Chili Recipe

This is an adapted recipe for chili that Brett found on the website Deadspin (not food related). I tailored it a bit to my liking and the results have been great. So good, that Brett no longer makes his chili anymore, because he says this is better. Its also surprisingly healthy when you use the turkey instead of ground beef, with very minimal difference in taste. Here is the recipe -- the key is to top it with scallions, makes it very savory. Enjoy!

FOR THE CHILI:
2 packs ground beef or turkey
1 onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped (optional)
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 large can crushed tomatoes
3 can chili beans, undrained
1 can beer
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fennel seed
2 tbsp cumin (add more at end if necessary)
2 tbsp chili powder (add more at end if necessary)
1/4 cup white vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Your favorite Hot Sauce (how much ever you like)

2 glugs olive oil

FOR THE SIDES:
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Hot sauce
1 bunch scallions, chopped

Put a big pot on the stove on medium. Pour in the oil. When it's hot, toss in the onions, garlic, jalapeno, and shallots and stir them around until soft. Toss in the ground meat. Salt and pepper the ground meat in the pot. Sautee the meat until it's good and brown. Add the tomatoes, beans, beer, broth, liquid smoke, sugar, cumin, chili powder, fennel seed, vinegar, and hot sauce. Bring it to a simmer. Half cover the pot and leave it on low medium heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally and always tasting. The liquid in the pot should reduce into a nice, thick stew. Dip in a chip to see if the chili sticks to it. If it does, it's ready to serve.

Here are some pics from when we made it Sunday night after a long drive home from Louisville.

Putting the finishing touches on my bowl of chili

Finished product

Thanksgiving!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Last weekend, we had a weekend of firsts in the Norton household.

1. We had our first party in our apartment with all of our new wedding-gifted serving stuff.

2. I cooked my first turkey.

3. We started a fire in the oven.

So overall, a very successful Saturday. My dad came over in the morning to help prep the turkey and make the stuffing.

Stuffing:

We used a stuffing mix with already seasoned bread crumbs. But we added sauteed mushrooms, onions and celery, along with lots of butter and some water. The Norton family really likes stuffing, so we made more than what would fit in the bird, so there was extra that we heated up at meal time.

Turkey:

This was a big bird...22 lbs! Once it was cleaned, stuffed, and sealed up it was rubbed with some olive oil and put in the oven. Total cook time was about 6 hours, with basting every 20-25 minutes and a foil shield over it after 2 hours.

So we took it out of the oven, and then began cooking/warming the other dishes for the party. These dishes included mac'n cheese, Tay's twice baked sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and pinneapple casserole, some biscuits, cranberry chutney and some other wonderful creations. We also had some brownies, pumpkin pie, sangria, and hot apple cider.

It was during the baking of biscuits that a party attendee said to me "there's smoke coming out of the oven!" And sure enough, some drippings from the turkey had caught fire and were now smoking up the kitchen/small apartment. I may have freaked out a tiny bit. But it burned itself out before too long, and Tay fanned around the now beeping smoke detector.

Everything turned out ok, we had a laugh, and all the dishes except for that batch of biscuits were delicious.

We had a blast.

But, as with any Thanksgiving, there are leftovers. Today I got home early from work and wanted a leftover something. Unfortunately, I can't claim this as my own idea, but I made a Thanksgiving sandwich. Bountiful Bread was a Panera-like restaurant in Westport Village when it first opened. Sadly, it closed. But my favorite thing there was a panini with turkey breast, stuffing, cranberry mayo and cheese melted on top. So that's what I made, but with chutney instead of mayo. IT WAS SO GOOD! Washed down with some apple cider, it was a perfect turkey day revisited experience.

Vegas Eats Part Deux

Monday:

Monday we took a stroll from THEhotel down the strip all the way down to Caesar's Palace. We must have walked for 2 hours, but it was much needed exercise, as our day of eating was just beginning.
We met Crystal's brother, Kevin, and his fiance', Stacey, for lunch at Yellowfin in Bellagio for some sushi that everyone seemed to be craving. Unfortunately for us, Yellowfin was not open for lunch. So, after trying 2 more closed sushi places, we decided on Joe's stone crab for lunch. Now, Joe's is one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago and is actually where Crystal and I ate the night we got engaged. Steaks are out of this world and seafood is top notch. Maybe it was due to it being lunch vs. dinner or maybe just the location in Caesars, but did not see how the Vegas version stacked up to the Chicago edition of Joe's. Stacey had the crab legs, I had the ahi tuna sandwich and the rest got the beef tenderloin sandwich. Everything was good, no complaints, but just did not do it for me the way it does in Chicago. Not a bad Monday lunch though, I must admit. On the positive side, it did have a great location for people watching, which is quite enjoyable in Vegas.

Sunday night took Crystal and I to the Venetian Hotel for Phantom of the Opera and dinner at Bouchon Bistro. Of course, we decided that food would be a good option before the show, because god forbid we were the slightest bit hungry during the 1.5 hr show. So, we stopped into Delmonico, Emeril Lagasse's steakhouse. Sitting at the bar, we enjoyed some Creole boiled shrimp cocktail and a heirloom and mozzerella salad. Both were good and hit the spot. Nothing overly special about them, but could tell it was high quality food that was seasoned very well. Would go back for sure.

After the show, we headed up to the Venezia tower for our 9:15 reservation at Bouchon.

Bouchon was very much a french bistro and really looked the part:

Overall, the meal had some highlights, but may have been slightly overrated in our opinion. I think seeing Thomas Keller's name had built up such anticipation for us, that it would have been difficult for any restaurant to meet our expectations. However, there were some definite bright spots of the meal.

One was the uniqueness of the meal, they put warm house made bread directly on the table, served it with warm pistachios (outstanding, I am going to microwave all pistachios from now on...j/k) and dijon mustard. The waiter was also a trip, I ended up really liking him, mainly because of his wine and dessert recommendations, but he definitely had a lot of bravado. He recommended, actually just brought, a tasty Oregon Pinot Noir called Patricia Green to pair with our meal, after he noticed me struggling over their mainly French wine list. He also brought us a dessert that was not on the menu named after the restaurant. It was corked shaped mini-brownies (Bouchon means cork in French, I learned), topped with banana ice cream, caramelized bananas and crumbled cookie. It was gone in about 5 seconds, really good. Will have to get the profiteroles next time.

The other highlights were my duck confit and Crystal's scallop entree. Her scallops were cooked as perfectly as a scallop can be cooked and was served with mushrooms and fennel. My duck confit was really tasty, just pure duck fat flavor. It could have been a bit rich or salty for some people, but it hit the spot for me. Duck confit is a dish that has intrigued me for awhile now, since seeing how it is made on tv and how long it takes to make it (weeks). This was my first true experience with it, but pretty certain it was not my last.

Overall, the trip was an exhausting long weekend filled with great food and company, lots of drinks, bad luck at the tables and plenty of people watching.

Cannot wait to go back.

Vegas Eats

Vegas was a great time and I have to say it is pretty tough to be home and back to work. Crystal and I ate and drank our way through Vegas over the long weekend. I will spare all of the details, but give you some of the highlights of the trip and go into detail about our two big dinners.

Saturday:

To start, we stayed at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay in one of their V-suites. The room was great and was slightly smaller than our condo. It had 1.5 baths and a separate living room and bedroom. For the rate we got it at, I must say it was a tremendous value. When we got in on Saturday we ate a really late lunch at a place called Border Grill, that was good mexican food. Nothing out of this world, but certainly a filling and much needed lunch. Would recommend their guacamole and the carnitas tacos. Margarita was nothing special though.

Our next meal did not come until almost midnight, after an extended night of drinking and gambling. We decided to soak up some booze with burgers and fries from the Burger Bar in Mandalay. This place is owned by Hubert Keller, who has a few upscale places, but must say the guy can make a burger. Burgers were pretty coarsely ground and were served medium rare. Burgers were great, but the best part of the meal was when a drunk woman tripped over a bar stool and ended up legs straight up in the air laying on the floor. Vegas!

Sunday:

Sunday was mainly spent watching and betting on NFL football. Lunch was rather mundane at a place called Nine Irish Men pub in New York, New York. Cool place, average food. Wouldn't recommend for food, but if you are in the casino and want to get a pint, its serviceable.

Dinner on Sunday was the star of the trip food wise. CraftSteak at MGM Grand! It was a suberp steakhouse that served not only delicious steaks (right up there with the best I have had), but great sides, desserts, and starters. One of the better meals I have ever had and the atmosphere and staff was top notch. I will be back.

Starters -- Crystal had the Lobster bisque and I had a spinach salad with truffles and asian pear. I remarked to Crystal that even with the salad I could tell we were eating a great place. It had so much flavor for so little ingredients. It was excellent. Crystal's lobster bisque was decadent, it had large chunks of lobster and a very creamy tarragon flavored base. It was phenomenal. Crystal is a bit of a lobster bisque expert and I think this may have been her favorite.

Entrees -- I had the dry aged New York Strip, it was served carved off the bone and was massive. 16 oz. was listed on the menu, but this had to be more. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was as good of a steak as I can remember having. Not over seasoned or gimmicky, they just let the steak shine.

Crystal had the surf and turf (I must have inspired her from my meal on Friday) which was a filet mignon with grilled prawns. The prawns were seasoned very nicely and were quite large. Her steak actually had an interesting flavor to it, which she did not care for. So, I gave her half my steak and I had a little turf and turf. Her steak was flavored in what I can only describe as the flavor of a chinese duck dish. Could not place it exactly. It worked for me, but found my steak to offer a much purer steak flavor.

We got some risotto as a side dish and it had butternut squash and hen of the woods mushrooms. All I can say is mmmmm...would go back just for that.

Dessert -- Monkey Bread, not the most elegant or refined dessert I have ever had, but one of the better tasting ones. Great way to end the meal.

Wine -- Had a great bottle of wine with this dinner, 2006 Hall Cabernet. It was big, bold and held up very well to the flavors of the steak. A great wine that I will look forward to drinking again soon. For a wine this good, it is a great value at under $40 retail. A definite go to wine for special occasions.

Will be back over the weekend to discuss Monday's meals...

Birthday Dinner for Phyllis

I invited Phyllis over last night to continue to celebrate her birthday, and I got to create a couple of new recipes to share with you guys.

Quinoa with Jicama

2 cups of vegetable stock

1 cup quinoa

3 T onion, diced

1 cup of diced jicama, about a fourth of one.

3 T red bell pepper, diced

3 scallions, diced, include most of stem

In saucepan with tight fitting lid, place all ingredient and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until quinoa start to open up.

Caribbean Mahi Mahi

1 lb of Mahi Mahi fillets
2 T Old Bay seasoning
2 T ground ginger
1/4 of small onion, thinly sliced
3 scallion, diced including stems
1/2 of a mango, diced
3 T diced red bell pepper
2/3 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 cup sugar snap peas
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
2 T olive oil

Pat dry the Mahi fillets and rub with the Old Bay and ginger, let the fillets rest at least 20 minutes.
In a small skillet heat 1 T of olive oil and saute the onions over medium heat until soft, add the mangos, scallions and red peppers and cook a few more minutes to just get the mango and peppers soft.
In a large skillet add the remaining olive oil, saute the snap pea for 2-3 minutes. Spoon the peas on top of the vegetables in the small skillet.
Add the mahi fillet to the large skillet and saute them for about 3 minutes a side. Remove to a serving platter or on to dinner plates.
Turn the heat on the small skillet to get the vegetable hot, only a minute or so. Top mahi fillets with the vegetables and enjoy!

Here is Phyllis at Colligiate's Soccer game against Central Hardin, in sub-regional final.

Colligiate lost in overtime.

It was rediculously cold, what a trooper!

Surf and Turf

Tonight for dinner I decided to do my take on surf and turf. We are leaving for Vegas in the morning and I had the day off, so figured why not get the party started early.

We started with an arugula and grape tomato salad topped with "fried" goat cheese balls and a balsamic vinaigerette that I whisked up. The dressing was outstanding and had dijon mustard, minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. of sugar and olive oil. Delicious. The fried goat cheese balls did not work out quite as planned, they fell apart when pan fried- but the taste was there. We'll have to try that one again some other time.

Next it was on to the main course -- I did all of Crystal's favorites tonight, just in a miniature version.

Crab cakes -- lump jumbo crab meat, mayo, egg whites, fresh breadcrumbs, cilantro, old bay seasoning, and softened onions and garlic. Formed into small balls and then pan fried. I topped this with a cajun remoulade sauce, basically a kicked-up mayo.

Beef Tenderloin "Slider" -- I took Challah sandwich rolls and grilled on our panini maker. I topped with a homemade horseradish cream sauce and seared beef tenderloin. It was delicious, the horseradish made it and the Challah was very shabbat like.

Mushroom Risotto -- good ole' risotto, it never fails. Pain in the ass to make, because it is so high maintenance, but it is so good. Shitake and Crimini mushrooms, roasted and added to a parmesean and white wine risotto. I topped with some fresh parsley and shaved parmasean cheese. Always a hit.

Dessert -- not much a baker, so cheated a bit here. We are having cupcakes from our neighborhood bakery, Dinkels. They are so fluffy and delicious. A guilty pleasure.

So to recap, my diet is blown, but its vacation, so why not. We'll send in pics from our meals in Vegas, have a couple of great places lined up that I am very excited about.

New Carribean Recipes

Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Hot Mango Relish

Orange Marinade Chicken
4 - 5 Chicken breast diced
1 cup orange juice
3 T lime juice
2 cloves of garlic diced
2 T soy sauce

Mix ingredients for marinade and add chicken.
Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.

Place chicken on skewers and grill approximately 8 minutes.

Serve with Hot Mango Relish, recipe follows.

Note: if using wooden skewers, be sure to soak for at least an hour before using.
Also, spray grill or wipe with oil to prevent chicken from sticking.

Hot Mango Relish

from Joe Famularo's "The Joy of Healthy Grilling"

1/4 cup + 1 T water
2 T sugar
1 T mustard seeds
1 1-inch of fresh ginger, diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 casabella dried pepper, coarsely diced
2 T rice wine vinegar
1/2 of fresh mango, peeled and diced

In saucepan combine water, sugar, mustard seeds, ginger, garlic and dried pepper.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for approximately 4 minutes or until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the vinegar and the mangos.
Place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

Latin Slaw

1/2 large jicami, peeled and rough chopped
1/2 medium head of white cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup of rough chopped carrots
1/4 small onion, rough chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
4-5 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon of white pepper

Use a food processor (grate blade) or hand grater to grate the jicami, carrots and onion.
Combine all ingredient and mix well. Let stand a minimun of 1 hours prior to serving.
Slaws keeps well for several days.

This recipes will serve 10-12

Shellye's Finger Lickin Lamb Meatballs

3# ground lamb
1.5 cups cooked long grain brown rice
1.5 cups crumbled feta cheese
2 T Cavendars spice blend
1 t granulated garlic
1 t salt

Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Roll into 1/2 oz. balls (about half the size of a golf ball)

Preheat oven to 350. Bake on oiled cookie sheet for approximately 30 minutes or until the meatballs are firmed up.

Serve with Tzatziki Sauce, recipe follows.

Tzatziki Sauce

2 - 4 oz containers of Greek style plain yogurt
2 small salad cucumbers (half a large cucumber) peeled, seeded and finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 T lemon juice
1 T fresh parsley, finely diced

Mix all ingredient and let rest in refrigerator a least 2 hours before serving.

Cuban Black Beans

1 large and 1 small can of black beans, drained
1 qt chicken or vegetable stock
2 casabella or other dried chili, seeded and diced
3 green onions, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper

In medium saucepan bring all ingredient to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Beans are ready to serve. If a thicker presentation is desired, take a potato masher and lightly smash the beans to release the starch. You want to preserve the bean shape, so not too much smashing.

serves 15

Note: you can use left over beans to make Black Bean and Corn Salsa by adding cooked corn, a little salsa and hot sauce.