Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili

So for Christmas my dear husband gave me my very first piece of LeCreuset cookware, it was the 7 quart dutch oven in Dune! I love it, I have had that on my Christmas list for what seems like forever! Now I was determined to find a recipe to christen my new cookware with, he suggested Chili! Call me crazy but I have never made a chili!

I searched and searched for what looked like a good chili recipe, I wanted something a little spicy, kind of smoky, some beans (but not a lot.) This version has BACON in it, and I knew that was the one for us. Use a good thick cut smoky bacon for this, not the breakfast type stuff if you can, it will make a difference!

I've always imagined that making chili involved a HUGE pot that made enough chili to feed a small army, but I was kind of surprised that this made a reasonable amount, easily managed by just the two of us.

Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili (from Sunset Recipe Collection)

2 slices thick-cut bacon, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (I used a 'meatloaf mix' from the butcher...veal, pork, and beef)
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder (I opted for Penzeys Chili 9000 blend, it was awesome!)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
About 1 tsp. salt
1 can (14.5 oz.) crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 cup beer-pale ale worked well for me
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 can (14.5 oz.) pinto beans, drained
Sour cream, sliced scallions, and/or grated cheddar for topping

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon, stirring until it just begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add onion, lower heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 4 to 7 minutes. Uncover pan, stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute.

Increase heat to medium-high and add ground beef; break it up with a wooden spoon and stir gently until it loses its raw color, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in spices and 1 tsp. salt and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, beer, and Worcestershire and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially, and cook 30 minutes.

Add beans and cook 10 minutes, uncovered. Season to taste with additional salt. Serve warm, with toppings on the side.

Apple Pancakes

This is perfect Sunday morning brunch treat, as usual, Penzeys has yet to steer me wrong!

Apple Pancakes (from Penzeys)

2 granny smith apples

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup flour

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide butter into 2 glass pie plates and place in oven, the butter will melt while the rest of the ingredients are assembled.

Combine eggs, flour, vanilla, salt, and milk in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Peel the apples and slice, roughly about one cm. thick. The thickness can vary, but don't them get to thick or they will not cook uniformly.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a separate dish. Working in batches, dip the apples in the cinnamon sugar.

Pull the two pie plates out of the oven when butter has melted and swirl the plates to coat with the butter. Arrange the cinnamon sugar dipped apples in the pie plate and divide and pour the batter over the arranged apples, the remaining Cinnamon sugar should be dusted over the prepared dishes. Move the pie plates into the heated oven.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. The pancakes will be light and fluffy when finished. Garnish with a dusting of powdered sugar and keep some maple sugar close by if you'd like, it's mighty tasty.

Penzeys Rubbed Ribs

I wanted to make my first blog entry to really represent summer to me. Today was a beautiful late summer day in MN and I was ready to fire the grill up again. Today for dinner I am preparing BBQ Pork Ribs, red skinned mashed potatoes. Everyone has their own interpretation as to what a decent rib rub is and their version of mashed potatoes, but I am going to show you mine.

Earlier this season I, admittedly, was scared of ribs. There are endless ways to make them-which one was the right way? did I have the right tools? did I have the right meat? Then I thought to myself and realized...it's just meat, if it doesn't turn out, it doesn't turn out! so what, maybe a little disappointing, but you'll be ok!

I went to my trusty Penzey spices and selected the BBQ 3000 and grabbed a rack of ribs and went to work. That's all I literally needed.

BBQ Ribs (A Penzeys Recipe)

serves 2-3

2-3lbs Pork back ribs

Penzeys BBQ 3000 seasoning

Red-Skinned Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

serves 3

2 lbs red potatoes

3 Tbsp. Butter (or margarine, or lite, whichever you choose)

1/4 c. sour cream (lite, lean, fat free, whichever you choose)

2 tsp. Dried Garlic

about 1/2 cup cream or milk

salt and pepper

Directions:

First remove the membrane thing along the bone side of the ribs. It's a very thin membrane, and a good grip should let you remove it somewhat easily. I've always heard you are supposed to remove it, I think it's to let the rub get up in the underside?! But it's something you should just do.

Get your BBQ 3000 (or whatever dry rub you'd like) and rub those ribs that you have on your cutting board. Generally use 2-3 tsp per pound of ribs that you are preparing. Really rub that seasoning on, and if you can, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to about 230 degrees and place ribs meat side up on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake like this for about 4 hours. After this finish on the grill. Place ribs over indirect heat for another 45 minutes or so. If you'd like to baste your ribs with a BBQ sauce, do this towards the end so the sugars in the sauce do not burn.

Meanwhile towards the end of this process, wash the potatoes thoroughly. Leave the skin on, and cut them down to fairly even size pieces, not too small and not too big (or they'll take forever to cook.) Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with cold water so the potatoes are covered by about an inch or two. Season the water generously with salt.

Once the potatoes have come to a boil, keep the heat on for about 15 minutes and test a potato chunk. If it crushes easily with a fork, the potatoes are ready. Drain the potatoes really well and return to pot, keeping the heat on low. This will really help rid any extra water from the pan. Place butter, garlic, sour cream, and warmed milk/heavy cream in the pot also and go to town with your potato masher. Really get in there mash them up! Once that is complete-taste test. Adjust the salt and pepper to how you like them.

Now all we are missing is some corn on the cob-Enjoy!