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Chili

February 2, 2013

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This recipe has evolved over the years with varying input from the family. Since Bill likes it chunky, big chunks of beef were added. The kids like small black and white beans but I like the kidney and lima beans, so we put them all in. But it became too much. Now we limit them to two or three varieties. Because it was too spicy for the kids, the cayenne was reduced. As you can see, this chili recipe can be changed and in the end it will turn out delicious.

Chili

Ingredients

2 pounds of beef stew meat (cut into 1 – 2 inch cubes)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 Tablespoons canola oil

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 green pepper, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds ground lean beef
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (more if needed when the chili is done)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (more if you like spicy)

2 or 3 (16 oz) cans beans, drained and rinsed (kidney, black, white, or lima beans)
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon mollasses
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
8 cups beef broth

STEP 1 In a sealable plastic bag, mix flour, 1/2 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp black pepper. Add beef stew chunks to the bag and shake to lightly coat the beef. Add 2 Tablespoons canola oil into an oven safe pot and heat it on medium-high. Brown the beef chunks in batches (do not over crowd the pot). Use the last Tablespoon of canola oil as needed. Set the brown beef chunks aside in a bowl, they will still be pink on the inside. I don’t brown all the sides, just the top and bottom (see pic 1). Repeat this step with the rest of the beef chunks.

STEP 2 In the same pot without the beef, add olive oil and sauté onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until soft (5 minutes). Turn the heat back up to medium-high and add ground beef, bay leaves, chili powder, oregano, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt and cayenne and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

STEP 3 Add the beef chunks back into the pot along with beans, tomato sauce and paste, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, and beef broth.

STEP 4 Bring the heat up to high. When the chili starts to bubble, turn the heat off and cover it with a lid.

STEP 5 Put the pot in the oven at 350° F for 2 hours.

STEP 6 The liquid will be reduced down and thickened and the beef chucks will be very tender.

Garnish your chili with cheese, avocado, green onions, cilantro, corn chips, lime or extra hot peppers.

enjoy!

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posted by: Bill & Kay 3

3 comments

Super Bowl Snacks and Crafts

January 30, 2013

Football season will be coming to an end a few days from now and the Super Bowl game will determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL). Bill and I grew up watching football every Sunday, the New England Patriots for Bill and the Denver Broncos for me. And as for our kids growing up in Washington state, the Seattle Seahawks. Here I have put together a few snacks and crafts for Super Bowl Sunday: a big bowl of popcorn, pizza, treats and your favorite drinks all on a football field table cover.

The football field table cover project came from Karin Lidbeck-Brent’s Fall tailgate party ideas. This was fairly easy to make using brown Kraft paper, masking tape to make straight lines and a black Sharpie pen to write the numbers.

The football favors are fun to make. Copy the image onto your computer and adjust the size. I printed the image on one side of the paper and fold it in half. Keeping the image on top and as a template for the other half and cut the pieces out. A total of 4 football pieces and one lace. Use a glue stick, to glue the edges together to form a football. Fill it with treats and seal it up. football template {click here}

I had my little helper Caleb put together the pizza, all I did was rolled the pizza dough out and put it in the oven. We made 4 pizzas from the two bags of Trader Joe’s pizza dough.

Ingredients

Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough (1 bag makes 2, 12inch pizzas)
1/4 – 1/2 Cup Pizza Sauce
8 – 10 oz Mozzarella Cheese
Pepperoni slices

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Line the counter top with parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Take the pizza dough out of the bag and divide it in half. Roll them into balls and let them rest on the counter for 15 to 20 minutes.
Roll out the pizza dough with the rolling pin to about 12 inches in diameter.
Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on the pizza dough (almost to the edge). Sprinkle on mozzarella cheese and top it with pepperoni slices.
Lift the parchment paper with the pizza and set it on top of the pizza stone in the oven (a cookie sheet will work just fine). Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.

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After I finished putting together the football field table cover and started to gather the food for the table, my 8 year old son Caleb came to me and said he wanted to help. I said, “That will be great!” Right away he went to work without ever asking what he could help “me” with. Our dining table is about nine feet long, lots of room for us to share. While I was working on one end, my son was at the other end of the table quietly working on his Lego project. As you can see, we had two visions of what to do with the paper football field, you either eat on it or play a game of Lego football. He had a great setup with grand stands, fans, mascots, announcers, and a field with goal posts and players. I thought he was pretty clever.

enjoy the Super Bowl!

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posted by: Bill & Kay 2

2 comments

Miette

December 5, 2012

Miette is French for “crumb”. Miette for me also means a bakery shop of fine pastries, cakes, desserts and sweets. In 2001, Meg Ray began selling layered cakes under a pink tent at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market. Her business grew and in 2003, she opened her first bakery shop in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. There are now four Miette bakery shops in California located at the Ferry Building, Hayes Valley, Jack London Square, and Marin Country Mart. Below are beautiful pictures taken of the bakery shop at the Marin Country Mart by Neely Wang {photography+design} .

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For the past year, I have been enjoying & baking recipes from Meg Ray’s cookbook, Miette . This book is filled with recipes for cakes, tarts, cookies, homemade marshmallows and fleur de sel carmels.

~ cookbook available at Miette & Amazon ~

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A little more about Meg Ray & Miette { click here → You Tube }
&
How to frost a cake, by Meg Ray { click here → You Tube }

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Thank you Neely for sharing your photos with us!

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posted by: Kay 2

2 comments

Homemade Applesauce

November 14, 2012

On our property, we have a few apple trees that the previous owners planted. Not sure as to what types of apples, but they are all wonderful for eating and making applesauce.

Homemade applesauce is delicious & simple to make!

Ingredients

4 cups unsweetened apple juice or cider

5 pounds cooking apples, peeled and quartered

1/3 – 2/3 cup sugar depending on the sweetness (optional)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Step 1: Place the apple juice/cider and apple pieces in a large pot over medium/high heat and bring to a boil.

Step 2: Reduce the heat to medium stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning or sticking. Simmer for about 30-45 minutes until the apples are soft, tender and can smash with a wooden spoon. *If you like chunky applesauce, skip step 3.

Step 3: In batches, puree the apples with a food mill.

Step 4: Transfer puree apples back into the pot and add sugar and cinnamon. Heat the applesauce back up and simmer for about 10 minutes. Ready to be served

Step 5: Ladle the applesauce into warm jars and seal.

Step 6: Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes.

Print Applesauce Recipe {here}

~ The recipe was doubled in the images above ~

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Print Applesauce Recipe {here}

I hope you will try it!

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posted by: Kay 7

7 comments

Sausage Minestrone Soup

October 6, 2012

This is a hearty soup year round. It’s full of vegetables and just enough meat to make it into a meal. The recipe is quite forgiving; adding or taking away certain vegetables will not ruin the soup. The pesto is a key ingredient, do not forget to add it. I used the Trader Joe’s brand, Trader Giotto’s Pesto alla Genovese, basil pesto. Any pesto left, freeze it (in Tablespoon amount) to be used later.

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Ingredients

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…Ingredients

12-16 oz sausage (mild or spicy)
3 Tablespoons good olive oil + 2 teaspoons
2 Tablespoons pesto
2 cups onions, sliced
2 cups fennel bulb, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup carrots sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup yellow/green zucchini, sliced
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans drained and rinsed (or cannelloni or black beans)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
4- 8 cups (7-14 oz) kale, coarsely chopped green leaves without the center stalk
6 – 8 cups chicken broth
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Garnish with parmesan cheese .

Directions

Step1: Brown sausage in a large pot over medium-high heat; transfer to a bowl. Step 2: In the same large pot over medium-high heat, add 3 Tablespoons olive oil, garlic, onion, fennel, celery and carrot; cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Step 3: Add broth, diced tomatoes and cooked sausage, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 10-15 minutes. Step 4 & 5: Add beans, pesto, kale, salt and pepper, and simmer 5 minutes.

Step 6: Saute zucchini in 2 teaspoons olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. *Note: I like to add cooked zucchini pieces when serving to keep them firm.

Garnish with parmesan cheese

~ enjoy ~

(this is a slight variation of Cuisine at Home recipe, Tuscan Minestrone soup) ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

posted by: Bill & Kay 1

1 comments

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Tag Archives | recipe

Chili

Ingredients

Homemade applesauce is delicious & simple to make!

Ingredients

Directions

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…Ingredients

Directions