Chili Con Carne - Jan's way

I follow no recipe here, I can't believe I have gotten to the point of being able to make something from scratch with out using a recipe!  It's about time, I cook quite a bit and have always been afraid of my instincts. 

Chili is an easy recipe to do this with, because you have a lot of wiggle room for error and not a large amount of ingredients.

Lets get started!

The first thing I do is check to see if I have the trifecta of ingredients; onion, celery, carrots.  I'm missing carrots, easy substitute, I have orange bell pepper. See what I mean by wiggle room?

After my trifecta has cooked to the "see through the onion, soft" point, I throw in the ground beef and cook it until it is browned.  Again, wiggle room, add whatever meat you choose or none at all if you are vegetarian.

 

So far so good, easy peasy lemon squeezy and all that jazz.  After the meat has been browned, I add a can of tomato paste.  Why at this point? You add tomato paste, because it is great thickener. You will find that it's normally added at the same time tomatoes are, but you end up chasing around a lump of tomato paste trying to break it down.  But, if you cook it up at this now, it's much easier to break down at the same time brightening up the bland tomato flavor!

(Side note... When I have to use less then a can of tomato paste, I plop it into a baggie and throw it into the freezer to use at a later time.  Like I did here, using my frozen saved tomato paste.)

In addition, using dried herbs, they also need a little push to bring out their flavor.  Yes, I could add it in after the liquids, but I feel adding them at this point, it's not competing with too many ingredients and it infuses with the veggies and meat so nicely.

Not many herbs, I use just Chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic & Worcestershire sauce. (This photographer didn't focus in on the herbs in the picture. oops)

Finally... adding the tomatoes!!  This summer I had a couple of tomato plants, honestly I felt I didn't have enough that warranted sweating over the canning process. So I bagged up some gallon baggies after I made some very chunky tomato sauce.  And this is what I used.  I love that so much. Any gardener will tell you how good if feels to use what you have grown in your cooking.

Gallon of frozen tomato sauce... yah... doesn't quite sit in your dutch oven very well!!!!!

My Wusthof is the knife of choice to break down my frozen brick of tomato sauce. haha

Cooking down nicely, still a bit too liquidy!

After I add the tomatoes I added the Worcestershire Sauce, salt, pepper & some sugar. (adding sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes, so I've read)  I waited an hour and decided to add a bit more tomato paste (wiggle room, are you following??).  In addition this was about the time I added the beans.  Lots of controversy over when to add the canned beans.  Honestly, I have not noticed a difference on when I add them... at the time of adding the tomato sauce or about 30 mn before serving.

Now this is where wiggle room again comes in... after about an hour, I look and taste.  Big huge things to do.

How does it taste? Too bland? Missing an herb? Not spicy enough?  Add some salt or celery salt, add a Tbl of Chili powder a tsp of Cumin or granulated garlic.

How does it look? Too thin? Add some beef broth or maybe some tomato juice depending on what flavor you might be missing or want to add...make that the decision on what liquid you would add.  Too thin? If you have the patience and time, let it cook down another hour.  No time?  Add tomato paste by putting it in a small bowl with some of the chili and mixing it up to loosen it up.  If you don't you will have a chunk of tomato paste floating around, chasing it down trying to break it up. Add another can of beans but mush them up before you put it in.  I love chili beans.

So, again... that wiggle room that seems to be the theme throughout this post?  I decided to add noodles directly into the chili for the first time this round. 

Would I do it again? mmmm probably not.
Why? Because I like my chili slightly loose and I love cornbread.  I feel cheated that I didn't get my warm cornbread to watch the butter melt & honey drip.  Sometimes I think I make chili only for the cornbread.
Was it good?  Oh yes, the flavor of the chili was amazing and the noodles were fun. I got a thumbs up all around the table!

*** I thought my chili was too thick after my noodles were cooked into the chili so I added beef broth until it got to the consistency I like***

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
2 ribs of celery diced
1 sweet bell pepper (any color) diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbl oil
1 lb ground beef
3 15 oz cans beans (I used chili beans)
2 large cans of tomato sauce (look in picture for the amount of tomatoes I used, it filled a gallon baggie)
1 can tomato paste
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 T salt
1 tsp pepper
3 Tbl chili powder
1 Tbl cumin
1 tsp cayenne (or less, or not at all if you don't like it spicy)

Toppings

Sour cream
Shredded cheese of your choice (I used cheddar because it's what I had on hand)
Chopped raw onion

Instructions

1. In a large dutch oven place on burner at medium heat.  Once hot, add oil.
2. Add onion, celery, peppers & garlic, cook until veggies are starting to sweat and become translucent.  I'd say about 10 mn or so.
3. Add ground beef and brown, don't break down the meat too much like a Sloppy Joe, keep the meat a bit chunky.
4. Add tomato paste and stir until it has been combined with everything in pot and cooked through for a couple of minutes.
5. Add spices: Chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.  Cook for about 2 mn, you are just trying to infuse the spices into the meat and veggies here.
6. Add tomato sauce.  When I'm working with canned tomatoes, I used diced canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.  One large can of diced tomatoes and large can of tomato sauce.  They even sell some that are called "Chili Ready".  Or dig through your cupboards and use whatever you have for tomatoes.  Fresh, frozen, canned, v-8 juice.  Any combo will work. Honestly!!!
7. Add sugar
8. Cook for about an hour.  
9.  Add beans.  If it's chili beans you are using, don't drain.  I would drain using other kinds of beans. It's really a matter of whether you want a bit of that bean taste in your chili.
10. At this point you should know how the chili is going to taste. Adjust here.  You should also have a good idea the thickness or too much liquid. Check for suggestions above on how to adjust.  So much depends on the time you have to sit it out and cook it.  Just like making homemade spaghetti sauce!
11. Cook up  your cornbread, make your noodles now, add your noodles in now (remember, noodles absorb a lot of water so make sure you have enough liquid to handle it - you can always add beef broth after if it absorbed too much liquid) 
12. ENJOY!

I love tips and suggestions. Please feel free to shoot me any edits or suggestions!!

Millie's Cakes

There won't be any pictures to these recipes because once the cakes were made, they were eaten!!!

As a kid we used to spend the first two weeks of July at a small resort in Northern Minnesota called Sunset Bay. There were only 6 cabins, plus the owner's house and about 13 trailers on the property. It was a magical time for us kids. The favorite blue bedroom faced the lake and when we settled down into our bed (because we had to share) we would open up the windows and hear the loons calling out their beautiful song.

Every summer the resort would put on some sort of big picnic. It was a pot luck and of course, I always had my eye on Millie's cakes. I got the recipes from her almost 30 years ago and they are still my go to cake recipes. Even the most ardent "I hate cake" eaters gobble it down with crumbs and frosting sticking to their face.

Many years later, my parents along with 3 other couples (Including Millie and her husband Carl) purchased the resort. The cabins are now homes for each of the aging owners.  Sadly, there hasn't been any potluck big picnics for years. Just incredible memories so that I'm grateful I got the cake recipes from Millie all of those years ago!!

I'd love to hear any memories of Sunset Bay and the picnics if anyone reads this post.

Millie’s Dark Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

1 ¾ C Flour (I would use cake flour)

2 C Sugar

¾ C Hershey Cocoa (or any good cocoa)

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C Milk

½ C Oil

2 tsp Vanilla

1 C boiling water

Directions

●     Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl

●     Add remaining ingredients (except boiling water)

●     Blend well in mixer

●     Add boiling water (batter will be thin)

●     Pour into greased & floured cake pan

Bake

●     Layer cake: 30-35 mn

●     13x9: 35-40 mn

FROST CAKE IMMEDIATELY - 5 mn Frosting

Ingredients

6 Tbl butter

½ C Hershey’s cocoa

2 ⅔ C Powdered sugar

4-5 Tbl Milk

1 Tbl Vanilla

Directions

●     Cream butter until soft and fluffy

●     Add cocoa and blend well

●     Gradually add powdered sugar

●     Alternating w/milk & vanilla

●     Beat to spreading consistancy

●     Drop on cake in globs, its easier to spread if you let it warm up to the cake

Millie’s Mandarin Cake with Pineapple Frosting

Ingredients

1 Yellow Cake Mix

3 oz package of Instant Vanilla pudding mix

3 eggs

¼ C oil

1 can 11oz Mandarin Oranges (don’t drain)

½ tsp Orange extract

Directions

·         Mix & Bake cake according to cake box directions

·         Cool cake completely

Frosting (while cake is baking)

1 8oz container of cool whip (or make your own from scratch)

3 oz package of Instant Vanilla pudding mix

16 oz can crushed pineapple (don’t drain)

Directions

·         Mix all ingredients together in a bowl

·         Store in a covered container in the refrigerator

·         Spread onto cooled cake

 

Galompkis - aka Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

What is a Galumpki? From where my mother's side of the family comes from, it is what stuffed cabbage is called. There is a whole debate out there amongst my mother's family on not only the spelling of galumpkis, but also what you put inside and on top of them.

My recipe comes from one of my Mother's Sister's daughter... my cousin. I have no doubt when and if they read my blog, I will get comments on how I put this recipe out here incorrectly. Alas... being a Pitzel by nature, I don't care!!

It's a rather simple recipe, cabbage, ground meat (in this recipe I used ground turkey, but you can use ground beef or a combo of ground beef and pork)& rice. Pretty basic right?

Let's start with the cabbage. Ah, the cabbage, the pungent smell of cooking cabbage. You must choose your cabbage head wisely. The best size is between 6" - 8" in diameter. A cabbage head too small would produce a galompki the right size fora small child. And we know they tend to be wasted on the child, they don't seem to have the same taste for this delicacy as we adults. A cabbage head too large would produce a galompki just the right size for my 6' 4" husband!

The secret to making the unique and flavorful galompki just right is the cabbage leaf. The recipe calls for cooking the cabbage just right, so as not to overcook making them too soggy and they will fall apart or under cook the cabbage leaves which causes them to be tough and impossible to roll.

Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to boil, this will be for the cabbage.

While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the filling:
* I used 3 lbs of ground turkey, but my recipe calls for 2 lbs of ground beef and 1 lb of ground pork.
* 1 large onion finely chopped
* salt & pepper
* 1 egg (used as binder)
* 1 cup uncooked white or brown rice
* 2 cups water
Bring 2 cups of water and rice to a boil, then turn of stove and let sit.
Mix all ingredients together except for the rice.
Drain rice, and add the rice to the meat mixture and mix well.

Preparing the Cabbage Leaves for rolling:
* Two cabbage heads 6'8" in diameter
* Cut the core out of the cabbage
* Place cabbage in a large kettle of boiling water
* Simmer until leaves are pliable but not soft!
* Pull off leaves one at a time as they get pliable. This goes fast, be ready!

Assembly of galompki:
* Large bag of sauerkraut

Lay a cabbage leaf with the big vein facing down. Place 1/4 cup of filling on top of lower part of cabbage leaf. Roll up the cabbage leaf a little, then tuck the sides in and finish rolling. Just like an eggroll.

Place finished cabbage rolls on a separate plate. There will be extra cabbage leaves left over once all of the meat mixture has been used. Place some of these leaves on the bottom of a sturdy large dutch oven.

Stack rolls on top of the leaves, once you have a layer completed, put a layer of sauerkraut on top of them. Put the next layer of rolls and another layer of sauerkraut. Top this with more cabbage leaves.

Cover tightly leaving about 1" to the top to prevent spillage. I use a broiler pan lined in tinfoil and place the pot on top of this to catch any spillage.

Cook at 325° for about 2-4 hours. When it's done, pretty much any green that was in the cabbage leaf will be gone and it will be clear or white. It's not the prettiest meal to eat, but it is one of the yummiest!!!

Baking Bread

I have a major fail in baking that I occasionally attempt. Making bread from scratch. Today a blogger that I follow "Knead to Cook" gave me a link to the perfect loaf of french bread.

Using the bread hook to knead the dough :)

It's pretty embarrassing... I mean, c'mon. Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt. 4 ingredients. How hard can this be? For some reason, I have been over thinking this whole bread thing.

But in a way, it's kind of a blessing in disguise. I truly am born a carb addict. And if I knew how to bake bread, I'd have been in big trouble at a much earlier age.

It's RISING!! This is a good sign :)

In college I lived on the East side of town and to get to the campus I had to drive down the road that housed a commercial bakery and a Mom and Pop bakery. I swear to God they pumped out the scent of that wonderful yeasty smelling bread as it baked.

I do believe I succeeded for the first time ever... well, sort of. I managed the measuring, I managed the mixing and the kneading. I even succeeded in raising the dough like Lazarus!! When it came time to forming and then moving the dough to the baking stone... well, lets just say it reshaped into a form that looked a little like a snake that swallowed something. LOL.

In the end, it was cut and had that beautiful crispy crust, butter was spread on it,the inside was wonderfully soft and the taste was perfect! Maybe I should say I formed the loaves like that on purpose????

To get the recipe, copy and past this link. Because I haven't quite figured out how to add a link to my blog so that you can just click on it. ;)
steamykitchen.com/75-baking-the-perfect-loaf-of-french-bread.html

Split Pea & Ham Soup - warms your chilly weather toes

My daughter in laws sister, Amanda, just started a new blog... and it inspired me to post again :) Thank you Amanda!!!

It always seems like I tend to kick up the cooking a bit when the weather gets cooler. I do like to turn that stove top and oven on but when it is hot out, we grill. Grilling, which I can do quite well by the way, seems to be the hubby's domain. I may have elected him to that spot, not sure if he chose it ;)

I notice that it's cooler when I find myself wearing socks constantly. I'm there now. Switching between my Smartwool and Acorn socks are keeping these tooties toasty. (those brands were introduced to me by my sister Gretchen in Maine.) Socks on the feet mean that I can use the oven and stove top and we aren't going to need the ceiling fan on to keep cool in the house!

And soup is always on the menu in the fall through the summer. Warm/Hot soup. There are wonderful soups for cool weather, for me... I like the warm/hot soups that are savory and filling. YUM

I grew up with a mother who made soups all the time. I was a picky eater, so I hated it!! All those nasty chunky items floating in the water that is flavored of beef, chicken, creamy... YUCK! Tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots... REALLY MOM???

What a foolish, foolish child I was. I would give anything to go back in time with the tastebuds I own now and enjoy her soups while she had her senses (taste/smell) and everything she made was incredible.

This recipe is from my sister Gretchen that she found. It's Split Pea and Ham. Mom is making it today, but I'm making her follow the recipe. She still cooks great, but the lack of smell/taste has affected her final product. I am assisting her in the kitchen, I imagine I'm annoying the hell out of her, but I've already caught her making a couple of major mistakes. EEEEK! Oh btw, my mom is close to 80. Should I cut her some slack??? NAH!!

GOTTA HAVE THE BREAD!!!!!!!!

Recipe

Split Pea & Ham

Yield : 6 portions
Ingredients

1 pound dried green split peas
5 cups Chicken Stock or canned broth
5 cups water
1 meaty ham bone, or 2 smoked ham hocks
2 ribs celery, leaves included, diced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
½ teaspoon crumbled dried tarragon leaves
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 cup diced peeled carrots
1 cup diced onion
1 leek (white part only), rinsed and sliced
1 cup slivered fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons dry sherry
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Rinse the split peas in a strainer, and then combine them with the stock and water in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil.

2. Add the ham bone, celery, 1 tablespoon of the parsley and the tarragon. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, onion, and leek. Cook until the vegetables are wilted, 10 minutes. Add them to the soup pot, along with the spinach. Simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes.

4. Remove the soup from the heat. Remove the ham bone, and shred the meat from the bone, removing any excess fat. Return the meat to the soup.

5. Add the sherry, pepper, and remaining 2 tablespoon parsley. Heat through, and serve immediately.


© 1989 Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins
Note from Cookstr's Editors

Stuffed Mini Eggplant with Zucchini and 3 Cheeses

A friend has asked a couple of times to come up with a vegetarian dish. I actually love non meat food so I was looking forward to finding something really yummy. In addition, another person asked for a squash recipe! Okay, I can do this. No prob. As I was strolling through the Minneapolis Farmer's Market I came across these absolutely adorable mini eggplants! I had to get them. Even though I had no idea what to do with them. Snatched them up, yes I did :) Next down the line were these beautiful yellow and green small zucchinis. Summer squash, right there. Oh yah.

Next up was to find a recipe that used one or both of these. I did my faithful google search and found this wonderful recipe that not only used the eggplant and squash, it also called for 3 herbs I had in my garden. Mint, parsley and basil. Cha-ching. Hitting the jackpot now. And seriously, it had 3 cheeses in it. mmm yah.

In this pan slowly simmering and steaming are the chunks of eggplant scooped out from the insides, zucchini, herbs, oil, shallot and garlic. It smelled soooo good!!!!

The instructions did not tell me HOW to steam the eggplant in the pan, so I just figured the best way would be similar to doing big squash in the oven; cut side down. It came out perfect :)

Once the eggplant had softened enough it was time to stuff. Now the item to bake these lil fellas in was tough. I first tried a square baking pan. That didn't work, they fell right over. I just stared in my cupboard and zeroed in on the mini-muffin pan. Wah lah... it worked!!

Covered in tinfoil, baked in the over for 25 minutes, they came out steaming and looking beautiful. Topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, bake into the oven for 5 mn of melting and they are done!

RECIPE
8 mini or japanese eggplants
2 tsp extra virg olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 Tbl fresh basil
2 Tbl minced fresh parsley
2 Tbl fresh mint
1 medium zucchini (about 2 cups) pealed and chopped
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup non fat or part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 large egg
2 Tbl grated Parmesan cheese

Cut off tops of egg plants and scoop out inside leaving shell for stuffing.

Heat oil in medium sized pan over medium high heat. Add shallot, garlic, basil, parsley and mint. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes. Add zuchhini & eggplant and stir well to blend herbs. Add vegetable broth and turn up heat to medium high until it boils. Cover pan and reduce to medium low and simmer for 15 mn. It needs to be soft enough to mash.

Once veggies have softened, remove from pan with a slotted spoon into a mixing bowl leaving liquids behind.

Place eggplants in pan, cut side down, cover and simmer until soft (NOT MUSHY)for about 10 mn. Turn oven on to °350.

Directions said to spray a square baking pan with non stick spray but they fell over for me. I used a mini muffin pan and it worked great. A regular sized muffin pan would probably work too.

Smash the eggplant/zucchini mixture until somewhat smooth. Add the ricotta, Gruyere cheeses, bread crumbs and egg. Mix well. Stuff each mini eggplant to the top. Cover the baking dish with tinfoil. Pop into the oven for 25 mn. Uncover the foil and top with parmesan cheese. Pop back into oven for 5 mn. until cheese has melted. ENJOY!

Janz Hot Dilly Beans

Really? The last time I posted was SPRING!!! Spring and Summer for me, is all about OUTSIDE! Up North boating, in the backyard by the pool, putzing in the garden, walks through the Park Reserve and just soaking up the warm weather.

When one lives in Minnesota the thought is always in your mind "winter is coming" even on the first day of spring, as the snow is melting, that goes through your mind. "WINTER IS COMING". Given that... it is my only excuse for not posting :)

What gets me back into the kitchen always is the canning of produce. I don't do a lot of canning, maybe some beans, tomatoes, jellies and jams. It's a simple simple thing to do, you feel like you are being "green" and you get to enjoy the summer's treat of produce in the middle of winter. In addition to having a stock of gifts that you can give throughout the year. Low expense gifts....who could resist this?

I was at the Farmer's Market in Minneapolis looking for some summer squash, peppers and tomatoes when I saw green beans. Mountains of green beans. The scent of dill was also heavily in the air. On a whim I picked up about 2.5 lbs of the beans, fresh dill, jalapeno peppers and I was ready to rock the Hot Dilly Beans at home.

Next stop was Fleet Farm to pick up more bottles. I love Fleet Farm, it always surprises me when I walk through... everything you need is at Fleet Farm. That could be a blog topic all on itself so I won't digress.

Of course, I had to reintroduce myself to canning and a recipe for Hot Dilly Beans. I had a wonderful dill pickle recipe from the web, a friend gave me her Dilly Bean recipe and then of course, I had to put my touch on it so the final product is the result of 3 recipes combined. (Recipe listed below)

First up was to clean the beans and cut them the size the need to be to fit into our bottles.

When you do this, just make sure the bean is about 1/4" below the rim of the jar. And you need to stuff them in as tight as they can fit. And no, I do not have Man Hands... my wonderful husband was helping me. :)

While stuff the beans into the jar, add in the dill, peppercorns, garlic and hot peppers. If you do it while stuffing the beans, so it's pressed against the glass, the final product looks so pretty. Especially if you are giving away as gifts.

As the stuffing commences there should be a large pot on your stove top filled with the mixture of water, vinegar and salt heating up. This will be poured into the jar of beans ect. And of course the giant pot of boiling water which will be your hot bath for the jars of beans. Do these two things before you even start cutting, cleaning and stuffing your jars with the beans. It takes awhile to heat up the hot bath.

Slowly lower your jars into the hot bath and it's always wise to have an extra pot of hot water on the side just in case the water does not cover the jars once they are all in.

What always confused me was the instruction... "let the jars sit in the hot bath for 15 mn" What does that mean? Does that mean that when I lower the jars into the boiling water, it should come up to a boil and thats when I start counting the minutes? NOPE. It means, bring that water up to a boil, lower the jars and from there... time it for 15 mn!!

Pull those processed beautiful jars of dilly beans from the water and let sit on your counter until they have cooled down :) Remember, you don't have to put these bad boys in the fridge to store, they can go in your cupboard! The biggest key is to wait 3 days to a week before you give them a try. Don't get impatient and open them up 15 mn after you pulled them from the water. They have to infuse the flavor and marinate until the delishness is ready!

Enjoy!! Eat them all by their lonesome, add them to your Bloody Mary's, chop them up and throw them on your salad. Whatever! Just enjoy :)

Janz Hot Dilly Beans
For the brine:
3 cups water
3 cups vinegar
1/3 cup canning salt (don't use table salt)
*Mix all ingredients together in a pot, bring to boil and turn down to keep hot until you are ready to pour over the beans.

For the Beans:
3 lbs fresh beans
whole peppercorns
Fresh Dill flower and stem
Jalapeno pepper
Whole dried hot red pepper
Whole garlic cloves peeled
*To each tall pint jar add 1 tsp whole pepper corn, 1 dill head with about 3" stem attached, start stuffing with green beans when it's about half full of beans, add the whole hot red pepper (you can add the pepper or jalapeno or both) & garlic so that it's up against the glass and then stuff the rest of the beans until you can't fit anymore.
*Note: I didn't know how hot the red peppers would be so I did one jar with one red pepper, one jar with 2 red peppers and another jar with 2 jalapeno peppers. I'm experimenting here to find out which is the hottest.
*Another note: The garlic came right from my brother Mike's garden. I love that :)
*After you have stuffed the beans, fill the jars with the hot brine until about 1/4" below the top. Wipe off the rims of each jar so the seal will be perfect and no bacteria will develop with a bad seal.
*Lower the sealed jars into the hot boiling bath water and immediately start timing 15 minutes.
*Remove after the 15 minutes and let sit. LET SIT FOR AT LEAST A WEEK to enjoy the wonder of the Hot Dilly Beans!