Five-Bean Pantry Chili

The weather's cooling off, and it's time for chili!  I've tried a lot of chili recipes, and this is the one I've come up with - some Tex-Mex heat, some Cincinnati cinnamon, and lots of tomatoes, beans, and chili powder, all from the pantry.

This makes a lot because I believe in planned leftovers (less cooking that way).   You can use the leftovers in place of the meat filling in my Mom's tamale bake.

You can serve this with cornbread, saltine crackers, cooked macaroni, cheese, or sour cream, or leave it nekkid!


Five-Bean Chili

1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cans chili-ready diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilis
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Ro-Tel (hot)
1/2 c dark chili powder
1/4 c sugar
1 T hot sauce, or to taste
1 T cinnamon
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

In an 8-quart stockpot, brown and break up the ground beef and onion.  Add all tomatoes and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.

Add beans and return to a boil.  Turn down heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes.

EASY Apple Strudel

Here's the last of the Oktoberfest recipes!  Dessert!  Eat it warm.  With ice cream.  Oh my.


Apple Strudel

1 apple, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
3 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 c brown sugar
1 c golden raisins
1/2 c sliced almonds
1 pkg frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 c milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place apples in a large bowl.  Stir in brown sugar, raisins, and almonds.  Whisk egg and milk together.

Place puff pastry sheets on baking sheet.  Arrange apple filling lengthwise down the middle of each pastry sheet.  Fold the pastries lengthwise around the filling.  Seal by rubbing the pastry edges together with wet fingers.  Brush the top of the pastry with egg mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Hot German Potato Salad (A Microwave Recipe)

When my sister and I vacation together, we keep a lookout for German restaurants wherever we go.  We found one in Nashville, Tennessee, and one in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on our most recent trip.

Here's a quick and easy way to make traditional hot German potato salad.  This is the second Oktoberfest recipe I promised to post.  It's one of my favorites!


Hot German Potato Salad

4 potatoes, peeled and sliced
6 slices bacon, cooked, chopped, fat reserved
1/3 c flour
1/4  c sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t celery seed
1/8 t pepper
1 c water
1/2 c vinegar

Place potatoes and bacon in a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Place bacon fat in a microwave-safe bowl.  Stir in flour, sugar, and seasonings.  Microwave 1 or 2 minutes at full power.  Stir in water and vinegar and cook at full power for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring after each minute, until mixture boils and thickens.  Remove from microwave and stir smooth.  Pour over potatoes in baking dish and stir.  Cover dish with plastic wrap, venting one corner.

Microwave at 70% power for 20 minutes.  Remove and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Old World Sauerbraten (A Slow Cooker Recipe)

It's October, and that means Oktoberfest!  I usually go a little nuts at some point in the month and make a German feast at home - sauerbraten, sweet and sour red cabbage, hot potato salad, and apple strudel.  I've already posted the red cabbage recipe here, and today is sauerbraten.  Apple strudel and hot potato salad will appear in the next couple of weeks!

This is a really easy recipe, and if you've never made sauerbraten, there is a surprise ingredient in the gravy.  Read on!


Old World Sauerbraten

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lb beef roast, preferably rump or sirloin tip
1 large onion, sliced or chopped1 c water
1 c vinegar
2 T salt
2 T sugar
10 whole cloves
4 bay leaves
6 whole peppercorns
12 gingersnaps, crumbled

Place beef and onion in the slow cooker.  Mix together the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar and pour it over the beef and onions.  Place the cloves, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a cloth spice bag and place the bag next to the beef in the slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.

Transfer as much of the juices as possible to a saucepan, stir in the gingersnaps  (the sauce will foam!), and bring to a boil.  Turn down and cook for about 5 minutes.

When done, remove the meat from the slow cooker, slice, and place on a serving platter.  Pour gravy over the meat. 

My June Vacation in September (Part 1) - Nashville, Tennessee

So I'm back from my June vacation with my sister.  No, we weren't vacationing for three months.  We had planned the trip for June, but because of my caregiving for That Knee, we rescheduled for September, and this time, we made it!

We met in Louisville and drove to Nashville.  We went to the Parthenon!

Yes, there's a Parthenon in Tennessee, a full-size replica of the one in Athens, featured in The Lightning Thief - the book, the movie, and now, the musical.  It was HUGE but didn't look it until we were right up next to it.  I read somewhere that the building's proportions are so perfect that it doesn't look as massive as it is.

The original Parthenon was built in the fifth century B.C.E. to house a forty-two-foot tall statue of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.  The Nashville Parthenon was built in 1897 without the statue for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition.  In 1990 a gilded replica of the Athena statue inspired by nineteenth-century drawings and older descriptions was unveiled.

The figure standing in Athena's right hand is Nike, goddess of victory.  Just to give you an idea of the scale, this Nike is six feet tall!

In the end galleries are smaller-scale replicas of the east and west pediments, and plaster casts of some of the figures from the Elgin marbles which were removed from the pediments and are now housed in the British Museum in London.

The Parthenon is the centerpiece of Nashville's beautiful Centennial Park, the grounds of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition.  There is a man-made lake from the Exposition with a one-mile paved path that follows the lake's border and showcases some of the park's gardens and a brand-new tribute to the women's suffrage movement.

Even though it was hot hot hot (97 degrees!), there were plenty of people in the park running, feeding the ducks, and strolling around the lake.  There was also a quinceanera celebration, with the girls dressed in a rainbow of extravagant tulle and organza gowns.  The dresses were reminiscent of Civil War-era hoop skirts.  No wonder the party was outdoors - I doubt those dresses could have fit through most doorways, but the girls were beautiful!

This stop was just the prelude to our planned week at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops with Pineapple Topping (A New-to-Me Recipe)

After eating out for nearly two weeks in September (more about that in an upcoming post), I was in the mood for some home cooking.  Unfortunately, I'm the one who does the cooking!  Or, perhaps, fortunately.  I don't know what would happen if one of The Guys took over.  Probably Subway every day for lunch and a rotating menu of takeout from Culver's, Taco Bell, KFC, and Big Hoffa's Smokehouse (a local barbecue place - YUM)!

I went to The Magic Box (A.K.A. the freezer), opened the door, and a package of thick-cut boneless pork chops leapt out at me.  Going through my stack of Recipes to Try, here's what I chose for dinner.  It's sweet but has a spicy kick to it, and it was quick and easy to make using everyday ingredients.  Just my kind of fast food!

There was no coriander or cayenne pepper in the house (how did that happen?) so I was forced to make a special trip to buy them.  It was worth it!

I served this with oven-roasted potato wedges and steamed vegetables.  Eight-ounce pork chops are huge (pork-zilla?) and each is probably two "normal" servings.  (But hey, what is "normal" anyway?)  Nobody at our house had seconds because we were all groaningly full.  I will make these again!

Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops with Pineapple Topping

 

For the rub:

1 1/2 T packed brown sugar

1 t ground coriander

1 t ground ginger

3/4 t garlic powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t red cayenne pepper

For the chops and topping:

4 6- to 8-ounce boneless pork chops, 3/4 to 1 inch thick

2 T canola oil

2 c pineapple, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used a 16-oz can of sliced pineapple)

2 T packed brown sugar

2 T lime juice

2 T minced fresh cilantro

Mix all the rub ingredients in a bowl.

Mix the pineapple, brown sugar, and lime juice for the topping in a small saucepan and set aside.

Trim the chops, pat dry, and rub evenly with spice rub.  Heat the oil in a 10 1/2- or 12-inch skillet at medium heat until it just smokes, or until someone yells "It smells like something's getting hot out there!"  (Guess who.)  Lay the chops in the skillet and cook covered until well browned on one side (about 5 minutes).

Flip the chops, cover, and continue to cook until the meat registers 140 degrees with an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the chops (about another 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and let sit covered to rest while you make the topping.

Cook the pineapple topping on medium-high to high heat until it boils, then turn down to medium heat and cook about 5 minutes.  Take it off the heat, stir in the cilantro, and serve spooned over the pork chops.