All-American Chili

I was craving chili the other day and did a search on here only to discover that I have never posted my favorite chili recipe!

FOR SHAME!

I had to remedy that pronto!

I've been making this chili recipe for a long time now. My mom's chili is very good, but I love the addition of turkey sausage, wine and a mix up of beans in this one. The original recipe just calls for light kidney beans, but I'm here to say you can mix that up and use whatever you have on hand! In this case,  black and cannelini (which, by the way, are also called white kidney beans) beans were what was in my pantry. I did consider running to the store as I also had ZERO green peppers... but no. I kept repeating that old mantra: Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, go without. Or something like that. I had red peppers in the fridge, so into the pot they went. Always remember, a recipe is a guideline. Make it the original way at first and then play up the parts you love or vice versa. 

This recipes makes PLENTY, so you'll have some to give away or to freeze for another wintery day when you're craving chili.

Now, as I mentioned in this post, (which has a very similiar looking photo! lol) I grew up eating chili on mashed potatoes, so don't freak out about my picture there. That's just what I like. My husband... purely a tortilla chip and chili kinda guy. The kids ate this, too, but only the first day and refused leftovers. Fickle people.

As written, this is not a spicy chili at all. So if you like the heat and can take it... by all means turn up the volume. This is great for feeding a crowd of varied "heat indexes", the spice lovers can toss in their hot sauce of choice and the weaklings will love it.

All American Chili
adapted from Cooking Light, 2003

2 links sweet Turkey sausage
2 small onions, diced the way you like
1 green pepper (or red), chopped
1 lb lean ground meat
1 jalapeno pepper (I often forget this), diced
1 1/2 - 2 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs brown sugar (optional, I left it out once and didn't notice)
1 Tbs cumin
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
3/4- 1 1/4 cups red wine, Merlot (the amt is based on how much I have left in the bottle ;-)
2 cans whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
2 cans beans, light kidney or combination black and cannelini works
shredded cheddar
adobo seasoning

1. Heat large pot and add turkey sausage, squeeze out of the casings and sauté. Add onion, peppers, ground meat and jalapeńo. Continue to sauté, about 8 min., until meat is cooked. While cooking, use back of spoon or fork to crumble meat.

2. Add chili powder through salt. Cook for 1 minute and stir to combine. Add bay leaves- I wait so as not to crumble the bay leaves.

3. Add wine, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour.
(At this point, once it comes to a boil, you could turn it off, put it in a container and pop it in the fridge to reheat the next day(in a crock pot!) Chili is always better the next day.)

4. Uncover, take out the bay leaves, and cook 30 minutes more, add adobo seasoning if you think it needs a little something or some more cumin. Again, adjust the tastes to YOUR liking.

5. Serve in big bowls with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese on top (and with mashed potatoes if you're me)

Enjoy!

Pineapple Bread Pudding ~ 3.15.12

A few days ago, I was moving around some "older" magazine issues and found a 2003 Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion that I didn't remember reading... maybe because it was from 2003.
Well, I am so glad I did open it up because it had 2 recipes that I just HAD to try this week!

The first is a side dish that pairs well with ham (think Easter!!)- so I cooked up some ham steaks, roasted some asparagus and tested this recipe on my kids.
1 out of 4 liked it, but I loved it! and decided it was MUCH better as a dessert than a side. So I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to mine later on and ate a big bowl of this pineapple bread pudding.
I saved the leftovers and reheated them a few nights later and served it up when my husband was home- he loved it, too! So that makes 3 out of 7 loving this recipe, but really, the newborn doesn't have a say in this vote. I may make it again for company- it's a super easy throw together kinda recipe!

Enjoy!

Pineapple Bake
adapted from the Silver Palate Good times cookbook

8 thick slices day old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (I removed the bottom crusts)
2 cups drained crushed unsweetened pineapple (I bought the kind in pineapple juice and saved my juice for another recipe!)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 1 1/2 quart baking dish
Combine the bread and pineapple and place in the prepared dish
Mix the butter, sugar, and eggs and pour over the bread mixture
Bake until puffed and golden, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately- with a scoop of ice cream is especially nice!

A Banana bread a day.... ~ 3.13.12

Please tell me I am not the only one who has a freezer full of over ripe bananas? At one point it was bordering on at least a dozen, maybe a dozen and a half!

I just can't seem to throw out those bananas and with a recipe as good as this (and as easy as this) one is.... why should I throw them away?

Thanks to Sycamore Stirrings for sharing this recipe for Banana bread made in the food processor- it has become my go-to recipe for it's ease in prep and simplicity of ingredients. The kids LOVE helping me make this recipe and of course, love eating the homemade banana bread.

Banana Bread
adapted from Sycamore Stirrings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9x5 loaf pan

To the food processor bowl add:
2 very ripe bananas- medium sized
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces, chilled

pulse about 20 seconds until butter and bananas are chopped and combined

Next add:
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
a dash or 2 of ground cinnamon

pulse 10 seconds- just until incorporated

Optional- add in 1/2 cup walnut pieces or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Pulse 2-3 times.
Turn batter out into the prepared pan.
Bake for 55-60 minutes or until cooked throughout and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely before serving.

(click on the recipe name to print out without pictures in Google docs!)

Mary's Baked Fruit ~ 12.18.11

Mary's Baked Fruit is one of my favorite recipes from home. We have this at many a holiday celebration and it always makes me think of Christmas (well, and Easter, too). It contains a very unique ingredient that doesn't quite taste the way you expect it to taste: curry! Whenever I tell someone it's in there the response is quite often, "I don't really like curry and stay away from anything with it in it!" And then they try this recipe and are sold.

In our family, the peaches and pineapples are the first to go. Poor pears! So, we usually increase the amounts of those in the recipe. I've even increased the fruit in this recipes WITHOUT increasing the "sauce" ingredients.

I will give you one caveat before you proceed, the sauce in this stains. It's ruined a few shirts, but again, it's well worth it and I just give lots of warnings about that fact. My kids LOVE this recipe and it will be around for many years to come. I'm including some photos of my fruit draining process. My mom always used paper towels, but I was trying to be a bit more "green" ;)

Mary's Baked Fruit


Best made the day before or several... the flavors marry together and it gets better!
Increase/decrease fruit amts. per preference

1 lg can cling peach halves (the pics show slices as that was what I had on hand at the time)
1 lg can pineapple slices
1 lg can pear halves
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2-4 tsp. curry powder (we use 2)

1. Drain fruit and dry on paper towels- or use towels (see photos above). Absorb as much moisture as possible.
2. Arrange fruit in casserole dish.
3. Melt butter, then add brown sugar and curry. Spoon over the fruit.
4. Bake 1 hour in 325-350 degree oven.

Serves 4-6--- of course you can double/ triple the recipe! you can also freeze the leftovers.

Chocolate Blackout Cake ~ 11.15.11

Right, so if you haven't figured this out yet, we LOVE chocolate around here. So, when "birthday season" rolls around, it is usually the most requested kind of cake.

Thankfully, there are so many different KINDS of chocolate cake one can make! I happened upon this lovely recipe last week and decided to try it for my 7 year old's birthday. It's not a quick cake and there are a few steps to get right and all, but it was worth it and birthdays only come once a year, so we should make them special!

The recipe comes from America's Best Lost Recipes, from the editors of Cook's Country Magazine. Chocolate Blackout Cake was a forerunner to Death by Chocolate confections and came from a bakery in Brooklyn, NY called Ebinger's. It has decadent layers of fudgy, chocolate cake held together by a rich, creamy pudding that couples as a frosting! Chocolate Blackout Cake was developed during World War II and is so named after the blackout drills performed by the Civilian Defense Corps.A Blackout was performed so ships when sailing off to battle could not be spotted by enemy planes. City lights were turned off and windows were covered with black material. They had drills like fire drills to practice for the real thing. The cake derived its name from it's intensely dark appearance and some say, the crumbled cake crumbs on top are reminiscent of aciety skyline.

Though Ebinger's never published their recipe, the bakers at Cook's Country tested and streamlined this version that I know you chocolate lovers out there will thoroughly enjoy!


Chocolate Blackout Cake
from America's Best Lost Recipes

Pudding
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whole milk
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cake
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), plus extra for greasing pans
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for dusting pans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1 cup strong black coffee, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1. For the Pudding: Whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt, half-and-half, and milk in large saucepan. Set pan over medium heat. Add chocolate and whisk constantly until chocolate melts and mixture begins to bubble, 2 to 4 minutes. (It should have a pudding consistency- mine took MUCH longer than 2-4 minutes and this step is crucial to your pudding being pudding, so make sure that milk is warm enough and you keep stirring until it thickens and the chocolate melts.) Stir in vanilla and transfer frosting to large bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.

2. For the cake layers: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl, set aside. ( I realized I only had 9-inch cake pans and I used what I had, but 8-inch would be preferable here)

3. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cocoa and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in coffee, buttermilk, and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined, then slowly whisk in flour mixture.

4. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool layers in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour.

5. To assemble the cake: Cut each cake in half horizontally. Pick the least ‘good-looking’ cake layer and crumble into medium crumbs and set aside. Place one cake layer on serving platter (I put down waxed paper first in strips so that my cake platter would be "clean" after the crumbles were added) or cardboard round. Spread 1 cup pudding over cake layer and top with another layer. Repeat with 1 cup pudding and the last cake layer. Spread remaining pudding evenly over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle cake crumbs evenly on the side of cake, pressing lightly to adhere crumbs. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

alternatively, you could just keep the crumbled cake part on the sides and leave the top a smooth pudding layer to write a message!

:source:

Chocolate Birthday Cake ~ 10.31.11

This year, for my son's 9th Birthday, I decided to make LMLD's birthday cake for all occasions as I had happened upon it the day before I was ready to make his cake! It was a HIT! Rich and chocolately and made from scratch. I made this the day of the birthday party AND I had an open house that same day as well. SO- don't think scratch = extra time in the kitchen. It came together quickly and I just "built" the cake at my mom's house later in the day so I didn't have any "accidents" with this HIGH layer cake on the way there.

Auntie Leila gives such lovely descriptions of her cake on LMLD and I'm intrigued by the way she made her version with a ganache and layer of apricot preserves! She also gives lots of substitutions(like olive oil or coconut oil for the butter) for ingredients on her post about this cake- which can be very helpful!
Since I was not running to the store and had ALL of the ingredients for the original recipe, I made it just this way...


Easy Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
from Like Mother, Like Daughter


Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
optional: fresh whipped cream; strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Grease and flour a large bundt or 2- 9" layer pans. I also used parchment rounds on the bottom of my cake pans which I greased as well. Didn't want any mishaps!!
3. Mix the sugar and melted butter together in your mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, vanilla and eggs. One bowl. That easy. Just don't overmix, just until it's incorporated and smooth.
4. Pour the batter into your pans (I use an ice cream scoop and do even amts in each pan until all the batter is used up!) and smooth the top with a spatula.
5. Bake about 30 minutes for layer cakes and 40 minutes for a Bundt. Test with a toothpick in the center to check for doneness.
6. Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before inverting. Then let cool completely before frosting your cake.

Easy fresh Whipped Cream
2 pints whipped cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Using a large bowl, add your cream and begin to whisk briskly until it starts to froth and come together- soft peaks.
2. Sprinkle in powdered sugar and add vanilla.
3. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form (if you overmix you'll get butter, so stop before it's too late!).
4. Taste for sweetness.
5. Chill or spread on your favorite cake

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake ~ 10.30.11

I can't help myself- when it comes to pumpkin flavored anything... I'm IN!

I really can't believe I'm about to admit this but it's October 29th as I type this and I have yet to make anything pumpkin-y. I'm not sure if it was my lack of time or my fear that there would be another pumpkin shortage this year or whatever, I just haven't made much in the muffin/cookie/cake/bread department involving my favorite flavor!

Ah, but thanks to my crazy pregnancy cravings- that was all put to rest tonight. I made a delectable Pumpkin Pie Milkshake patterned after one I saw over here.

Oh me.

Oh my.

I do SO love Pumpkin Pie flavored stuff- I have pumpkin spice Hershey kisses (which I ration out through the year) and found Pumpkin spiced candy corn at our Market District GE this year, too!

I can't say a word about those pumpkin lattes everyone is goo goo over, I'm not a coffee drinker at all. BUT I do have a box of decaf Pumpkin Spice tea made by stash that I love! ;)

So, pumpkin beverages are so fun to have this time of year and while I DO love a hot beverage, I'm a sucker for anything ice cream related. I adapted this recipe just a bit by adding gingersnap cookies to it. As I recall, a few years back a local burger place had gingersnap milkshakes that I could.not.get.enough.of- at the time. Maybe I was pregnant then, too. Wait... I was! with the twins! LOL Anyway, give this recipe a try anytime between now and Thanksgiving- after that, we'll all move onto PEPPERMINT flavored milkshakes, etc!!!

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

adapted from Our Best Bites

To your blender, add:

1/4- 1/2 cup milk- start with 1/4 cup and then add more in the last step
1/3 cup pumpkin
heaping 1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice -easy to make your own
dash of vanilla extract
2 Tbs brown sugar

Blend together all of the above, THEN add:

2 cups of vanilla ice cream

Give it a whirl and if it's not whirling well, add 1/4 cup more milk.

Pour into a tall, frosty mug and sprinkle crushed gingersnap cookies on top!

sip slowly and enjoy every minute

Makes ONE generous milkshake!