cook: chili for chilly evenings

Chili is one of those dishes, for which I don’t need a recipe. Sauté onions and peppers (Patrick had just harvested the last of our Pasilla and jalapeños, of which I removed seeds and inside membranes because he can’t handle spice, ground beef, soaked and boiled pinto beans, garlic in bacon grease reserved from a night of shrimp 'n grits. Add chipotles in adobo sauce or the dried spice and a dash of cumin and some tomato sauce or diced tomatoes with a bit of water to deglaze the pan and let it simmer and thicken into a delicious stew. Don’t forget to taste and salt as needed—not too much as you can’t subtract and be mindful that it will taste saltier as the chili steams away.                  

I mentioned in a previous blog that I didn’t know what to do with the polenta or corn grits left in my pantry. Well I figured out I could use the corn meal in jalapeno cheddar scallion muffins to accompany the chili. I combined a 1/2 cup of polenta along with 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2/3 teaspoons baking powder, 1/3 teaspoon salt, and then added an egg, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (so really 3 tablespoons for me) melted butter to the dry mixture, which I then spooned into a muffin top pan. I topped each cup of the wet batter with shredded cheese, chopped scallions, and chopped jalapeño.                   

I then baked the muffins in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes until the edges were browned to our liking. And dinner was so easy.

Chili is definitely one of my husband's favorite meals.    

Thank God it was an easy Friday evening, for I’ve an exciting weekend of a linocut printing class and was glad to leave one good leftover dish for Patrick to eat in my absence.