kidney beans

Chili Con Carne with a Twist

Our PA weather is chilling down. Need something to warm up your tummy? Try some homemade chili. So easy; one pot, if you like beans in it this is your recipe. And a little something different; cubes of butternut squash or yam. Yeap yam, it picks up all those spicy flavors, as does butternut squash. Really great with cornbread, I made some fresh southern style using both cornmeal and gf flour, baked them in an 8 ear cast iron corn cub mold and 6 muffins. I used ground beef, but you can use turkey, venison, or use a plant-based ground meat substitute. This is somewhat spicy but not too much, my tummy can no longer handle the really spicy stuff. You can up the spice or tone it down a bit.  Your chili, your choice.

I make a cornbread by Mama Gourmand which is a basic but tasty recipe. Enjoy!

Need something special!

Angie’s Sort of Spicy Chili Con Carne

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/3 lb. ground beef, 90 percent is what I used

Cooking spray

1 medium onion; chopped into ½ cup dice

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium poblano pepper diced (I used half a good sized one as I can’t do spicy so good anymore)

2/3 cup diced green or red bell pepper

3 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. cumin

½ tsp. smoked paprika

½ tsp. coriander

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

¼ cup red or white wine (one you would willingly drink!)

roughly 1 and 1/3 cups peeled and cubed yam or butternut squash;

1-2 cups water

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground black pepper (more if you want it)

1 14 oz can large kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 14 oz can small red beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Spray la arge wide 4 qt. pot with cooking spray, heat and add ground meat. Let brown as you break it up and spread out the meat. After turning it once add the onions. Cook, stirring a lot, until meat isn’t pink. Add minced garlic; stir in, cook 30 seconds. Add all spices, stir well; cook a minute. Add wine, stir, Add crushed tomatoes. Use cup of water to rinse tomato can and add all to pot. Add diced yams and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and simmer on low at least 30 minutes; I cooked mine for more like an hour. I stirred it a lot, at least every 10 minutes taking care to scrape the bottom, so nothing is sticking. I had to go out so I shut it off, put the lid on and restarted it when I returned. It’s flexible that way. Then add kosher salt to taste; I put in 1 tsp. Add the beans. Stir in carefully and cook 15-25 more minutes. Taste and adjust salt, add more ground black pepper if wanted. Honestly it is even better after a good rest in the fridge; the flavors will blend further. So good with corn bread. I didn’t add any toppings; it was just right without any additions, but you can go to town with scallions, grated cheese, or whatever you like. Enjoy!

I strongly suggest you visit her website but here are the ingredients for her delicious Cornbread, ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup Cup4Cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 lg eggs, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup melted butter

Be sure to let your batter rest 5-10 minutes before pouring into a hot baking dish; I have a cast iron 7 ears of corn one and I do 6 muffin tins too; liberally buttered right before you dump in the liquid mix.Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Get a hunk of cornbread and dive in!

Chili Con Carne with a Twist

Our PA weather is chilling down. Need something to warm up your tummy and tired of turkey? Try some homemade chili. So easy; one pot, if you like beans in it this is your recipe. And a little something different; cubes of yam. Yeap yam, it picks up all those spicy flavors. Great with cornbread, I had some leftover from Thanksgiving; put it in the freezer and it tastes fresh. I used ground beef, you can use turkey, venison, or use a plant-based ground meat substitute. This is somewhat spicy but not too much, my tummy can no longer handle the really spicy stuff. You can up the spice or tone it down a bit.  Your chili, your choice. Enjoy!

Need something special!

Angie’s Sort of Spicy Chili Con Carne

Ingredients

1 1/3 lb. ground beef, 90 percent is what I used

Cooking spray

1 medium onion; chopped into ½ cup dice

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium poblano pepper diced

2/3 cup diced green or red bell pepper

3 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. cumin

½ tsp. smoked paprika

½ tsp. coriander

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

¼ cup red or white wine (one you would willingly drink!)

1 1/3 cups peeled and cubed yam; roughly that amount

1 cup water

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground black pepper (more if you want it)

1 14 oz can large kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 14 oz can small red beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Spray la arge wide 4 qt. pot with cooking spray, heat and add ground meat. Let brown as you break it up and spread out the meat. After turning it once add the onions. Cook, stirring a lot, until meat isn’t pink. Add minced garlic; stir in, cook 30 seconds. Add all spices, stir well; cook a minute. Add wine, stir, Add crushed tomatoes. Use cup of water to rinse tomato can and add all to pot. Add diced yams and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and simmer on low at least 30 minutes; I cooked mine for more like an hour. I stirred it a lot, at least every 10 minutes taking care to scrape the bottom so nothing is sticking. I had to go out so I shut it off, put the lid on and restarted it when I returned. It’s flexible that way. Then add kosher salt to taste; I put in 1 tsp. Add the beans. Stir in carefully and cook 15-25 more minutes. Taste and adjust salt, add more ground black pepper if wanted. Honestly it is even better after a good rest in the fridge; the flavors will blend further. Great with corn bread. I didn’t add any toppings; it was just right without any additions but you can go to town with scallions, grated cheese, or what ever you like. Enjoy!

Get a hunk of cornbread and dive in!

Pasta e Fagioli meaning Pasta and Bean Soup, Fantastico!

The soup I love to serve in the dead of winter is pasta fagioli meaning pasta and bean soup, Neapolitan style.  It is full of veggies and flavor.  Not to mention beans and pasta.  Yes, I make it now with gluten free pasta, same recipe as always.  I use elbow pasta by Barilla; great flavor and held its shape well.

elbowsTry not to overcook it though as gf pasta goes from done to mush easily if you are not paying attention!  This rib sticking soup will be a meal if you add a salad and a slice of gf bread.  I made it for my family the other week with a lovely new bread recipe which I will have to share sometime soon.  It was a big hit.  Warm, flavorful, satisfying and sure fills the tummy.  I made it with dried beans I soaked overnight and cooked until pretty soft.  White beans work too, navy beans come to mind as suitable.

My version has lots of veggies; if you don’t want them all; leave some out! My secret weapon: I use small cubes of turnip as they hold their shape well and add a subtle tasty flavor to the soup.  No one ever guesses they are in there; looks like cubes of potato.   Or add more veggies, what is in your fridge?  I have used green beans, summer squash cubes or peas. I always add a cheese rind saved from a chunk of Parmesan cheese. It really ups the flavor of the soup.  And if you get a bit of it in your soup bowl the oozy cheesy goodness will be your prize!

stew and Liam 001  turnips

Pasta Fagioli Soup

1 lb of dried cranberry, navy or kidney beans, soaked overnight in lots of         filtered water.  Be sure to pick over them for foreign objects.

1 bay leaf

1 quarter inch thick slice of prosciutto (leave out for vegetarian version)

¼ cup EVOL (extra virgin olive oil)

1 cup chopped yellow onions

1 cup chopped carrots

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped turnip

3 minced garlic cloves

2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1 can plum tomatoes chopped (or 1 lb fresh ones chopped in the summer when they have decent tomatoes available)

1 tbsp tomato paste

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

1 to 1 ½ tsp sea salt

1 cup elbow macaroni, gf

Drain the soaked beans, rinse well, return to cleaned pot and cover with fresh filtered water, add bay leaf and cook 1-2 hours until soft. Add water if it gets low.  Turn off and let rest while you make soup.

Heat EVOL in big sturdy soup pan, I like a thick bottom to keep the soup from burning easily. Add onion and cook 5-6 minutes, add garlic, stir and cook a minute, add prosciutto which you have diced up into small squares and the parsley. Cook for a couple minutes, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, carrots, celery, turnip, hot pepper and stir well.  Add a tsp. of salt.  Cook uncovered about 12-14 minutes.

stew and Liam 002

Add any bean water in the pan. I often end up adding 1-4 cups of water during this point if there is no bean liquid. Mush up half the beans in a food processor or with a potato masher. Add to soup. Stir well, reheat and cook 5 minutes, add rest of beans, stir, reheat and then add the pasta.  Cook just the length of time the box says, stirring it every 2-3 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed and some fresh black pepper.  You can add more parsley if you like. Turn off and let stand 10-20 minutes before serving.  Don’t serve it boiling hot from the pot! In summer time I serve it closer to room temperature which is lovely too.  I sometimes drizzle some best quality EVOL on the top of each bowl before digging in.

We gobbled up all the soup and I totally forgot to take a picture of it in a soup bowl.  It was that good! Picture taken and posted after the next batch!