Food Lush

Unorthodox chili ingredients

by Katie

photo from: me

Everyone has their favorite chili, but some people can be downright fanatical about it. The purists (beef only! only chili powder! get off my lawn!) scoff at the adventurers (ground turkey! chopped peppers! add some cumin!). Because I did not grow up with a family chili recipe, I fall into the “sure, I’ll try anything” camp. Different strokes, different folks, etc.

All this to say: please do not throw things at me for what I am about to say, chili purists. Because my two new favorite things to put into chili are:

cocoa powder and sweet potatoes.

I know! Blasphemy! But the former adds this lovely rich undertone and the latter adds a mild sweetness that helps soak up the richness a little and it is SO GOOD (particularly in vegetarian chili, which can get a little boring and gastrointestinally intense, what with all the acidic tomatoes and fibrous beans and that’s it.)

Plus: slow cooker. Bonus.

Slow cooker chili with sweet potatoes and cocoa powder

1 pound ground turkey or beef (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 14-oz can tomato sauce
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tbsp of your favorite chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1-2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt

1. Brown meat, if using. It truly is optional- I’ve made this vegetarian a bunch of times and it’s got plenty of flavor and heft without the meat. (You do not, strictly speaking, have to brown the meat, either. I’ve skipped it, but I get a little nervous about foodborne bacteria and ground meats and slow cookers so I usually do it to be safe. I will often throw the onion in the skillet, too, because why not?)

2. Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker, stir it up, and cook on low 8-10 hours. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream, if that's your thing. 

 

Is there anything else I should be adding to my chili? I'm all ears!

Easy polenta without stirring (!)

by Katie

I love polenta. It makes an excellent base/side for all kinds of dishes – ratatouille, roasted vegetables, meats of all sorts – and it’s a whole grain, to boot.

But until recently, I rarely made polenta on a weeknight because oh, the stirring. ALL THE STIRRING. For those not used to cooking polenta, the typical method involves whisking cornmeal into hot water, then whisking/stirring fairly constantly for at least a half our while the meal soaks up the water and the mixture gets all lava-like and blurps hot steam all over and ... yeah. If you’re looking for “quick low-effort weeknight meal,” the typical method for polenta definitely doesn’t qualify.

Which is why I was so delighted to discover this alternative method in Everyday Food: Great Food Fast (my new best friend of a cookbook). Instead of stirring the polenta forever over the stove, you do it in the oven, stirring only once halfway through. Once it’s out of the oven, you whisk in a little milk to loosen it up (or, if you want, some broth or cheese to boost flavor) adjust seasoning as needed, and then- you’re done! I expect polenta will be making MUCH more regular appearances on our weeknight table going forward.

Oven-baked polenta (adapted from Great Food Fast)
1 cup dried polenta (coarse ground corn meal)
4 cups water
½ tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk all ingredients together in an oven-safe dish with a lid. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Remove from oven and whisk in 1/2 cup of milk and/or some shredded parmesan cheese.

Note: this recipe makes a LOT. I recommend spreading any leftover in a shallow baking dish and refrigerating overnight. The next day, slice the now-solid polenta into slabs and toast/fry in a frying pan with a little oil or butter- fried polenta cakes are incredibly delicious, and can be served sweet (maple syrup is a particularly nice accompaniment) or savory (makes a great side for pork and chicken).

(Picture from: Bobsredmill.com)

Lemon tahini dressing

by Katie

We do a lot of steamed vegetable + tofu variations in our house- it's a quick healthy dinner, and an easy standby. Usually we go with some version of a peanut sauce or General Tsao's, but last week I was craving something different. I don't know why I thought of tahini, as I'm not usually ahuge fan, but it sounded like a nice change of pace.

(Picture from: amazon.com)

This turned out really great- bright and tangy and a little nutty. I sauteed some tofu with a dollop of the dressing, then served it with broccoli, red peppers, zucchini, brown rice, and spinach, with a little more dressing drizzled over the top.

A blending note: I underestimated the power of our blender and accidentally made lemon tahini mayo by letting it run too long, but that was a delicious mistake- I thinned it out with a little water to drizzle over vegetables, but have also used the thicker version as a dip for cut-up raw vegetables, and it's also great spread on sandwiches to add a little Mediterranean flair.

Lemon Tahini Dressing

Juice of 3 lemons

3-4 T olive oil

3-4 T tahini (sesame paste- found in the middle eastern section of large supermarkets)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. (I like things pretty lemony- if it's too tart for your taste, add a little more olive oil.)

Steel Cut Oats in the Crock Pot

By Katie

At the risk of giving foodlush readers the impression that I only ever cook in my crock pot anymore, I'd like to tell you about another recent slow cooker discovery that's blowing my mind: slow cooked steel cut oats.

I LOVE steel cut oatmeal, but its long cooking time usually makes it a no-go for me on weekdays. Which is a shame, because it's hearty and filling and would make an EXCELLENT breakfast for cool fall mornings.

Good thing I learned about doing steel cut oats in the slow cooker. It couldn't be easier: 1 cup steel cut oats, 3 cups water, a pinch of salt. Cook on low overnight (8-10 hours). Wake up to delicious, warming breakfast. If you want to go a little fancier, add a cup of the dried fruit of your choice (raisins, cherries, figs, and dried apples are all delicious) and increase the water to 4 cups. You can also add spices- cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, what have you. I like to mix it with a big dollop of the slow cooker applesauce I talked about last week, and some walnuts or almonds. Delicious.

This makes a big batch, but the oatmeal keeps well in the refrigerator for about a week.

(Personal photo)

Slow cooker applesauce

by Katie

Applesauce is not very difficult to make, but it can be a little hands on- the peeling, the chopping, the stirring at the stove. My parents gave us dozens and dozens of apples from their backyard tree, and I knew I wanted to make applesauce, but didn't particularly want to spend the afternoon standing at the stove. Could it be done in a slow cooker instead, I wondered?

It can, and it is so easy I can't imagine ever doing it the old way again.

Slow cooker applesauce

8-12 apples (I used 12, but you could certainly use less,) cored, peeled, and roughly chopped.
Juice of one half lemon (or a whole lemon, if your apples are very sweet)
1-2 cinnamon sticks (or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
a scant 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup water

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours. Your house will smell like heaven. Remove the cinnamon sticks and mash the applesauce with a potato masher or run it through a blender, food mill, or food processor. Enjoy!

(Note: if you have a food mill or a very strong blender, like a Vitamix, you can even skip the peeling step. The food mill will separate out the peels and leave you with a chunky sauce, or the Vitamix will blend the peels right in and give you a velvety smooth sauce. Both are super tasty.)

(Picture from: canningbasics.com)

The best tortillas: shop around (within your supermarket!)

by Katie

Today, I would like to talk about the mysterious way normal supermarkets handle tortillas. You would think that all the tortillas a supermarket had to offer would be found in one place. In my experience, you would be dead wrong.

(Picture from: quichelorraineblog.blogspot.com)

In our local grocery store, tortillas can be found in (at least) three different places: some in the bread aisle, others in the refrigerated case near the cheese and pre-made cookie dough, and still others in the "latino foods" aisle.

It should come as no surprise that the best (and cheapest) tortillas, BY A MILE, come from the "latino foods" aisle. That's where, you see, you are most likely to find local tortillas delivered fresh daily by a local place - in my case, the very good El Milagro tortilleria.

Fresh tortillas are just the best- they may not hold up for a week's worth of wraps like the Mission ones, but I don't care. A pack of corn tortillas (do not even talk to me about flour tortillas. For tacos? Gross.) cost 39 cents, so if you don't finish the packet you've hardly broken the bank. You can also cut any extra ones into wedges, spray with a little cooking spray, and bake on a cookie sheet for some homemade chips.

And speaking of chips: the same "shop around the grocery store" advice holds true for chips. Our store also has three places to find tortilla chips: the chip and snack aisle (Tostitos for $3.69 or so) the "natural foods" aisle (blue corn tortilla chips, that sort of thing, for $3.50-$4 a bag) and the trusty latino foods aisle (huge bag of fresh amazing El Milagro tortilla chips for $2.69).

The lesson? While Tostitos and Mission may be the more familiar brands, it's worth it to hunt around a bit and see if there's a local supplier providing fresh tortillas and chips to your store. They'll likely taste better AND be cheaper. Win-win.

Swedish dish cloths

By Katie

A few weeks ago I was strolling through a little resort town in southwest Michigan with some friends, poking in and out of gift shops, when we encountered a bin full of something labelled "Swedish Dishcloths."

They sheets, about 6 inches by 8 inches, were stiff and looked almost like notecards, but the explanatory label pretty much promised that they were some kind of miracle kitchen product- a cross between a sponge and a dishcloth, made of a mix of cellulose and cotton that cleaned surfaces with or without spray cleaners, buffed stainless to a streak-free shine, and cooked dinner for you. (Okay, not that last one.) 

Plus, they were cute. So I bought one.

And you know what? They ARE awesome! They apparently last forever (mine is still like new after more than a month) because you can wash them in the dishwasher or washing machine, and in a pinch they can be sterilized by microwaving for a minute while damp. They dry to a stiff sheet but soften immediately in water. As promised, they do a great job shining countertops and even stainless steel appliances with just water, no drying needed.

Ever since I was reminded how gross kitchen sinks and surfaces are (more germs than your toilet! Yummy!) I've been looking for a way to keep my counter sponge and my dishes sponge clearly and obviously separate so people don't mix them up- these make it easy!

Plus, look, a ton of cute designs:

These are all from Scandanavian Stitches (and there are dozens more designs on that site, including a bunch of cute holiday ones) but a quick google search of "Sweedish Dishcloths" shows dozens of places to buy them. I think they'd make a really great, low-key hostess gift (cute and practical! Win and win!) I paid about $6 for mine -- more than your average sponge, for sure, but given how much longer it lasts than a typical sponge, definitely worth it.

(All pictures from: scandanavianstitches.com)

Polder Kitchen Timer

by Katie

About a year ago, our oven (which I hated) broke down. The repair guy told us it would cost about $800 to fix, because the repair involved replacing not one but two computers inside the oven.

TWO. COMPUTERS. It is an OVEN, not a ROCKET.

Since we had hoped to replace it eventually anyway, we elected not to pour nearly a grand into an oven we hated and instead take a plunge on my dream oven. (Some people dream of cars, I dream of ovens, okay?) And I love my new oven to pieces, but it does have one slightly unusual characteristic: no computer or electronic components. At all.

This is a mostly good thing- nothing complicated or expensive to break down, for example - but it does have a drawback: no clock or timer.

(Picture from Amazon.com)

Enter the Polder Kitchen Timer, Clock, and Stopwatch. This thing is so great, I don't even miss having a timer on my oven anymore. It has a separate button for each number- surprisingly hard to find, and way faster to set than one that requires you to scroll through to get the time you want. It automatically resets itself to the last interval you used, which is nice for tasks like multiple batches of cookies. The beeper is loud but not obnoxious, and it keeps going until you turn it off- which means you to step out of the kitchen for a moment without worrying you're going to miss the single "ding" of the oven. It's also super-portable (yay dorky neck lanyard!) so you can do other things without worrying you're going to miss the moment (particularly nice with longer cooking things that simmer for hours.) It's even got a magnet on the back, so you can stick it to the fridge when you're not using it.

Sometimes it's the little things, you know? This isn't fancy, but it's thoughtfully designed, works great, and makes my cooking life easier. Highly recommend.

Grilled peaches

by Katie

After Sara recommended it a few weeks ago on Food Lush, I bought Dinner: A Love Story. While I still haven't made my way through all of it, the technique below alone was worth the price of admission. Next to her recipe for bourbon-glazed grilled pork tenderloin (which is delicious) there is this little addendum about grilled peaches being a nice accompaniment.

(Photo from: me)

Understatement of the year. The first time John and I made peaches this way, we dug in and immediately wondered why we had ever bothered eating peaches any other way. These highlight all the best qualities of a peach, but the heat enhances the flavor and texture, masking any bruises or underripeness, so all you taste is perfect peach.

And it's super-simple. Cut peaches in half, rub with a little vegetable oil, sprinkle on a bit of brown sugar, and grill over a medium fire, turning occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Serve with grilled meat, or over ice cream, or just eat with a spoon out of a bowl. Delicious.

 

Uses for garden basil part 3: basil gimlet

by Katie

Well, Elissa from last week's post is prescient: today, I want to talk about one of my new favorite uses for the basil tree that's taking over my backyard: basil cocktails.

Our basil plant (husband shown for scale)

Basil has a nice green herbal note, which in my book makes it a perfect match for a nice herbal spirit like gin. My favorite basil cocktail is as follows:

Basil gimlet

5-6 medium basil leaves

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 ounces gin

1 ounce fresh lime juice

Muddle the basil leaves and the granulated sugar together in a shaker until the sugar starts to dissolve. Squeeze the lime juice into the bottom of the shaker and stir/muddle until the sugar is dissolved. Add the gin, plus ice, and shake. Strain into a glass and garnish with another basil leaf.