Recipe: Warm up Chili!

Cold has set in and now begins the arduous process of trying to keep warm! Some try to wear layers, others it's a nice fall jacket but I know the best way to keep warm is a pipping hot bowl of goodness. Whether it's a stew, a soup, gumbo or chili if it's in a bowl and it's warm it's prefect for fall! For my first official warm up I went with chili. I know later on into winter I will be taking requests from friends and family for their favorites so I wanted to get my favorite in right away.

This is a pretty standard chili recipe feel free to play with the heat to get it to a level you like. Usually I like my chili pretty spicy so I'll throw in a few fresh jalapenos or a habanero. I like to add those not just for the spice but for the clean taste that fresh peppers add.

I also like to use a combination of half organic grass fed beef and half bison to keep it on the healthier side. I know that organic beef is still pretty expensive but I found that Costco carries an organic beef that is significantly cheaper than your usual mega mart.

Finally mix up the ratio of beans I'm not a huge fan of pinto beans so I add some black beans to the mix too.


Warm up Chili! (Adapted from Thick and Hearty Chili by Brown Eyed Baker)

Software:
          3 lbs. ground beef (or 1.5lb beef and 1.5lb bison)
          1 large yellow onion, chopped
          5 cloves minced garlic
          1 15-ounce can stewed tomatoes
          2 cups beef stock
          1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
          1 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
          1 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
          3 Tablespoons chili powder
          1 teaspoon dried oregano
          ½ teaspoon cumin
          2 teaspoons salt
          1 teaspoon ground black pepper
          ¼ cup cornmeal
          

          More Onion, Cheddar Cheese, and Sour Cream for fixings!

Hardware:
          Your favorite soup pot (mine is a 12 quart)

First brown the ground beef/bison with the onion and garlic over a medium heat. Drain the excess liquid and return to the heat.

Next add the beef broth, beans, stewed tomato, seasoning and cornmeal. Stir everything together well and cover. Keep it over low heat for about two hours and give it a stir occasionally.

After those two hours it's ready to eat, however, I know that chili is always better when left overnight so if you can let it rest overnight in the fridge do it! 

 

Recipe: Candied Apples

Have I mentioned I love autumn? Granted it hasn't felt like fall here in Minnesota this week. I'm ready for the smells, the crispness of the air, the food... oh the food! If you don't much care for fall I can bet that you at least enjoy the food!

Now I have lived in Minnesota for most of my life but I still remember what it was like on the East Coast growing up. I remember fall most vividly, the trick-or-treating, Columbus Day and the beautiful trees. I store all these as precious memories and every year I strive to feel that innocent love of autumn again! It’s much harder when you grow up and life moves so fast, pretty soon October will be over and winter will be here before we know it!

So what do I do to try and achieve this dream of an autumn to remember? Well I take walks in the woods, I always watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and I make candied apples!

I know that some of my born and bred Minnesota friends at this point are wondering why I keep calling caramel apples, candied apples. Well it’s because my taste stem a lot from the east coast traditions and although I do enjoy caramel apples as well, I long for the candied variety. So read on and maybe you’ll be intrigued, if so try these out this year and have a little taste of the east coast this autumn!

Simple Candied Apples


Software

8 apples (The ever popular Macintosh)

8 wooden chopsticks (you can use skewers too)

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup red cinnamon candies

Hardware

Candy Thermometer (VERY IMPORTANT)

Baking sheet

Aluminum Foil

Medium sized saucepot

Pastry brush (Optional)

First we want to get the baking sheet ready by lining it with aluminum foil then spray it with nonstick cooking spray.

Prep the apples now; wash and dry , remove the stems, and stick the chopsticks in the end where the stems were.

Put the corn syrup, sugar and water into sauce pot and turn the burner onto medium-high heat.

Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and let the mixture reach 250 degrees. While you’re letting the mixture sit you can use the pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pot, however I didn’t and still had plenty of candy coating.

When it reaches the 250, add the cinnamon candies stir just enough to make sure the candies are mixed in well.

Keep going until it reaches 285 degrees. Again you can wash down the sides here if you’d like, and again I didn’t.

Watch the thermometer and when it hits 285 take the pot off the heat and start to stir the candy again until it is smooth and even.

Now the fun part! Holding an apple by the chopstick, tilt the pan and dip and rotate the apple to cover it completely with an even layer.

TIP: if your candy mixture starts to harden, just put it back on the burner and gently warm it again until it turns to liquid again. If you do this don’t heat it too fast!

As you take it out of the candy twirl it a bit to remove the excess.

Set it on the sprayed baking sheet and let it cool at room temperature.

When you have all the apples finished place them in the fridge.