soft, but crisp on the outside. It was dense, but soft, and the molasses gave it a deep, rich flavor. Yum! I’ve been eating it for breakfast ever since I made it. Try toasting it and covering it in peanut butter like I’ve been doing. It’s so delicious! Let me know how you like it in the comments section below!
Molasses Oat Bread by Cissy Gregg, 1952
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups milk
1/3 cup molasses
3 teaspoons salt
½ cup shortening
1 ½ cups uncooked rolled oats
½ cup warm water
3 packages active dry yeast
5 cups flour
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scald milk and stir in molasses, salt, shortening, and rolled oats. Let cool until lukewarm.
Measure warm water into bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Stir until dissolved. Add lukewarm milk mixture. Add flour and stir until well blended.
Grease two 8x5x3 inch loaf pans. Divide batter evenly between the two. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.
Bake for 50 minutes or until loaf is browned on top. Let sit for about 10 minutes before turning the bread out of the pan. Turn bread out onto wire cooling racks and let sit for another 10 minutes.
Enjoy! This bread is perfect for sandwiches, toast, snacks, and pretty much anything you would do with bread.
Hello all, this is Alex, Sara’s husband. This is my first guest-post on the Bluegrass Newlyweds, and I look forward to making this a more regular feature.
While grocery shopping this week, Sara spotted a bag of 16-bean Cajun soup for under $3. Basically, it was a bag of dried beans with a tiny flavoring packet. Bean soup is a childhood favorite of mine; the smell of beans and onions and pork simmering in a pot all day is deeply etched in my memories. We decided to make the soup tonight. We have had a pretty chill weekend, mostly consisting of house work, homework, and recuperating from the work week. Normally, in my family at least, bean soup is cooked with some sort of meat to create a savory, filling meal that is more than just beans. Although, Sara and I discussed tonight using vegetarian bean soup as a meal during Lent in a few weeks. Sara and I have also been trying to be more conscious of using what we have instead of running out to the store everyday for ingredients, so we made the soup with what we had. Normally I would cook it with a ham hock, but we only had a pound of Italian sausage in the freezer, so I thawed that and we used half.
To start, I soaked the beans for 8 hours. On the bag it calls for at least 8 hours of traditional soaking, but recommends overnight. I meant to do the overnight soak the evening before, but I drank wine and watched Harrison Ford movies with Sara all night instead and forgot. The recipe on the bag called for soaking the beans, then boiling the beans for 1 ½-2 hours, adding the flavoring packet for the last 30 minutes. In our house, I am known for taking the given recipe and tweaking it. More often than not, the results are better than the initial dish. I decided to add a few more flavoring agents to my soup. I started by chopping one onion and 3 stalks of celery into large chunks. Then I heated up my soup pot on the stove and added a couple tablespoons of olive oil (just enough to cover the bottom). I let the oil get rocket hot, then dropped the veggies in and let them sit for a minute. The objective was to caramelize the vegetables, so as to add more flavor to the dish. With soups and stews, it is important to build flavor that will last throughout the long cooking process. I let that go for a minute, and then added a few cloves of minced garlic, along with a heavy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. While the vegetables were sautéing, I drained and rinsed the beans. I then added the drained beans on top of the sautéed vegetables, and covered them with water that came up 2-3inches above the beans (about 8 cups). I then added 4 teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder, to add even more flavor, and let the soup come to a full rolling boil. I then dropped the heat to a medium simmer and let it go for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.
After an hour, I added 2 potatoes that I had peeled and chopped into 1in. cubes. I also added more salt, pepper, and a few dashes of hot sauce. I let this cook for another 30 minutes, and then added the flavoring packet from the bag. This cooked for another 30 minutes, for a grand total of 2 hours. During the last half hour, I browned up a half pound of Italian sausage in a skillet until crispy and set it aside. I let the soup cool for about 10 minutes, then ladled it into bowls and topped with some crispy sausage crumbles. Yum!
Recipes are amazing tools, but they are not meant to be rigid and unforgiving, at least not in my opinion. I know what tastes good, and it’s a good feeling when you make changes to a recipe and the dish turns out better than expected. In the case of this dish, boiled beans with a teaspoon of provided flavoring would have been fine, but with a few small tweaks the dish turned out great. Sara loved it and already wants to make it again. My advice is to start with small changes, and when you get comfortable with your cooking skills to trust your instincts and go with what you think tastes good.
Ingredients:
1 bag of 16-bean Soup mix, available in the rice and bean aisle at the grocery store.
1 large onion, chopped.
3-4 stalks of celery, chopped.
2-3 tbs. Olive oil.
2 cloves garlic, minced.
8 cups water
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes.
½ lb. Italian sausage.
Salt, to taste.
Pepper, to taste.
Hot sauce, 2-3 dashes, optional.
Directions:
Soak the beans for at least 8 hours in cold water, or overnight (preferable).
After soaking, drain and rinse beans in colander, set aside.
Place soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add olive oil.
Allow oil to heat up, then add onions and celery. Let sit for 30 seconds, then begin to stir, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Season with pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.
Place drained and rinsed beans on top of sautéed vegetables and cover it all with water that comes up 2-3 inches above the settled mixture (About 8 cups.)
Crank heat to high and let come to full boil. Then drop heat to medium until soup is simmering. Cover with lid that is offset, to allow steam to escape, and let cook for 1 hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
After 1 hour, stir in potatoes, another pinch salt and pepper, and hot sauce. Let cook 30 more minutes.
After 30 minutes, add seasoning packet provided with soup and cook final 30 minutes, still stirring.
Meanwhile, in a skillet brown sausage. Drain and set aside.
After final 30 minutes, allow 10-15 minutes to cool. Serve with crumbled sausage on top.
What’s the difference between a hash and a stir fry? The thing I made tonight had potatoes in it, and to me that’s the defining characteristic of a hash. So, I’m calling it a salmon hash. I’ve had a half of a piece of salmon in my freezer for months. I bought the whole piece in the fall because it was on sale for three dollars, or something ridiculously cheap like that. I then took it home a promptly froze it. A few weeks after that I used half of the salmon for a dinner that I can’t remember, so it must not have been too spectacular. I’ve been saying for the last several weeks that I wanted to use the rest of the salmon to make a hash. My freezer is starting to get pretty full, and the salmon is long and awkward (that’s what she said!). I was ready to get rid of it. After a few times of planning to make my hash and then deciding that salmon didn’t sound good that night, I decided today was the day.
I sat my salmon out to thaw when I got home from work. Almost two hours later it was still pretty frozen, so I popped it in the microwave for a minute. Now, this piece of salmon had the skin on one side. Alex and I aren’t fans of fish with the skin on. Maybe that means we’re not true foodies, but who cares. I eat what I like. Anyway, I had to cut the skin off the fish. I actually wasn’t too bad. Once I got started cutting I could pull the skin away as I cut; that made it easier. I cut the Salmon into chunks and set it aside. I then took two potatoes and cut them into chunks as well. I diced up some onions, and grabbed a bag of stir fry vegetables from the freezer. My original intent was to use broccoli, but I didn’t have any. I’m all for working with what I have.
I heated olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. I put the potatoes in first and sautéed them until they began to brown. Then, I threw everything else in. I’m impatient that way. I added some minced garlic, dill, and red pepper flakes; this sautéed for a few minutes. I also added a few glugs (it’s a technical term) of soy sauce. You can see where the hash verses stir fry confusion is coming from. Whatever you want to label it, it was delicious. The salmon was flaky, the veggies were crisp tender, and the potatoes were soft, but not too soft. I really liked the hint of dill and crushed red pepper. I didn’t put too much on because I didn’t want to overwhelm the dish. But, the hint of those two seasonings really gave the salmon something extra. You could definitely serve this over rice or noodles, and it would be delicious. Alex and I are trying to eat fairly healthy, so we opted to eat it by itself. Either way would be delicious!
Here’s the recipe:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
½ fillet of salmon, skinned and cubed
1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp dill
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are softened; about 7 – 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes longer.
Add salmon, onion, and stir fry vegetables. Let cook for about 2 minutes. Then add dill, crushed red pepper, salt, and soy sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 – 7 minutes. Vegetables should be crisp tender and salmon should be cooked through.
Enjoy! Feel free to top with more soy sauce or serve over rice and noodles.
Truman Capote said that, “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” I found this to be a very fitting quote when talking about failure in food. Those failures in taste definitely make the delicious food you’ve cooked taste that much better. So far in my married life the dishes I’ve cooked have been pretty tasty. However, that all changed earlier this week when I decided to create my own fish recipe.
On my way home from work the other day I stopped at the grocery to pick up a few things. While there, I decided to get some protein items to have for dinner this week. While walking past the fish section I saw a freezer full of Swai. I’d never had Swai before, but it was only $2.75. So I thought, “Swai not?” I love a good corny joke.
I was excited about my new ingredient, and decided to make my Swai for dinner when I got home that day. At first, I thought I would blacken it. I’ve had blackened fish in restaurants and always really liked it. I went to one of the several bookshelves that I have lined with cookbooks (some are in the kitchen, some upstairs, some downstairs, they’re everywhere!). When I moved out, my mom had given me an old Paul Prudhomme cookbook, among many others. Chef Prudhomme is actually the person who created the blackening technique, so I decided to start there. About a paragraph into Chef Prudhomme’s description, I decided that blackening was not something I wanted to do at 5pm on a weekday. Apparently, blackening causes a lot of smoke and is best done outside. My option was either to go get the grill out or open all my kitchen windows and the back door. Not a great plan in the twenty degree January weather. My heating bill is high enough as it is. Instead, I decided to create my own recipe.
I make a lot of breaded fish. Usually, I use breadcrumbs or a breading mix from the grocery. For the Swai I decided to mix up a spice mix like I would use to blacken the fish, but bake it instead. I mixed together for tablespoons of Old Bay (which must be included in any fish recipe), 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of jerk seasoning, onion powder, and thyme, and 2 teaspoons each of garlic, dried parsley, and celery salt. Alex and I kept tasting as I mixed. Originally, we only had a teaspoon of celery salt, but the mixture didn’t seem salty enough, so we added more. I’ve been watching the cooking competition The Taste lately, and their most common critique is that the contestants don’t use enough salt, so I wanted to have plenty. Bad move.
I took my Swai fillets and covered them with the spice mixture. I patted it on thick, and divided the mixture between my two fillets. I made sure both sides were well covered, and then baked the fish at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. I was worried the whole time that it wouldn’t be good, and when it came out of the over, my fears were realized. First, the fish looked gross. Upon further googling, I found out that Swai is a very oily fish. As it baked, the Swai had released some of this oil which then mixed with the spice mixture. When I pulled it out, the Swai was surrounded by this murky, muddy mixture. I thought that maybe it would taste better than it looked. Wrong. The fish was done, but still very soft, and almost mushy. The spice mixture didn’t get crispy like I expected, instead it was also mushy, and way too salty. I don’t know if Swai is naturally a little salty, or if the celery salt and other spices made it so. The spice mixture hadn’t tasted too salty when Alex and I tasted it, but eating that Swai was like eating a block of salt. Why do cows enjoy that? I sure didn’t.
If nothing else, at least I learned from my terrible dish. I will definitely be more observant about the amount of salt I put in other dishes. I’ve realized that there is a fine line between too much and not enough. I’ll also probably be sticking to the recipe when it comes to fish. At least for the next few seafood dishes; until I get the technique down. However, I’ll still keep experimenting. How else will I learn? And like Capote said, my next successful dish will only taste that much better. We still ended up having a good dinner night. All I can say is thank God for leftovers from the freezer.
On cold winter days I love a good bowl of chili. It’s hot in both terms of temperature and spice, and it’s something that everyone likes. Chili is often our go-to dish when having friends over. It can be made ahead, it’s easy, and it can sit out for a bit and still be warm when someone goes back for seconds. Basically, chili is the perfect winter food. However, Alex and I have had trouble finding the prefect chili!
Since fall, we’ve been through several variations of chili. My multitude of cookbooks contain a variety of chili recipes; some are very spicy, some have multiple kinds of meat, and some are even vegetarian. I myself like the basic ground beef chili that my mom used to make: more meat than beans, not too spicy, and full of spaghetti noodles. Yep, I’m a noodle lover. You can only be a noodle lover or a noodle hater; there is no in-between. Some people call chili with noodles in it Cincinnati chili, but for me that evokes thoughts of Skyline and noodles with chili poured over top. For me it’s all about mixing the noodles into the chili like you would into soup. And to me, it’s just called chili.
Alex, however, is not a noodle lover. So until yesterday when I had another noodle lover over for dinner, our chili had been made without noodles. I know that I could have made noodles just for me, but it was just easier not to. Anyway, Alex has tried various types of chili this fall and winter. He made a few batches with chipotle chilies in adobo sauces mixed in. The first time I thought it tasted funny because I was sick, but the second time we realized that I just don’t like the flavor of chipotle (which is too bad because it’s having a moment right now). Then, he decided to make chili using Louisville’s secret ingredient, Bloemer’s Chile Base. This magical ingredient makes the perfect chili. It comes packed as a condensed block, but when you put it in your chili pot it breaks down and makes the chili super thick and delicious. I don’t even know what’s in it other than pure, magical deliciousness. This is what my mom always used to make her chili, and so did Alex’s dad. Unfortunately, the first time Alex bought it, he bought the spicy chili base. It was good, but it wasn’t the childhood chili flavor I was looking for.
Then came this weekend. Alex bought Bloemer’s Original Chile Base. Mixing that with some ground beef, kidney, beans, tomatoes, and spices made a perfect chili. It had a hint of smoky heat, but it wasn’t too overpowering. Alex let it simmer on the stove for several hours, so it was a nice, thick consistency because we all know that there is nothing worse than runny chili. Did I mention that we put noodles in it? Oh yeah we did! After finding out that my best friend, who happened to be dining with us, is also a noodle lover, we heated up a pan of noodles to include. We actually used shells instead of the usual spaghetti, and it worked great! I loved that the shells were thicker than the usual spaghetti noodles, and that after mixing them in the shells filled up with chili. We topped the chili with sharp cheddar, sour cream, and some crispy bacon we fried up while the chili simmered. It was delicious! See below for Alex’s recipe and have fun making it your own!
Alex’s Chili
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs ground beef
4 14.5 oz. cans kidney beans or chili beans, do not drain
2 14.5 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 container Bloemer’s Chile Base
2 tsp Worchester sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
3-5 tablespoons chili powder
Dash each of cayenne pepper, cumin, and coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat Dutch oven on stove using medium high heat. Add the olive oil. When olive oil is hot, add onion, a pinch of salt, and cook 3-5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook for about a minute and a half.
Add ground beef. Season with Worchester, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper, cook until browned and then drain. Return Dutch oven to heat. Add beans, tomatoes, sauce, and chili base. Stir until chili base melts, and then let simmer for ten minutes. Add the rest of the seasonings. Let simmer 1-3 hours. Taste throughout the cooking process until you find your perfect chili balance of spicy and savory.
Top with cheese, bacon, sour cream, or your favorite topping.
thebluegrassnewlyweds 