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!

Ribs

Homemade burgers

There are a few things that are important to insure that you get good burgers, the quality of ground beef should be the highest on your priority list. Get very lean beef that is freshly ground. Another big contributor is to make sure you don't over mix your burgers before pressing them. If you mix them too much you will end up with tough burgers. Another big thing for me is that you should NOT use bread crumbs.  Use freshly ground Parmesan instead.

recipe

• 4 pounds lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 onion grated into juice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pinch oregano
• 4 tbs tomato paste
• 4 tbs Heinz ketchup
• 5 egg yolks

Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and  mix until ingredients are mixed together. You can use a kitchen assistant or a hand held mixer with the dough hooks. Weigh your burgers and press them. I like to weigh mine in small freezer bags so they can be pressed in the bags and then frozen. This prevents the burgers sticking in the press and they will if you put them straight into the press.

If you don't have a a burger press you can cut the top ring off a plastic container and use the bottom to press the burgers in the ring. for every day burgers 100grams is a good size to aim for. I like to do some super burgers that can be used with or without bread at 225 grams. But burger size is a personal preference things. Test and see what you like.

Amazing full moon this week

Midsummer

Today was midsummer and of course needed to be enjoyed with BBQ. Meat of choice today was an rib eye. I bought it in a 1KG piece and cute it into 4 very nice pieces. Some new potatoes, grilled onion and a side salad rounded the meal off nicely.

 

The weather was great today. here some pics...

Quiche Lorraine

 


I've been busy visiting family and enjoying life so I haven't had a lot of time for the blog but I'm still cooking of course. Thought I'd post some pics and then come back with the recipe another day

 Quiche Lorraine

 

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. 

Grilled pork

BBQ is always the correct answer

12 months of the year using the BBQ is always the correct answer if you are looking for tasty and easy food. Remember when you are doing pork or chicken that it is important to add flavor. there is a reason they say everything tastes like chicken, because chicken doesn't taste like anything and spices rule. 

For pork you should try to marinade your meat at least an hour, a couple days doesn't hurt. You can even put your pork in a bag with marinade and freeze it down so that it is good and tasty when you take it up. 

Marinade

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 Teaspoon chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
• dash of soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• water to mix and cover all the meat

Put a plastic bag in a large bowl. Add  all the ingredients to the bag except the water and mix it up. Lay in your pork and then add water to cover. Seal the bag and shake well. Put the bag in the bowl and put it in the fridge. Go back and turn the bag over and shake now and then. Sometimes I like to add half a can of coca cola about 30 minutes before I take the meat out of the marinade.

Make sure the grill is hot when you start and place the meat on the grill. turn after about 1 minute and let it cook. Remember searing the meat keeps the moisture in. Make sure you don't over grill or your will dry your meat. Pork should be about as soft as the center of your palm when it's done.

Oven baked potato wedges recipe 
Dipping sauce

Grilled cheese

 Easy food can be tasty

Grilled cheese is an old school easy meal, but you dont have to go straight old school. You can add thin sliced meats like smoked ham, turkey or even pastrami. Today I went with bacon and tomato. Adding some meat makes it more of a meal.

Fry up your bacon first and when it's almost crispy lay it flat on a paper towel to drain the fat.

 Clean your frying pan and leave the heat on medium.

MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE IS BUTTER!!! If your doctor has told you to use low trans fat margarine you should so so, but if you are healthy butter is natural and tastes much better. Margarine can also turn your grilled cheese into a really greasy mess because it's made from vegetable oil.

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Turn two buttered sides against each other so you can put your cheese++ on the sandwich. Lift up your top slice and lay the buttered side down, with the toppings on and put the other slice of buttered bread on top with butter side up. Use a lid to cover your grilled cheese while they fry. This allows the heat to be kept and your cheese will melt. If you do it without a lid you risk toasting the grilled cheese and having cheese that has not melted.

Mix and match

Mixing and matching what can be cooked together can make meal planning a lot easier. Today the mix is potato wedges and chicken wings. They both go on the same tray in the oven and take the same amount for time.


The recipe for both is in previous posts.

Dipping Sauce

sour cream
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Ketchup
Soya
tomato paste

Still no sign of nice weather 

 

 

Bacon Pasta

Pasta rules!!

There is an unlimited amount of combinations you can have with pasta. It's an easy meal and can be amazingly tasty if you are willing to mix. Today I made bacon and mushroom pasta. It takes about 10 minutes to make and is absolutely delicious. 

Ingredients

100 grams lean bacon per person

100 grams fresh sliced mushrooms per person

1 small leak chopped

5 balls of Tagliatelle per person

a large spoon sour cream 34% 

fresh grated Parmesan 

Boil water and start bacon frying. You want the bacon to be fried, but NOT crispy. Remove the bacon to your cutting board and put the mushroom slices and leak into the bacon fat and fry it up. Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and put it back in the frying pan. Spice your mushroom and bacon mix with some salt pepper and garlic as they fry.

Put your pasta in the water and cook 30 seconds less than the recommended time. 

Use your spaghetti ladle  to lift the pasta from the pot to the frying pan and add a couple spoons of the water too the bacon and mushrooms. Add a large spoon of sour cream and mix everything and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Pour your dinner into a pasta bowl and top with fresh grated Parmesan Cheese.

 

 

Still waiting for warmer weather to come but at least it was a nice sunset today and that's never a bad thing. 

 

 

Bacon wrapped Jalapeño chicken

Bacon wrapped Jalapeño chicken

An easy meal as always. Slice your chicken breast into strips. Spice with some chili, garlic, paprika or and grill spice you like. Then half your Jalapeño and remove the seeds. Put a half on each side of your chicken slice and then wrap with bacon. Use toothpicks to keep everything place. Grill on medium high heat until chicken is cooked though. Serve with rice and a nice sauce.

sauce suggestion

• sour cream
• BBQ mix spice
• ketchup
• garlic
• soya sauce
• chili

Grilled Sausage and oven baked potato wedges

BBQ season is great for the tasty food that can be made and for  the fact that it's not a lot of work to make the meals. Any kind of meat and you are half way there. Today it's a simple all beef chorizo sausage. The first thing I'll say about sausage is make sure you get sausage and NOT hot dogs. Hot dogs are the worst filth that is left when all the real meat has been used for other things. It's bleached into a massive pit of crud and then colored pink to make you think it's meat. IT'S NOT!! SO check to make sure what you are getting and if you can pick up some tasty sausages from your local deli.

Potato wedges are extremely easy to make. Cut your  potatoes and then rinse then in water. put a little oil in a large bowl and toss the wedges to get them covered in a light layer of oil. Then generously season with any mix you like on your wedges. You can go as simple as salt and pepper or try some Cajun or BBQ spice. Oven to 200C. Cover a pan with tin foil and lay the wedges on the foil. I use my pan with a rack but straight on foil works. After 20 minutes you turn them all over and after 40 you need to make sure your meat is ready to go because the wedges are done.

easy food rules!

The weather was really good today. Got to see and photograph both the sunrise and late in the evening a sunset. all in all a good day.

Today's sunset

Bacon makes everything taste better

Bacon double cheese burger

Well today was an easy day and I went with a classic. Less bread is always a good thing so I went with the double burger. I probably shouldn't be consuming all the process cheese, but it's so easy and actually tastes good. Maybe I'll do some real cheddar next time. 

Tips

•  Put the chopped onion on your patty before you put the cheese on to melt. It will help the burger keep it's act together when you're eating. 
• As always, a toasted bun keeps the burger from being soggy. 

A really rainy day turned nice towards twilight.