Winter Grilling

Chili con carne

 

recipe for 4.5L pot.

• 1 tbsp oil 
• 2 large onion
• 2 red pepper
• 4 chili peppers chopped 
• 4 Garlic cloves, peeled, chopped
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1 heaped tsp hot chili powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1500g lean minced beef
• 4 beef stock cubes
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 2 cans pressed tomatoes
• 1 tsp oregano 
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 cans red kidney beans( one drained)

 Directions

1. fry the beef, salt and pepper it as you fry the beef. 
2. Drain the oil off once the beef is fried. 
3. Put the meat back in pot 
4. add spices.onion, red pepper, garlic
5. mix stock in cup of boiling water and add to mix. 
6. add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. 
7. bring to a simmer and then turn stove down and let it cook with lid for about 4 hours 
8. STIR VERY OFTEN SO IT DOESN'T BURN.  unless you have a pressure cooker. about 90 minutes in pressure cooker

because there is tomato in the sauce it is very easy to burn. be careful to not get the heat to high. you want it to simmer to get the flavor through everything.

* reheat the whole pot again the next day. Chili is one of those dishes that gets better every day you reheat it. Day 4 is where you should be finishing it though. You can freeze chili but it WILL stain your plastic containers so you might want to freeze it in a plastic bag. Enjoy your chili!

Best Chocolate Brownies

 Best Bistro Style Chocolate Brownies

This is an amazingly easy recipe for Brownies. Great if you are simply feeling a little peckish or if you have someone drop in and you want something delicious to serve with a cup of hot tea.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter
2/3 cup pure cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
1/2 cuo of all purpose flower
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
optional: you can add some chopped walnuts into the batter.

Preheat over to 175 C.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until everything is combined. prepare an oiled baking form and spread the batter evenly. Put the form in the oven and bake for 25- 30 minuted. check with tooth picks after the 25 minutes.

 

 

after testing I needed another 5 minutes to get it done.

Chicken wings today

Link to the Recipe 

Very nice evening and beautiful sunset

Black Cherry Ice Cream Recipe

Black Cherry Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

For sauce

• 800grams black cherries, pitted, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar

For ice cream

•  10-15 cherries pitted and chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 5dl whole cream (40%)
• 3dl milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Make sauce:
Combine cherries and sugar in heavy large saucepan; toss to coat. Let stand until juices form, about 2 hours. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until liquid thickens slightly, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain cherry mixture to small bowl; reserve for use in ice cream.

Make ice cream:

Pour 3dl of cream and 1dl milk into heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Remove from heat; steep 30 minutes. Whisk sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend well. Bring half and half to simmer. Gradually whisk hot cream into yolk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat. Mix in remaining cream, milk, chopped cherries and cherry mixture. Refrigerate until cold, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

Using ice cream maker, process custard until almost firm, following manufacturer's instructions; add reserved 1 cup cherry mixture. Process until ice cream firms, about 15 minutes longer. Transfer to container; cover and freeze.

Stone baked Pizza

Homemade Italian Pizza

pizza dough recipe

We'll start with the thought that you already made your pizza dough. If you have frozen your dough, take it up the day before and leave it in the fridge. An hour before you are going to bake your pizza you should take the dough from the fridge and prepare a spot on the counter top with some flour. Take your dough and press it down in the flour and then turn it over. Work the dough into a circle and spread it into a flat 10cm circle. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel and leave to warm and rise for 30 minutes. 

 

 

After the dough has had 30 minutes to rise, place your baking stone in the middle of the oven and turn the oven to 275C. If you don't have a baking stone, turn your largest baking pan upside down and put it in the middle of the oven. The reason for using a hot surface to bake your pizza is so that the Dough seals quickly and has a chance to raise before the toppings make your dough soggy. This is what will make it more like pizza your ordered instead of just plain old homemade stuff. The old way of putting your dough and pizza on a cold tray and then putting everything in the oven means you are starting with a tray that is room temperature and by the time the tray warms up the top of your pizza is done and has soaked through to the bottom... not good. lol

I use a Weber baking stone that is made to be durable enough to be able to use in a BBQ. 

Put a piece of parchment paper on your counter top and spread out a couple tablespoons of corn meal. this will help your pizza separate from the baking surface. How thick you want your pizza is up to your. I am using 1/4 of the recipe to make a single serving thin crust pizza. 

Once you have stretched out your dough cover it while you prepare your toppings. When your toppings are ready, uncover the dough and brush a thin layer of olive oil over it to keep it from drying out. Mozzarella cheese, peperoni, fresh mushrooms, bacon, chopped leak and some grated Parmesan cheese to top it off. 

Once your pizza is decorated the way you like slide it onto the baking stone and turn the oven down to 200C. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes depending on oven and crust thickness. You want your crust to be getting a little brown coloration and for the toppings to be down but not burned. Use a pizza peal to remove your pizza and let it stand on the counter for a couple minutes before using your pizza wheel to slice. (you don't want to burn your tongue on hot cheese!!)

For having company it can be fun to do several different pizzas and because they go fairly fast it can be a fun meal just to try several versions. Once you have done it a few times you will have the timing down so that the next pizza is ready to go in the oven just as the one before is finished. Let the kids help. They will enjoy the meal even more and it's good for kids to learn how to cook for themselves. 

Refried beans

Love my Texmex

When I first traveled to LA in 1986 I had no idea what Texmex was and that's a shame. In LA I was introduced to a whole new world of flavors and Fell in love with it. I'm a real fan of hot and spicy so it was love at first taste. There was a great Burrito place that I spent a lot of time at on Sepulveda Boulevard. It was a cheap lunch and a very tasty one. They had a great beef and bean burrito. They also had a nice orange whip drink, but that's a whole different story. 

When I moved to Sweden in 1989 they were just starting to market Texmex, but it was impossible to get good refried beans. They sell a small can of something they call refried beans but there is nothing  in them that you should be putting in your body. It's like buying guacamole dip that contains no avocado, how is that even possible? A couple years ago a decided I needed to figure out how to make my own beans. I watched a couple youtube videos and read some recipes and started the testing process. Now I have a pressure cooker and it's down to a science. You can make them without a pressure cooker, but it takes A LOT LONGER. 

ingredients

800g Pinto beans

1 medium onion

2-3 cloves garlic(chopped)

1 tsp cumin (ground)

4 chicken bullion cubes

1-2 jalapenos (depends on your personal hot scale. I like two)

I use an 800g bag of beans and it makes about 2kgs of refried beans. The import thing is they are incredible easy to reheat after being frozen. I put them in plastic bags and they keep for a couple months in the freezer. 

Always start by hand sorting through your beans to make sure there are no small stones. The plants are kept in soil with a lot of small gravel to make them easy to irrigate and it's not uncommon to find a small stone mixed in with the beans. Nothing you want to be biting into so start with the sort. 

Once sorted put the beans in a bowl and cover with water a couple inches over the beans because they will absorb a lot of water. Let them soak over night with a cover.

Chop a medium size onion and fry it with a little butter. Put the kettle on to cook up water while you are letting the onion get slightly yellow and soft. Chop up 2 or 3 garlic cloves and add them and 4 chicken bullion cubes with a little of the water. Mix until the cubes have melted. Chop up a jalapeno and throw it into the pot. Grind up a teaspoon of cumin and add that. Then strain your beans and put them into your pot. Add enough boiling water to cover your beans plus a couple centimeters extra. Once again the beans will soak up water and you will be able to remove excess water later.

Bring the Beans to a boil on medium high and put the lid on. Once the pressure cooker seal closes, turn the heat down to low and let it cook for an hour. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool down and release the steam on it's own. This will help the beans cook the last little bit without risk of burning them. The beans should be soft and you should be able to mash them with your finger. This is a great time to taste test.

Strain the beans into a bowl saving the liquid. Put the beans back into the pot and mash the beans. The consistency is up to your own personal preference. Use the liquid you save to give the beans moisture. You don't want dry beans and there is so much flavor in the liquid. I like to use the liquid instead of water when cooking up my texmex beef to get full use of the amazing flavors. 

 

Tips

• portion your beans into small plastic bags for freezing
• you can reheat in microwave or in a pot. 
• You may need to add a little water when you reheat
• for a really good bean dip you can just add a little sour cream
• bean burrito is a great thing to serve to your vegetarian friends