Chunky Two-Bean and Beef Chili

We made this last weekend during the unfortunate Michigan v Michigan State game. I won't hold the chili responsible for Michigan's loss---how could I? Especially when it is so good garnished with either queso fresco or monterey jack cheese (or both?!).

Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
Cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat (chef's note--I am okay with not using any meat in this recipe--but the lars likes it otherwise. we compromise and put in about half).
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2/3 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry-red-wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ancho chile-pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes undrained and chopped
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can hot chili beans

1) Heat 1 tsp of oil in a large dutch oven with cooking spray over medium high-heat. Sprinkle beef with salt. Place half of beef in pan, saute eight minutes or until browned. Remove from pan and repeat procedure with remaining beef. Remove from pan.

2) Add 2 tsp of oil, onion and bell pepper to pan and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno; saute 1 minute. Add wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return beef to pan.

3) Stir in tomato paste and remaining ingredients (I like to put all the spices/sugar together in a bowl before I start making this dish and then just dump it in when the time is right) and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Yield 6 servings (serving size about 1 1/2 cups).

This recipe is from the March 2006 Cooking Light.

Corn Chowdah

Nothing says the return of fall like good soup. We're loving the crisp autumn weather in Ann Arbor and thought we'd celebrate football season, cooler temps and delicious corn with corn chowder. Or, as I like to pronounce it, "chowdah".

I've tried a couple different Corn Chowdah recipes and this is the one I like the best. We like ours with a little kick so also add hot pepper flakes (and I've also put in jalapeno before). Its good just on its own. Its from the old classic, Joy of Cooking.

Corn Chowder
About 6 Cups

Cook, stirring, in a soup pot over medium-low heat until beginning to crisp, 10-15 minutes:

• 4 slices bacon, chopped (I tried turkey bacon and there's really, for soups, no substitute for the real deal).
  

Leaving the bacon in the pan, spoon off all but two tablespoons of fat. Add and cook, stirring until tender and slightly browned, 10-15 minutes

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 medium celery ribs, diced

Meanwhile, remove the kernels from:

• 6 small ears of corn

Set the kernels aside and add the cobs to the pot, along with

• 4 1/2 cups milk
• 2 medium potatoes diced

Submerge the corncobs with the milk. Bring the milk almost to a boil, reduce hte heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove the cobs and stir in the reserved corn kernels with

• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper.
  

Simmer gently until the corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. With a slotted sppon, remove 1 1/2 cups solids from the soup and puree until smooth (or use your immersion blender until desired consistency is reached). Return to the soup and add

• 1 Tablespoon of butter (we don't do this but its in the recipe!).
  

Let stand until the butter is melted, then stir and serve.

• 
  

African Peanut Butter Soup

So a woman I work with has been making this soup and bringing it into the office ever since she started working with me three years ago. I have always been intrigued but never daring enough to make it---I mean, it doesn't *sound* great when you sell it as "peanut butter soup"...unless, of course, peanut butter is your thang. But guys, it is REALLY good. And very healthy. Think of all the protein you're getting sans meat. The texture of the rice and the sweet potato puree and the tofu and the scallions. D'lish!

Here is the recipe on Epicurious. It makes GOBS-full. You can freeze and save for later. I ate mine with some sourdough bread and chopped up canteloupe for added fun.

The only thing I would do differently is add a little bit more cayenne pepper. I did not get the heat kick that I anticipated with it. I'm sure a jalapeno or two in the mix wouldn't hurt, either.

Summer/fall sweet potato salad

Friends, this is soooo good. And it's very easy (as long as you read the ingredient list and remember to buy the limes and then read the recipe so that you put the onions in to roast with the potatoes at the beginning rather than halfway through when you're supposed to be going to pick up some limes, and then all hell breaks loose because the husband you're supposed to be picking up after you finally get the limes got caught up in the ICU and then you decided to take a shortcut that leads to a no left turn onto your street so you have to backtrack and the baby has been whining/wailing for a good half hour at this point. And no one was there to praise your excellent parallel parking job when getting the limes!). Perhaps an unnecessary digression, but since there isn't much else to say other than THIS IS SO GOOD AND EASY so I guess I needed something else to beef up the post.

Anyway, we first discovered the fab salad last summer and ate it a bunch then and I'm so glad I found the recipe again. I throw in an avocado, and it's a great complement. Tonight I'm putting the leftovers in quesadillas with jack cheese. I don't know how they will turn out, but I can't imagine they won't be good - jack cheese, tortillas and a spicy summer salad. Right? I'll let you know if they're a massive failure.

Almond Cake

We had friends and babies over for dinner on Saturday night. We served pesto, chicken sausage, watermelon and bread from Zingermans. It was good, I won't lie. But the real star was this fantastic almond cake that our friend brought. So delicious!

As David Leibovitz says in his article, "This is one of those cakes that's hard to mess up"...and apparently its adapted from Chez Panisse! I smell a blind taste test sometime in early August! Oh, what I would do to eat this sweet cake again and again and again and forever.

P-Dub's Pico De Gallo & Shredded Beef Tacos

Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo

Sometimes its so easy to just buy pico de gallo at the grocery store that I would never really ever consider making it myself. HOWEVER, this recipe from Pioneer Woman is fantastic and I really liked it a lot more than the pre-made stuff from the grocery store.

This weekend I had hoped to have a couple of people over to our new place for Father's Day. I thought the easiest thing to do would be have kind of a high class taco bar--so I found a recipe for shredded beef tacos (surprisingly, none of my cookbooks had a shredded beef taco recipe; only ground beef!), and did it up all fancy-like with chihuahua cheese, homemade pico de gallo, avocados, limes, black olives, ...the works. Then Bjorn came down with a 103+ fever on Saturday night so we cancelled Father's Day dinner and ended up with copious leftovers. However, I am happy to report that the shredded beef tacos were good enough to eat at least three nights in a row. We *COULD* eat them again tonight but I'm tuckered out on that food front.

Seriously, though--make the pico. Its SUPER easy. Then get some good tortilla chips. And a corona. And a lime. Oh, heaven.

Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breasts With Blackberry Mustard Glaze

Super easy and pretty sure this is Lars' favorite chicken dish ever. That said, I only make two so his choices are limited...still pretty good.

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp white wine or tarragon vinegar
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 clove of garlic minced
2 tsp minced freshly chopped rosemary
1/4 cup seedless blackberry jam
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Trim the chicken and pound to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Season chicken to taste with salt and pepper and place in a flat baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and rosemary. Pour over the chicken, turning to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

In a small bowl stir the blackberry jam and mustard together.

Remove chicken from the marinade and grill for 3-5 minutes per side or until cooked through, brushing with the blackberry mixture for the last minute on each side to glaze.

Serves 4.