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!

Steam Powered Pepper Company sauce

Chicken and Bean Burritos

For those who know me they will tell you that I love my Texmex. Today I made Chicken and refried bean burritos.

Chopped chicken Fillet
texmex spice
Refried beans recipe
Salsa
sour cream
burrito wraps
grated cheddar cheese

Put some texmex spice on your chicken and fry using a little olive oil. When the chicken is almost done you can warm your beans in the frying pan or warm them in the microwave. Heat your wraps to make them more flexible. lay some chicken and beans in the middle of the wrap in a straight line. Add some grated cheddar, sour cream and salsa. I like some hot sauce as well. Fold up the bottom of the wrap and than roll it together. Dinner is done.

 

Bacon and Jalapeno wrapped chicken

This is a very simple meal to make.

ingredients

1 chicken fillet per person
1 Jalapeno per chicken fillet
sliced bacon
your favorite BBQ seasoning.

Cut the chicken fillet into two even slices. Lightly spice. Cut Jalapeno in half and remove the seeds. Place half of a Jalapeno on each slice and then wrap with bacon. I usually use 2 slices of bacon for each piece. Use tooth picks to hold the bacon, jalapeno and chicken together. Place on hot grill and grill about 3 minutes on each side (all 4) Bacon should be starting to get crispy when they and that's when you know the chicken is done. Makes sure to get the bacon on all sides grilled. The tooth pics will help with standing the pieces on their sides.

Today I made oven baked potato wedges, roast onion and roast carrot to go with the meal.

Oven baked potato wedges recipe

 

Chicken wings today

Link to the Recipe 

Very nice evening and beautiful sunset

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

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 

 

 

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