Mexican Fall Chili

First off, I want to thank all of my loyal fans who stuck with me through my drought!  It's amazing how time flies when you get busy (and a bit burnt out too).  Was I burnt out on cooking?  Definitely not.  I was stretching myself to post once a week and it just became too much.  So instead of scaling back, which would have been the smart thing to do, I took a hiatus.

What better day to beginning posting again then on FOOD DAY!  Today, October 24th, is FOOD DAY as created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.  It's all about healthy, real food being readily available to every American. I encourage you to do your part and ask congress to support FOOD DAY's goals by signing a letter to congress on their home page.  If you want to check out events in your area, click here to enter your zip code. 

Now onto a new favorite of ours - Mexican Winter Chili.  I'm cheating a bit since it isn't even close to winter, but I would call this a fall chili more so than winter.   Everything about it screams (BOO!) fall, from the color all the way to the ingredients.  Another misleading fact is the name...there are actually no beans in this chili at all.  The chili-like consistency is created through the use of pureed pumpkin.  I look at this dish as jazzed up comfort food to enjoy on a brisk fall day.  The addition of a poblano chili pepper (sold in most stores under the incorrect name of a pasilla pepper) gives it a warm spiciness that isn't overbearing but complimentary.  You can find the recipe at the link above, but after tasting as I cooked, I upped the amount of all spices (except for the garlic powder and cocoa powder) and made a few adjustments below.  The picture does not do this dish justice but it really does look like this (unfortunately).  One taste, however, and you'll be hooked.

Mexican "Fall" Chili
adapted slightly from Better Homes & Gardens

1 - 1 1/4 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into bit size pieces, or buy pork stew meat if available
2 TBL olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large fresh poblano pepper, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
18 ounces chicken broth
1 15 ounce can pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup whipping cream
Fresh cilantro
(Note: The amounts for the spices is approximate since I didn't exactly measure - taste as you go remembering you can always add more but not less!)

In a Dutch oven cook and stir pork in hot oil over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until browned. Stir in onion, poblano, and sweet pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in cocoa powder, cumin, garlic powder, cinnamon, and cayenne. Add broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until pork is tender.

Stir in pumpkin, cream, and salt and black pepper to taste. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes. Top with fresh cilantro. Makes 4 (1-1/4 cup) servings.

Thanksgiving Feast

For the last few years, I've hosted a somewhat non-traditional Thanksgiving feast.  I love this holiday.  I look forward to inviting family and friends over for a casual, kid-friendly get together.  I call it a Thanksgiving open house since I try (key word - try) to keep the food as warm as possible so people can come by as they can and not worry about walking in on everyone sitting down to a formal Thanksgiving meal.  My main struggle with this event has always been the turkey.  Personally, I'm not a fan of the big bird and really only like the dark meat.  Also, with people coming throughout the afternoon/evening, I don't want the involved part of carving a turkey or worse yet, the turkey drying out, etc.  So this year, I've found the perfect replacement -  Butterball's turkey roast.  It's a combo of white and dark meat, which keeps it extra juicy.  I realize butterball doesn't sound that exciting, but I found a great marinade and it cooks on the bbq.  In this Marinated Turkey Breast recipe, you first rub the meat with a mixture of garlic, fresh basil, and pepper.  Then pierce each breast with 3 whole cloves and marinate them in soy, lemon juice, oil, and brown sugar.  The instructions are to marinate for at least 4 hours, but I let these roasts go for a full 24.  They were moist and had an excellent flavor.  I sliced them up and served them in an electric skillet with accompanying cranberry sauce.  No gravy this Thanksgiving. 

All in all, I think I cooked about 14 items; some were winners and some were just okay.  Hopefully those folks reading my blog that were at our house that day, will agree with me on my selection of dishes to highlight :)   One hands-down success was the Rosemary Roasted Cashews from Ina Garten.  These were slightly sweet and slightly spicy since they were tossed with fresh chopped rosemary, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper.  A definite keeper.

I also enjoyed the Citrus, Fennel, and Rosemary Olives (at the far left of the picture) as well as the Winter Fruit Compote (in the middle bowl). 

Another fun make-ahead dish was Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Fougasse.  Extremely enjoyable for me since I hadn't made a yeast bread in years.  The smell of fresh bread baking was to die for.  This would probably go better at a cocktail party type of function, but I must say we are enjoying the leftovers! 


One very big success was the Awesome and Easy Creamy Corn Casserole.    This was probably the simplest dish I made, and was also a huge hit with the kids.  I did tweak the recipe a bit, but only by adding green onions and a few dashes of green jalapeno pepper sauce.  I also made this one day ahead and took it out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before putting it in the oven.  So easy and very comforting.  This next dish was actually better the second day - Caramelized Onion-Potato Gratin.  The topping of breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and lemon zest was definitely not crunchy the second time around, but when reheated, melded beautifully with the potato, onion, and cheese flavors. 

A strange, yet flavorful addition to the Thanksgiving menu, was a dish true to my Lebanese heritage - Kibbeh Meatballs.  Ground lamb mixed with bulgur, shallots, parsley, and spices.  Mix it all in a food processor, shape into balls, brown them in a pan, and serve with a cucumber yogurt dip.  These were excellent when eaten right away, but did tend to dry out as they sat in the electric skillet (note to self).  Those of you who read my post from New York may recall the raw kibbeh (kibbeh nayye) that was also made from minced lamb and bulgur.  I highly doubt I'll ever attempt serving kibbeh nayye to any guests (especially at Thanksgiving!), so kibbeh meatballs is about as close as I'll get.  


As for dessert, I only made a couple of items since I knew others were bringing some.  Pistachio Sour Cream Cookies and Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes.    The cookies were a great combination of a not-so-sweet cookie and a fairly sweet frosting (pictured at the top). If you do attempt to make the cookies, just know that it is basically impossible to find pistachio paste.  Your best bet is to make it yourself by grinding up pistachios, powdered sugar, and a little bit of water in a food processor until it is the consistency of marzipan. The Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes are a Paula Deen recipe.  That may say it all, but for those of you who don't know Paula, she could easily take the name "Butter Queen", then you add the word "butter" in the title of the recipe, and you've got to believe these pumpkin bars are loaded with it!  These were rich and decadent and completely satisfied my pumpkin pie craving. 


I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and please feel free to share any of your wonderful recipes with me!  Now onto making Mexican won-tons for Christmas...to be explained in my next post. 

The start of November with Pumpkin Beer Mac & Cheese

November might just be my favorite month.  Not that America's finest city ever really has a "bad" month, but I do enjoy the warm days and cool nights.  Combined with one of the BEST food months of the year, I relish in decorating with fall colors.  We have to do some decorating in San Diego since we can't tell it's fall outside!  As much as I can, I do love bringing the outside indoors.  I have a trio of pygmy date palms out front that just produced their ripe fruit so I had to enjoy some in a vase.  The other thing I had to do was make this unique recipe I found - Pumpkin Beer Mac & Cheese with Bacon and Sage Topping.  Sounded interesting, so we went for it.

The first thing to do is cook up some bacon.  Pretty standard.  The next step was a new culinary adventure for me which I thoroughly enjoyed, possibly even more than the dish itself!  Frying sage leaves in the bacon fat.  The sizzle when those 6 simple sage leaves hit the grease was decadent.  They went from their muted, pale shade to a deep forest green in a matter of seconds.  They were so delicate that you really had to use care when removing them from the frying pan.  Then they lay on the towel basking in their transformation. 


Another interesting part to this recipe is making the sauce.  I really was unsure how this all was going to come together, since mixing pumpkin puree, pumpkin beer, and Worcestershire didn't sound like the greatest sauce, but with the added butter, flour, spices, and cheeses, it really made for a unique and light dish. 

I have to pause here and talk briefly about nutmeg.  Probably one of my favorite spices, but only when freshly grated.  I love the feeling as you grate a piece of whole nutmeg - it is so rock-hard and sturdy then quickly releases it's highly intoxicating, aromatic smell.  I didn't realize just how intoxicating the smell was until I read a bit more about my favorite spice and found that it actually is believed to have intoxicating properties!  Not exactly sure I'll try having a "nutmeg session", but it was enlightening to read about. 


To complete the dish, you toss some toasted bread crumbs in butter and parmesan cheese, and then crumble in the bacon and fried sage.  Crumbling those beautifully fried sage leaves left me with mixed emotions.  Sadness to see them crumble from the regal glory, but pleased in their paper-thin delicacy as they gave in with just the slightest of touch.  This all completed a wonderful topping that browned perfectly as the mac & cheese baked to a bubbly, crunchy goodness. 

Much more to come this month.  From the first annual San Diego Beer Week, to the greatly anticipated annual Wine and Food Festival, all the way to my Thanksgiving open house...bring it on, November!!  Oh, and the Chargers beat the Raiders...AGAIN!!!