Sweet and Spicy Chili (with the Vegetarian option!)

I love spicy food, and I'm an unapologetic carnivore. When cold season hits, I serve high octane protein on the basis that if it doesn't kill you, it will knock out any virus that came calling.

Everyone knows how to make chili, you dump things in a pot and simmer until it tastes right. So don't take this recipe as doctrine, it's a starter template. Adjust as you like to suit your style.

This dish is savory and sweet, with enough heat to handle your worst head cold, and kill small children. If you want something a little less spicy, use fewer - or sweeter- peppers. Or stir sour cream into your bowl when you serve. Dairy kills the heat factor.

Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped fine
- 1 head of garlic (about 18 cloves)
- 2-3 large bell peppers, seeded
- 4-20 chili peppers, seeded (four is spicy, twenty will kill people, choose something else if you
want less heat)
- 1 packet of chili seasoning -or- chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, a pinch of
cumin or oregano... combine and add as needed
- 8 slices of bacon -or- 2tbspn butter or olive oil
- 1/2 cup of frozen corn
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar divided (you won't use this all)
- 1tbspn olive oil
- 2 cups beef stock or vegetable stock
- 1 pound ground beef/turkey/soy substitute browned
- 16oz can diced tomatoes (about four large tomatoes fresh diced)
- 16oz can tomato sauce (or another four tomatoes, diced)
- 16oz can kidney beans of any color, rinsed

Equipment
- crock pot or giant pot for simmering
- tin foil
- glass baking dish
- cutting board
- frying pan
- oven
- plastic bag
- plastic gloves for handling chilis

Directions
1. Turn the oven on to 400(F), break the garlic cloves apart (leave the peel on), drop in the glass baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, cover with foil and bake until fragrant - about 20 minutes.

2. Broil the bell peppers and half of the chili peppers, brushed with olive oil for 2 minutes, or bake for 10, until skin starts to blacken. Using tongs drop the peppers into a plastic bag to sweat. After they are cool, peel the skins.

3. Add rinsed beans, tomatoes, corn, beef stock, and seasoning packet to the big pot. Turn on low to start heating to a simmer. I like making this in the crock pot because it can simmer all day.

4. Chop roasted pepper and garlic, add to pot.

5. Dice the bacon into 1 inch pieces, fry, add onions and turn the pan to medium-low. You want the onions to slowly caramelize and turn brown. This takes 20-30 minutes. If they aren't turning start adding sugar a pinch at a time.

6. Drain the grease from the bacon and onions. Add bacon and onions to the pot.

7. Bring pot to a rapid simmer.

8. Stir in cinnamon, cocoa powder, and molasses. Adjust seasonings as needed.

9. Simmer for 1-10 hours on low in a crock pot or 1-2 hours on the stove. Serve with your favorite toppings. In my house we top chili with sharp cheddar, avocado, sour cream, and cream onion and eat with tortilla chips or ladled over a hot dog on a bun.

Enjoy!

Mashed Potato-Stuffed Mushrooms

Serves 2

2 large flat mushrooms - clean them.

2 extra large potatoes - microwave and mash w butter & milk & salt.

Add 1/4c parmesan and season with chives, tarragon, dill, cajun, sage, oregano & 1T tomato sauce.




Drizzle with 1T honey & sweet chilli mixed into olive oil.

Bake at 170C for 25 mins.

Serve over baby spinach and eat!

Moroccan Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Stew

Full credit to Kerryn Boorman for gifting me with this recipe. I think by now we all know my love of orange vegetables, so this recipe is one of my hearty favourites. In fact, since I was just given some butternuts, I might make it for dinner!

Recipe
60 g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cinnamon stick (or equiv. ground cinnamon)
pinch of cayenne pepper, or ½ teaspoon harissa
500 ml (2 cups) vegetable or chicken stock
1/8 teaspoon ground saffron threads (this is in the official recipe, but given the price of it, I've always omitted it, and the end result seems just fine to me!)
600 g butternut pumpkin (squash) or other firm pumpkin, peeled and cubed
500 g orange sweet potato, peeled and cubed
60 g ( ½ cup) raisins or sultanas
1 tablespoon honey
coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve


Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the onion and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon stick and the cayenne pepper or harissa. Stir over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Pour in the stock, add the saffron, then increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil.

Add the pumpkin, sweet potato, raisins and honey and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and simmer for a further 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the cinnamon stick, transfer to a bowl and scatter with coriander leaves.

An amazing sweet-savoury that leaves me wanting seconds every time. Note, though, that it is a sweet-savoury; if you don't like your sweets and savouries combined (a la my husband), you may not like this so much.

French-Inspired Mushroom Soup

I invented this recipe a year or so ago after I watched an episode of Masterchef. They mentioned on the show that the classic flavours of French food were butter, cream, thyme and I think lemon - so when I went to make mushroom soup for dinner that night, knowing we had some beautiful lemon thyme growing in the garden, I decided to see if I could make a soup that reflected these flavours.

The Recipe
About 50g butter
1 smallish white or brown onion
1 heaped teaspoon crushed garlic
400-600g mushrooms (I used 400g; the fresher the better)
Salt (¼t?)
3/16 c plain flour (hehe. The original recipe called for ¼ cup, but because I added the soup mix I reduced the flour by ¼)
2/3 packet of mushroom powdered soup mix (this is like, 3T maybe?)
4c chicken stock
2 2-inch sprigs of lemon thyme
½ - 2/3c milk
About 100g sour cream or regular pouring cream
2t chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
¼ - ½ t dried tarragon

Melt butter in saucepan. Sauté garlic and onion until clear, but not caramelised. Add mushrooms, cook stirring until reduced (~7mins?). Add salt to taste. Add flour and soup mix. Cook for 1-2 mins, stirring constantly. Add first 1.5 cups of stock slowly so flour doesn’t clump. Add rest of stock. Throw in thyme sprigs. Bring to boil, then simmer for 10 mins. Optionally, let soup cool and process to desired consistency (I prefer not to process this soup). Add milk and sour cream. Heat until cream is melted. Add herbs. Serve hot with crusty bread.

The Results
Is this soup a successful reflection of the key French flavours? I absolutely think so. It's warm and satisfying due to the cream and butter, but light and delicate at the same time because of the lemon. Because it's quite rich, I wouldn't make it every week, but this is definitely a grand soup for special occasions B-)

Sweet Potato & Feta Fritata

The Recipe
350g sweet potato, sliced
1/4c water
2tb shredded basil leaves
200g feta
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3c thickened cream


Grease a ~20cm x 30cm rectangular slice pan. Line the base and two long sides with baking paper. Microwave sweet potato (with the water), covered, on high, for 3 mins or until almost tender. Drain.

Arrange the sweet potato over the base of the pan. sprinkle with basil and crumbled feta. Pour over combined egg and cream.

Bake for about 25 mins or until set at 180C. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

The Results

This is one of my all-time favourite go-to foods. It doesn't come out quite like a quiche or a pie; it's more vegetable-y than that. But given sweet potato and feta are two of my favourite foods, this is something I could never, ever eat too much of. And, bonus, it's just as good cold, so you can take the left overs for lunch! That's if there are any left overs... :D

(Note for example the fact that I don't have a photo of the slice cooked O:))

Zucchini Pie

The Recipe

1 small-med zucchini
1 med carrot
1 onion, diced
1 block greek feta, cubed
1/4 small butternut pumpkin, cubed and mostly cooked
5 eggs
½c grated parmesan
½c oil
¾c flour
Cumin
Pepper
Oregano
Thai lemongrass & lime spice mix

Mix all ingredients. Bake in a moderate oven for about 40 minutes.

Alternative: omit pumpkin and feta and 1 egg, and add 1c grated cheese instead of parmesan.

Asparagus & Corn Quiche

1 quantity shortcrust pastry
1 can creamed corn
2 bunches fresh asparagus, chopped into 1.5 inch lengths
5-6 shallots/green onions, finely chopped
about 1/3 of a red capsicum (pepper), diced
1/3c grated cheese
5 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4c cream
salt
majoram
chives
black pepper

3/4 block feta, crumbled

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease quiche dish. Line with pastry. Bake blind for ten mins or until centre of base is firm. Spread creamed corn over base.

Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour into pastry case. Bake for 20ish minutes or until centre is nearly set. Let stand for five minutes before cutting. Eat hot or cold!

Quick and Easy Vegetable Lasagna

Serves 8ish

2 cloves garlic, crushed.
1 good sized zucchini (courgette)
8-10 small cup mushrooms (2-3 inches across), rinsed
1 large carrot
1/2 butternut pumpkin (butternut squash)
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 block feta
1/3c tomato sauce
grated cheese, to top
lasagna sheets

Preheat oven to 210C. Peel and dice butternut and microwave on high for ten minutes. Fry garlic until golden. Dice the zucchini and mushrooms. Add to pan and saute until nearly cooked through. Grate in the carrot. Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, and heat through.

In a baking dish, spread half the tomato mixture. Put over a layer of lasagna sheets. Cover with butternut; mash down slightly if necessary. Crumble feta over top. Place another layer of lasagna sheets, and top with the remaining tomato mixture. Top with grated cheese and bake for about 20-30 minutes until pasta is cooked.

Let sit for five mins before slicing in order to prevent it from falling apart so much when serving :)

Butter-based Mushroom/Capsicum/Baby Spinach Pasta Sauce

I got home at nearly half past nine tonight craving something tasty and wanting more than anything to crash into bed. I'd already planned to make pasta, and lacking a brain to think of a satisfying alternative, pasta is what I went with.

What I didn't expect was for it to be SO INSANELY TASTY!!

So. Recipe. Be warned: this is not a skinny recipe :D

Serves 3.

About 100g of butter
About 2t fresh majoram
8 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 small red capsicum (pepper), diced
Tarragon
Almost 1/4 carton sour cream (er, 100g??)
Nearly 1 block feta cheese (250g?)
1 handful baby spinach/rocket mix

Cook sufficient pasta according to directions. Melt butter in a saucepan with majoram. Add mushrooms and capsicum. Saute until mushies are nearly cooked then add tarragon and salt to taste (4 grinds). Add sour cream and melt. Add feta; stir through until heated. Add spinach/rocket and stir through until just wilted.

Serve with a few fresh leaves on top and a sprinkling of parmesan.

Yum!

Orange Roasted Cornish Game Hen

nnerThis is our traditional Valentine's Day main entree. I've been making it for my husband for eight years now. Nine maybe? Something like that. He's in charge of being romantic and remembering dates, I do the finances.

This recipe makes enough for two people, sort of. If you eat light or have several side dishes this works for two. We have a family of five and I tend to make one game hen per person. There are leftovers this way, but the meat becomes a quick salad topper the next day.

My family loves this so much that I've added it to our regular night line up. A little prep in the morning and this could be an easy meal to toss together on a busy week night. As an added bonus, spring planting means I'll soon have my own fresh herbs to season this dish with.


Orange Roasted Cornish Game Hen
2 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs (such as thyme, parsley, and mint)
2 tablespoons minced shallots -or - green onions
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 large Cornish game hen, halved lengthwise (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons sparkling apple cider -or- apple juice
2 thin orange slices

Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix first 3 ingredients in small bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon of softened butter to the herbs. Cream together.

Slide fingertips under skin of hen halves to loosen. Spread 1/4 of herb mixture under skin of each hen half. Rub skin with butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place hen halves in shallow roasting pan. Roast hen halves until golden and cooked through, adding broth after 10 minutes and basting twice throughout cooking time, about 30 minutes. Don't baste at the end if you want crispy skin.

Transfer hen halves to platter.

Pour pan juices into a sauce pot and put on burner over medium heat. Add juice, sparkling cider, and remaining herbs; boil until reduced, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over hen halves, garnish with orange slices, and serve.

Makes 2 servings.

The rest of our meal included Chilled Strawberry Soup, Orange Cream Filled Acorn Squash and Mashed Potatoes. The recipes will be up soon!


(adapted from Bon Appétit April 2003 recipe)

Tomato-Basil Chicken

Baked Chicken with Tomato and Basil
- enough chicken for everyone eating (2-3 breasts for my clan of 4)
- fresh basil (about 8 large leaves)
- 1/4 onion diced or 6 pearl onions halved
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced or a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes (And by now you understand why James can't copy any of my recipes. I'm an intuitive cook, not a scholar. I eyeball amounts and fiddle with recipes to no end. Really, it tastes good!)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbspn olive oil
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or water


Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius
- Dice onion, cut tomato, shred basil, and crush garlic (I like a big rubber mallet for this. Lay the garlic somewhere solid, smash with the mallet, and remove peel. All done! It takes all of ten seconds and the kids are always happy to help with the smashing.)
- Put chicken in glass casserole dish or whatever you use for baking things like this
- Drop in the remaining ingredients
- Drizzle olive oil over everything
- Add some salt and pepper to the chicken if you like and then the chicken broth
- Cover the casserole dish with foil and tuck tightly (you want to catch the steam)
- Bake for 45-60 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is cut
- Remove chicken from pan and place in broiler on high for 3-5 minutes until it turns brown and crisp
- Eat... there will be some yummy pan juices that you can either use to make rice in or sop up with some fresh bread



This is the pre-oven dish. By the time it was cooked I was too hungry for pictures. It looked delicious and tasted better. :0) You'll just have to take my word on this.

Standing Time: Less than 10 minutes
Total Cook Time: 75 minutes max
Can you make it ahead? Probably, I've never tried but I don't see any reason you couldn't toss this together and refrigerate overnight as long as it's covered. I don't think this is a good candidate for freezing.