Chili Results

Yummmm.  I open the door and the house smells amazing.  I never think chili looks very good, but good chili tastes amazing.  I put some chili on top of rice, added cheese and it was delicious. (I totally forgot to add green onions on top.)







I think the chili tastes great and the flavors blend really well together.  I can't really taste the pineapple and might add more next time but it definitely adds a sweetness to the chili that compliments the heat really well.  I think it has the perfect amount of heat, and might add another spicy sausage and take out 1/2 a pound of ground beef next time.  The food was really filling but didn't feel heavy which I was really happy with.  One thing I'd like is for it to be a bit more soupy, so next time I make it I'll have to figure out if I need to add more tomato sauce, less paste, or add water.  Anyone have any ideas on how to best do that?

I'd give it a B, and will definitely be making this in the future.

P.S. - Its even better the next day!

Adventure 3: Chili

Chili:

So this week is my chili experiment and I'm pretty excited and nervous.  Again, I found a bunch of recipes online and decided to take what seemed good to me.  This recipe should serve about 6 and needs to be cooked on low for 8-12 hrs.  One of my friends at work put pineapple in her chili and it tasted really good, so I decided to add that.  The bf and I love corn, so I threw that in too.  A lot of recipes say use fresh tomatoes but I'm really not a fan, so I just used sauce and paste.  I'm really starting to love cooking, especially the mixing and experimenting part of creating recipes and not having to do much after I get home from work.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
1 Polish Kielbasas (I was going to use 2 but 1 seemed like enough)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can crushed pinapples (strained)
10 oz frozen corn

1 onion
1 green pepper
2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp grill seasoning
1 tsp cumin

green onions
cheese


Directions:
I cut up the onion and green pepper into equal sized segments and chopped my garlic. I then browned the ground beef in a skillet season to taste and drained the grease and fat before adding the onion, pepper and garlic. I cooked that on the stove for about another minute and threw it in the crockpot. I browned the spicy kielbasa and added it as well. Toss in the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

It already smells really good so I'm excited to see how the flavors blend. Time for work!

Adventure 2: Pulled Pork Results

I rushed home from work today, a little worried about what I would come home to this time.  The apartment smelled amazing!  I opened the crockpot and found the three pieces of pork drenched in their own juices and when I went to pick the pieces up and put them on a plate, they just started falling apart.  It took about a minute or two to take two forks and shred the meat.  I warmed up the french rolls on a skillet and dinner was ready.

 
The pork tasted great, I added a bit of Jack Daniel's BBQ Sauce to the sandwich and it was extremely filling.  This is something I'll be making all year round, and its basically $10 for 4 lbs of pork, which makes for an extremely cheap and delicious meal.  The first time around is much more expensive just because you have to buy all the seasonings.  With almost 4 lbs of pork, we had enough for 5 sandwiches.  I might make more next time, just so we have more leftovers, but thats because I love leftovers :)

 

P.S. - I asked my friend at work about the B.O. smell and he said it was most likely from mixing the vinegar and the cumin and cayenne pepper.  So if that smell bugs you just don't add those seasonings.  The smell was NOT there when I came home, so I probably won't change anything.

I LOVE coming home to dinner practically ready to serve.  Its so nice to not have to make dinner after a long tiring day at work.  My Crock-Pot and knife set are definitely the best presents I've ever had and I'm getting so much use out of them.  Thanks to my parents and grandparents!

Adventure #2: Pulled Pork

With the stew tasting really good last week, I'm ready for a new challenge and really excited to start considering myself an amateur cook!  This week I'm making pulled pork.  I looked at a bunch of recipes online, and decided to go with the Williams-Sonoma's recipe, with a few changes, recommended to me by someone at work. 

Pulled Pork:

Ingredients:
French rolls (any kind of roll or bread would work)
3tbs canola oil
4lbs boneless pork shoulder (cut into 3 equal pieces)
1 yellow onion
3/4 cups apple cider vinegar

3/4 cups ketchup
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp crushed red peppers
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

So I did this part a bit differently.  I am not a morning person by anyone's standards, so I decided to get as much done the night before as possible.  I finely chopped the onion and put in the fridge overnight.  I then mixed the 2nd half of ingredients in a bowl, sealed with plastic wrap, and put in the fridge as well. (It calls for red pepper flakes... is that the same as crushed red peppers?  No idea but that's what I ended up using)

In the morning I did the following:

Searing the pork

Onions~!

 
Put a large fry pan over medium-high heat and warmed the oil.  I seared the sides of the pork, hopefully locking in the juices.  Then I put the pork in my crockpot. Pour off all but 1 tbs of the fat, and reheat in the pan.  Add and saute the onion until golden. 

Mixing the sauce

Add the vinegar and de-glaze the pan (had no idea what this mean, so I googled it and watched this youtube video to learn).  Then stir in the mixture from last night (which is pretty much homemade BBQ sauce).  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce starts to bubble.

Everything smelled AMAZING separately, but I'm not going to lie, when I added the vinegar and the mixture to the pan it started to have a B.O.-like smell, and I have no idea why, but there's nothing I could to about it, so I'm praying that the ingredients just needed time to blend the deliciousness into an amazing aroma and its back to its amazingness tonight.

 

Pour over the pork, put the lid on, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Now off to work!

Adventure 1 Results

**Note: after buying the wine from the store, I was told you aren't supposed to use sweet wine when cooking...oh well, I used Stella Rosa Rosso, mainly because I don't drink wine unless its sweet, so for any new cooks reading this: Use a more bitter wine.**

I come home from work (about 9 hours of unattended crockpot cooking) and it smells delicious.  Not the same rich smell my grandma's house was filled with when she cooked, but it was a really good start.  The stew was very soupy which was fine, but I was hoping for something a bit thicker.

I made some white rice in my rice cooker really quick, and bon appetit!

 

I am so happy with the results!  The potatoes were nice and soft, the carrots were amazing (and this from someone who really doesn't like her veggies) and overall it was really good.  The meat itself was a bit bland, so next time I think I'll season them separately, which I forgot this time around.  I don't think the sweet wine really made a difference, but next time I'll use something else and compare.  I might need to add a bit more seasoning, but the votes are in and I think overall it was a success. 

B+ Overall really good but could use some improvement.  Definitely something I'll make again this winter :)

Any suggestions on what I should make next?

Adventure #1: Trying to cook something other than pasta

I am by no means a "cook".  I do make dinner, my specialties include spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, and vodka sauce penne (all out of a jar).  I never had a desire to cook and so I never learned, even though my mother and grandmother both cook for their family.  Now armed with new knives and a crockpot, my cooking adventures begin.


Beef Stew:

Ingredients:
1.5-2 lbs stew meat
4 carrots
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
5 medium potatoes
2 cups water & 3 tbsp bouillon (boiled to create a beef broth)
pepper
salt
seasoning
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup red wine

Directions:
So I'm not that good with directions, I looked up a few different recipes online and mixed them together with my and my boyfriend's tastes and preferences.

wash and chop the veggies (did the night before)
cut the potatoes in half the long way
Toss the beef cubes in flour
plop into the crockpot and add the beef broth and wine
add Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings

Turn the crockpot on to low, keep fingers crossed, and head off to work!