Quick Habanero Chili!

Alright, as most of you know I like my chili. I make it quite often, even if I do not post it up here that often. Well, this time I used a Habanero Chili Pepper.

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Chili Meat
1/3 stick Butter
6 Roma Tomatoes
2 Poblano Peppers
2 Anaheim Peppers
4 Caribe Peppers
1 Habanero Pepper
1 can Rotel(drained)
1 can Kidney Beans
2 cans Black Beans
1 can Tomato Sauce
1 can Tomato Paste
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Turmeric Powder
Garlic Salt
Marjoram
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1/2 bottle of Leinenkugel's Honeyweiss Beer

I apologize for the limited number of pictures in this recipe as I had a brain fart and did not even think to take pictures until I started the recipe.

First step is to put your stockpot on the stove top with the Butter in it. Turn the heat to MEDIUM-HIGH.

Once the Butter is mostly melted, put in your Ground Chili Meat. It's really just rough ground beef but goes by that name. Add Garlic Salt, Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Stir together at length.

Usually I use a food processor here but today, I used my blender. Larger quantity at a quicker pace. I drained my can of Rotel and once I sliced the Roma Tomatoes, I added all of it to the blender and pureed. Into the stockpot once the meat is mostly browned.

I poured in my half bottle of Leinenkugel's at this point.

Now dice your peppers. I started with the Caribe, then Anaheim, Poblano, and threw the Habanero on top. Puree. To this I added a dash of the Beer to smooth it out some. Add to pot.

Now add your Kidney Beans and Black Beans. Drain them first! Then the Tomato Sauce and Paste.

I did a good spoonful or two of all the seasonings at this point. I went a little light on the Garlic Salt and Lawry's since they are already in the dish.

Mix like crazy then let simmer for about 30 minutes. Enjoy.

The Chef's Beef Stew

I love Beef Stew. I don't know any other way of putting it that even comes close to my obsession with this delectable dish. Everyone should make their own version of it. I have several versions of it, and so far this is my favorite version. It is subject to review and change, so suggestions are welcome. I'm sorry it took so long to get on here in it's truest form.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef Stew Meat
1 cup Pearl Barley
6 stalks Celery, sliced
Carrots, diced
Russet Potatoes, diced
1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
1 qt Beef Stock
Garlic Salt
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Smoked Sweet Paprika
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ground Turmeric
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Aleppo Pepper
Dill

I began by gathering the main ingredients. I diced the Potatoes, Carrots, and Celery up. You can decide how much you want to use, although the rough ratio seen here is what I find to be a good mix.

I plug in my slow cooker and set the heat to HIGH. I dust the bottom with Lawry's Seasoned Salt first followed by the Garlic Salt.

In goes the Beef Stew Meat.

On top of the meat I added some spices because I like the meat part of this dish to be extra seasoned. It's optional since you can just add spices to the top of everything and it will still be pretty good. I just go the extra mile. I used the Smoked Sweet Paprika, Fennel Powder, Fenugreek Powder, and Ground Aleppo Peppers.

On top of that went the diced Carrots. They tend to take longer to cook so in the middle I think is a good place for them to absorb the liquid and heat involved here.

On top of that the diced Potatoes. Pay no attention to the Brandy in the corner of the picture, it was out for something that did not make the Blog. Maybe once I perfect that recipe, you all will get to see what it is!

Then the sliced Celery.

On top of the Celery I added about 2 pinches of Dill. Then the Pearl Barley went into the slow cooker. I listed it as 1 cup, however it is probably closer to 1.5 cups. I love barley.

Now that I have everything in the slow cooker, it's the main serving of spices. Ground Turmeric, Garlic Salt, Smoked Sweet Paprika, Fennel Powder, Ground Black Pepper, Sea Salt, and Ground Aleppo Peppers rounded this mix out.

Now locate your wine. Spare no expense...I spared $3.00 USD. I know, I have expensive tastes in wine.

I put in the entire bottle. I noticed it wasn't high enough, so I added in about half of the Beef Stock container I had. It was one of those pre-made containers that has about 2 quarts in it. There was some left over, so I rounded my usage to 1 quart.

When pouring in the Cabernet Sauvignon, make sure to pour it directly onto the spices you have on top of everything. If you don't, you run the risk of the spices cooking directly into just a portion of your dish. This causes some parts to be really spicy and flavorful while the rest tastes like nothing at all/red wine.

I left the heat on HIGH for the duration of this recipe since I am very impatient. If you have the time, like 10 hours, then bring it to a boil, stir, and put on LOW for the duration. It will cause the meat to be more tender, oh well. This picture is about 1 hour in.

2 hours later the color drastically changes to a muddy brown. It smells amazing and permeates everything in it's vicinity.

About 2 hours after that making it a total of around 5 hours, this is what it should look like.

Make sure to taste test each part to make sure everything is cooked properly. I checked everything about 4 times each. Yes, I'm a little piggy but I had to make sure.

If it isn't done, then just let it cook longer until it is. Mine was done so I plated it quite readily. Enjoy!

Spiced Pork Chops on Asparagus Spears with Pureed Asparagus

Today I decided that a full meal was needed for lunch. I usually just snack on whatever is around or put together one thing. Today was a little more complicated than that, especially since it was sort of decided on the fly. I have found that balancing the pork chops I chose with asparagus was indeed a nice visual effect and nutritionally balanced while being incredibly tasty!








Ingredients:
Pork Chops
2 Butterfly Pork Chops
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Dill
Paprika
Fennel Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Italian Herb Mix
Olive Oil

Asparagus
Asparagus
1/2 stick Butter
Italian Herb Mix
Fennel Powder
Ground Black Pepper

Asparagus Puree
Asparagus from above
White Wine
Olive Oil

I began with gathering all of my ingredients.

I then started in on the Pork Chops portion of this recipe. I started with mixing the spices together. I did not put an amount of each since most of them were just a dusting with larger dustings of Italian Herb Mix, Lawry's, and Fennel Powder.

I then trimmed my Pork Chops and set everything up.

Now I put the chops into the spice mix and proceeded to coat them with the spice mix.

I made sure to have a plate next to them to put them on.

Now, some Olive Oil into the saucepan. No measurement here, just put a bunch in.

Once that started to heat up, in went the Pork Chops.

After about 30 seconds I flipped them. I did this so the one side would be seared enough to keep the juices in while mostly cooking them with the opposite side down.

Here is where we cut in with the Asparagus portion of the recipe, somewhat. I chopped off the bottoms of the stalks and put the Butter in the other saucepan.

Once that was mostly melted, in went the spices. Just a dusting/sprinkle of each.

Then in went the Asparagus.

At about this point, check on your Pork Chops. I took one off to check if done, it was so they all came off, or just cover to retain their heat.

Mix up the Asparagus now as well, so there is more of an even cook through.

Taste test to see if they are done. If so, which they were for me, take off. Put some down on a plate for your Pork Chops to go on, the rest to the cutting board.

Now cut the Asparagus spears into small sections and put them into your food processor. Puree the life out of them. It should look very chunky, so add in a splash of Olive Oil and White Wine. Puree again for a minute. It should be done now.

Now all that's left is to plate your dishes and serve them up. I added flax seeds to the Asparagus Puree because the dark brown would offset the bright green quite well. For the Pork Chops, I placed them on a bed of Asparagus spears with a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top. Enjoy.

Chili: The Second Coming

Today I thought that since Autumn is closely approaching, that I should cook up some Chili once again. I could say that I cooked up this Chili because the weather is getting cooler and all, however this is Texas where it doesn't cool down much for another month or two. I felt that I have been too long without quality Chili and it seemed like a good weekend to do so.

Ingredients
1 lb Ground Beef
5 LG Tomatoes
1 LG White Onion
2 Green Bell Peppers
3 Poblano Peppers
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1 cup Basil Leaves
1 cup Green Onions / Scallions
1 can Tomato Sauce
2 cans Black Beans
2 cans Kidney Beans
1/4 stick Butter
2 cups Red Wine
1/2 cup Lime Juice
Italian Herb Mix
Dill
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Cumin/Coriander Mix
Smoked Hot Spanish Paprika
Fennel Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Ancho Chili Powder
Lowry's Seasoning
Secret Spice Mix!

I started by gathering all my ingredients and food processor together.

I then proceeded to use my food processor to puree all 5 LG Tomatoes and put them into a plastic mixing bowl.

Now, my stockpot I put in a 1/4 stick of regular Butter and turned the heat to medium. I waited until the Butter started to melt significantly and added in the pound of Ground Beef. I used a spatula to mix it into the Butter, and added a good dusting of Lowry's Seasoning at this point. Mix it all again.

Now that it's cooking, add in your Lime Juice while mixing it around. I also added in all the spices at this point, which sort of mellows the entire spiciness of at the end. I put in just a pinch of the Dill and Sea Salt. The Italian Herb Mix I used was only about 1 cup. As for the rest of the seasonings, use as much as you want. I put in quite a lot of them considering they will be the spices for the entire pot of chili.

Once the meat appears to be mostly browned, if not appearing blackened, pour in your pureed Tomatoes.

Mix well. Turn your heat to a little bit below medium.

Now, using the food processor puree your LG White Onion. Pour this into the pot and then mix well.

Next, I used some fresh Basil Leaves and shredded them using the food processor. Then I added them directly into the pot.

After that, I grabbed my Scallions and proceeded to chop them up and threw them into the pot.

Now, I diced up the Green Bell Peppers and then pureed them in the food processor. In they went to the pot. Oddly enough, they change color from green to an almost white/seafoam green color when pureed.

Now it's the pepper's turn. I chopped up the Poblano Peppers and Jalapeno together in the food processor. In they went.

Finally, it was just time to add the canned beans. First Kidney Beans.

Second the Black Beans. I did not take a picture of the Tomato Paste going in since it disappears right away anyway.

Here I put in the Secret Spice Mix. Which isn't all that secret. It's the mix I use for Chili, Steak, Burgers, and sometimes Pork Chops. A combination of garlic salt, lowry's, black pepper, turmeric, curry powder, paprika, sea salt, cumin/coriander, and basil. I only used 2 spoonfuls of it.

Now let it come to a boil. Mix it up together and mostly cover it. Turn the heat down to simmer or a little higher.

I checked on it 10 minutes later and mixed it together.

I mixed regularly and then checked about an hour later.

Now, at this point I tasted it. YUM! Time to serve.

Yes, that is a delicious beer that was needed while devouring this Chili. I believe it was a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which makes a great pairing in my opinion. Enjoy...I know I did!