Wolf's Chili

I've been working on my chili recipe for years. It is my favorite meal on cold days. Now it's time to put it out on the net and see if anyone has any suggestions for improvements.

1 large onion
1 large carrot
1 large head of garlic
3 tbs olive oil
2 lbs ground beef (80/20 or lower fat)
1 lbs Chorizo mexican sausage
1 bottle Guinness Stout or other robust beer, such as anything by Sam Adams
1 can tomato paste (6 ozs)
1 can tomato sauce (8 ozs)
1 tbs salt
2 tbs oregano
1 tsp cumin
10 to 15 jalapeno peppers
15 to 20 serrano peppers
1 can (15 ozs) black beans (drained)
1 can (15 ozs) kidney beans (drained)
1 can (15 ozs) great northern beans (drained)
1 can (15 ozs) red beans (drained)
1 can (30 ozs) diced tomatoes (w/ juice)
Finely shredded cheese

1. Dice the onion and thinly slice the carrot.
2. Break the garlic into cloves. Peel it, then mince all the cloves. Fresh garlic is best, but if you don't want to spend the time, you can substitute a heaping tablespoon of store-bought minced garlic in step 5.
3. Cut the tops from the peppers and discard. Place the peppers in a food processer and dice them into small pieces.
4. Place the onions and carrots in pot with oil and sautee on medium high for 8 to 10 mins.
5. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes.
6. Add the chorizo sausage and mash it up into small pieces.
7. Add the ground beef. break it apart and cook until browned.
8. Add the tomato paste and stir well.
9. Add the salt, oregano, cumin tomato sauce and Guinness. Stir well and bring to a boil.
10. Reduce heat to med low. Add all remaining ingredients except the cheese. Mix well.
11. Simmer for an hour.

Serve in bowls topped with a generous helping of shredded cheese. Enjoy.

What you don't eat immediately, you can freeze. The easiest way is to put 1 and 1/2 cups of the chili into plastic bags to freeze individual portions. They last at least a month. They may well last longer, but they are always consumed in a month in my kitchen.

You can make this chili much hotter or milder by varying the peppers you use, as well as whether you include the seeds.

If you really don't like hot chili, you can bring down the heat by removing the seeds from the peppers, as they contain most of the capsaicin - the oil that provides the sense of "heat" in the peppers. You will still get the pepper taste that defines chili, but you just won't have all of the heat. You can also uses peppers with much lower capsaicin levels, such as Anaheim and Poblano peppers - see here. Whatever you do, though, don't try substituting chili powder for fresh chili peppers. That's like substituting shoe leather for steak.

If you think the above recipe is too mild, leave in all of the seeds and add in a few habenero peppers to the above recipe. These peppers are among the hottest in the world, so add with moderation. I find one or two habeneros leave my eyes watering. Three and the chili is inedible by most humans with normal taste buds.

Enjoy. And if you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

And while on the subject of recipes, do check out the recipe for Mac & Cheese over at Barking Moonbat EWS. Made it today and it's superb.

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Food Post 1

The NYT publishes a list of healthy vegetables. Fox News tells us of the intersection between watermelon and wood. And there's a great salmon recipe for the grill I am working on.

From the NYT, a list of some very health foods that rarely seem to make onto the U.S. dinner table. Some I knew about, others, such as pumpkin seeds, I had no idea where even edible:

Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, - [eat raw] . . .

Cabbage - . . .

Cinnamon: . . . May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.

Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure . . . [I prefer the fruit over the juice when I can find it]

Dried plums - [i.e., prunes] . . .

Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.

How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.

Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.'’ They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.

How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.

Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,'’ it has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. . . .

Frozen blueberries: . . .

Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.

How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Read the entire article.

And from Fox News, watermelon is nature's Viagra:

Forget the oysters. Texas A&M scientists say watermelon contains ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body's blood vessels and may even increase the libido.

Researchers from Texas A&M have long-studied the fruit and found that it contains natural "enhancers" to the human body.

"We've always known that watermelon is good for you, but the list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study," said Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center, in a news release from the university.

Watermelon and some other fruits and vegetables contain phyto-nutrients, including lycopene, beta carotene and citrulline, which are compounds that produce healthy reactions in the body, Patil said.

Specifically, scientists believe it's the citrulline that has the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does.

When watermelon is consumed, citrulline is converted into the amino acid arginine, which works “wonders on the heart and circulation system, and maintains a good immune system,” Patil said. . . .

Read the entire article.

Grilled Salmon With Spiced Rum Sauce

And last but not least, a great salmon recipe that just came out superb on the grill. This recipe is for a 2 lbs slab of salmon to feed 2 to 3 people.

The marinade and sauce:

1/4 to 1/2 cup liquor (I prefer Cpt Morgan Spiced Rum, but most liquors will work)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbs sugar
2 cloves garlic.

Divide the mix in half. To one half, add 2 tbs olive oil. This is your marinade. Marinade the salmon for 2 hours, turning once.

Reduce the remaining marinade to a sauce to serve on top of the fish.

To reduce a sauce, put it in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. When the bubbles get large, reduce heat to near low and give it a good stir. Continue cooking for a few minutes until it gets to the thickness you want, recognizing that it will thicken a bit more as it cools.

I used a charcoal grill with the top down and some wet hickory chips to maximize the smoke.

Cook the salmon for 11 min per side per inch of thickness 3 to 5 inches from the coals. Enjoy.

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