Day two of the cold weekend was dedicated to football and chili - after golf of course. 29 degrees in the morning and the first frost delay I can remember in Houston. So late afternoon chili was quite appealing.
- Chili a la Franey, Cuisine Rapide
- Green Chipotle Turkey Chili, Gourmet Cookbook
Also served leftover jicama and cucumbers, veggies and marinated tomatoes (see previous post).
The first chili is a long time staple from Cuisine Rapide (CR - the GREATEST COOKBOOK EVER PUBLISHED). It's not remarkable, and that's it's strong point. It's resplendent in fresh vegetables and flavor, has great balance and a nice little spicy kick. I substitute cayenne for red pepper flakes, but otherwise make this as written. Also the mix of 50/50 ground pork and ground beef seems to smooth the meat flavors and textures just a bit.
The Chipotle Turkey chili is a keeper. The body of the dish is four pounds of ground and chopped turkey, onion, garlic, green pepper and turkey stocks (I had rich homemade turkey stock still available). Key ingredients were two chipotles that were blended in a cup of water, allowing the chipotle flavor to be distributed into every bite evenly, via tiny flecks of pepper. Over a pound of tomatillos were blanched then blended - making up the majority of vegetable in the dish.
The chili was "thickened" with a tablespoon of corn meal. I wouldn't recommend that approach, and will revert to a cornstarch mixture, as in my regular white chili recipe. The only complaint about this dish is that it needed to be thickened more.
Both chilis were served with small pasta for 'chili-mac', sour cream and lime wedges.
Unseasonably cold in Houston for the longish MLK holiday weekend. So we decided on Saturday Pizza Night with the kids, and two pots of chili on Sunday in order to have leftover for lunches during the week. That plan morphed into inviting family friends over late Sunday afternoon to watch the football games. None of which changed the menu, but I did replenish the excellent grape tomato dish.
Pizza Night
- Jicama and Cucumber with chili and lime, Gourmet Cookbook
- Marinated Grape Tomatoes, Gourmet Cookbook
- Veggies & Dip for kids
- Seasoned Pizza dough from Cooks Illustrated (garlic, pepper, herbs de Provence)
- Toppings: pepperoni, crumbled bacon, ground pork, potato, garlic chicken, Sichuan flavored pork, chopped rosemary, tomato mushroom quick sauce, mozzarella, asiago, gruyere
The marinated tomato recipe required peeling grape tomatoes. At first I had no inclination for this tedious task, but looked out the window at the raw sky, back toward the family room at golf coverage from Palm Springs, and decided to pull up a stool and peel tomatoes (after a 3-4 second plunge in boiling water, then to an ice bath of course). A pint of tomatoes were tossed with 1-2 T vodka, 1 t rice wine vinegar, 2 T sugar, a little salt and the grated zest of a lemon. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Doesn't keep well overnight - but if attempting, drain the marinate before storing.
As it turns out, the peeling step is the secret to this dish. The outer surface of the peeled tomato soaked up the marinade, which is sublime. Would also make a stellar garnish for martinis or bloody mary's, but the short shelf life makes this a special occasion treatment.
Pizzas made:
- Alex & Amy: Meat lovers with pepperoni, bacon and pork
- Potato, bacon and rosemary - thin slices, a little Asiago cheese sprinkled on top, S&P
- Mulch Pizza: Sichuan pork (Chinese hamburger mixture), light mozzarella base, light sprinkle asiago
The Chinese hamburger pizza arose out of a post-sleepover breakfast discussion among Nora and another Girl Scout, who were extolling the edible virtues of Girl Scout cookies in favor of the mulch sold by Boy Scouts. On the spot I pictured "Mulch Pizza" with a topping of ya cai (pickled mustard greens), ground pork, onion, garlic, Sichuan pepper oil, black vinegar, Zioa Zing rice wine and lots of dark soy sauce - to create a tasty, but dark and crumbly topping.
Mulch pizza was good, but the pizza of potato slices with bacon and rosemary was the clear cut winner.
More holiday breakfast. All guests are gone and entertaining is over, but just because this is the middle of a long, long weekend, it seems that a dressed up breakfast is in order.
I'm still in shock that my girls (age 4 and 12) prefer fried eggs to scrambled. Go figure. But that leaves the more creative concoctions for the adults.
This recipe was little more than Mexican ingredients in a lazy-man's omelet. But the addition of large crumbled pieces of fried tortilla (or chips) added an additional element of robustness, much like the thin potato layer in Spanish tortilla (omelet) or certain fritatas.
- 2 medium shallots
- 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded
- 1 jalapeno, seeded, or 1/2 t cayenne
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/2 C ham, chopped
- 2 pieces bacon, crumbled
- 2 C tortilla chips or fried tortilla - 1" pieces
- 2 plum tomatoes, diced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1/2 t cumin
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 C grated cheese (I had gruyere)
Saute shallots, peppers, garlic, ham. Add crumbled bacon, tortillas, tomatoes and scallion. Whisk eggs with cumin, S&P. Pour over pan, sprinkle cheeses. Low heat to set eggs, don't stir. Cover and allow cheese to melt and center of eggs to set.
Adapted from Migas, Gourmet Cookbook, pg. 630
