Pantry Chili & Edgar's story

Thanks to my chili post, and my Edgar purchase (more on that in a sec), and the dreary weather; I was craving chili yesterday. However, since I'm me and I didn't plan this craving ahead of time, it was up to me and the pantry to make magic happen. Luckily - it totally did.
Edgar was a lovely creature from Stemple Creek Ranch that gave up his life so that 11 of my friends and I might eat some amazingly delicious free range, healthy and sustainable red meat.
Now, thanks to things like The Omnivore's Dilemma and Food Inc., I know that I want happy, healthy, walking around animals on my dinner table.  Well; I want to know that they were happy, healthy, and walking around BEFORE they end up on my dinner table anyway.  Thanks to a local group I belong to (shout out to Bay Area Food Bloggers!), I knew about Stemple Creek and off I went with some half baked idea about buying a quarter of a cow.  But how on Earth was I going to store 110 pounds of delicious, healthy cow meat in my San Francisco freezer?  Well I wasn't, plain and simple.  Lucky for me, I have loads of like minded foodie friends that were game to share the beast.  We all ended up with a healthy portion of various cuts of meat (some more than others, depending on how many people each "quarter of the quarter" was split with).  This was way back in August when I was in Mexico.  I just ate my first bit of Edgar YESTERDAY.  I'll have to call Loren (owner of Stemple Creek Ranch) and let him know, since he actually called to check in and see how everything was, how everyone liked the meat, and what they could do to make the ordering process easier.  Now THAT is customer service.

In any case - a hankering for chili I had, and hardly any canned tomatoes in the pantry.  What's a girl to do?  Well, lucky for me I am a bit of a hoarder, so I had some things floating around - tons of spices, some cannelini beans, some black beans and Pace picante sauce.  So I did a spin on that recipe I posted recently from Gourmet, via Smitten Kitchen.



2 large onions, chopped (about 3 cups)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 pounds of ground Edgar (or equally delicious grass fed beef)
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon crumbled dry oregano
to make up for my lack of paprika or green peppers:
1 tablespoon of "Mexican Seasoning"
1 tablespoon of "All Purpose Seasoning"  (this one or something similar)
1/2 tablespoon of celery salt
Kosher salt to taste
1 16 oz jar of Medium Pace Picante Sauce
1 1/4 cups beef broth
1/2 bottle of lager (I used Black Star - yum)
1 can of canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

In a large pot (I used my Dutch Oven), heat the oil over moderately low heat and cook the onions in it for 5 to 10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more. Raise the heat to medium and add the beef, stirring and breaking up any lumps until it is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another minute. Add the Pace, broth and beer and simmer the chili, covered, for 35 to 40 minutes. Add the beans, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Where the Wild Things Are - Halloween 2010

 

My favorite time of year is upon us and I'm already plotting my ghoulish plan. . .
I'll be turning my home into a haunted forest with lots of spooky trees and Spanish moss, plenty of old leaves, and creepy little forest critters.  It'll be the perfect setting for me, since I'm going as an owl this year.
I really want to make my sugar cookies, but I have to be reasonable about what I can accomplish.
I'll be serving several types of snack mix because that's super easy and yummy (I have such an obsession with Cheezit Party Mix it's not even funny), and I'll probably do a spicy nut mix as well.  I had one in Mexico that had whole chiles and fried garlic that was super good and kind of creepy looking (let's just say we'll call those garlics "fingernails" or something equally gross).  Here is a decent starting point.

We're also going to do some super easy salsas and guacs as I did last year, but add a Crock Pot full of cheesy bean dip that I don't really have to worry about.  When I was in high school taking Home Ec, our teacher taught us some delicious recipe that featured canned refried beans, Velveeta, salsa, green chiles, garlic powder and green onions. . . I'm trying desperately to remember it and will probably just tweak it as I go until it's yummy.  This one looks pretty good as well.
I'm also going to get some pizza dough or flatbread and just do little flatbread slices - caramelized onions, goat cheese, maybe blue cheese, figs, prosciutto, etc., but those are the pricier fixins, so we'll see.  I'll bake the breads ahead of time, then top them, and heat them up for a few just before I serve.
Perhaps a white bean and sage dip with veggies and pita chips.
Basically stuff that I don't have to fuss with.   And to drink, I think I'm going for shandy this year instead of my typical sangria:

Apple Cider Shandy
48 ounces of lager (4 x 12 oz bottles)
1 bottle of sparkling cider

Combine and serve immediately.

I mean, it doesn't get much easier than that, right? 

Turkey Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup

I made a yumtastic soup last night. Totally SB friendly, healthy, yummy, and super super easy.

1 medium onion; diced
2-3 cloves of garlic; minced
4 turkey sausages, sliced into disks (I used Aidell's sundried tomato)
1 huge can of chicken stock
1 bunch of kale - washed, large stems/stalks removed, and roughly chopped
2 cans of white beans (great northern, cannelini, whatever)
salt and pepper
olive oil

Heat olive oil (2 tbsp or so) in a large stock pot. Sautee the onion and garlic until soft, then season with salt and pepper.
Add the turkey sausage and cook a bit longer - I like to see the sausage a bit browned.
Add the stock and the beans. Add the kale bit by bit (as it fits in your pot!) and stir to combine. Cover the pot and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until kale is wilted and everything is heated through. Taste broth for seasoning and add any additional seasoning as necessary - maybe even a dash of red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.