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!

Spaghetti with a basil, tomato sauce, fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano and chili flakes

Steam Powered Pepper Company sauce

Ribs

Bacon and mushroom Pasta

Bacon and mushroom Pasta

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

• 5 balls of Tagliatelle per person

• a large spoon sour cream 34% 

• fresh grated Parmesan 

Boil water and start bacon frying.

Put your pasta in the water and cook 30 seconds less than the recommended time. Tagliatelle is usually 5 minutes.

You want the bacon to be fried, but NOT crispy.

 

Remove the bacon to your cutting board and put the mushroom slices into the bacon frying pan with the grease. 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.

 

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.

Potato wedges

For most of us we have realized that we really shouldn't eat deep fried food, but for me potato wedges of fries was something I'd really miss. Luckily it's easy enough to do really good potato wedges in the oven. This isn't as much a recipe as it is tips for getting really delicious wedges.

Start by washing your potatoes thoroughly. Then cut your potato into wedges. Try to get them as even in size as you can so that they cook at the same pace. Once you have cut the potatoes you will need to rinse them again to remove the starch. After rinsing put them on a tea towel to dry. You can use paper towels but cloth is better for the pocket book and the environment.

Once you've got them dry, put them in a bowl and pour a little amount of vegetable oil or olive oil and mix well so that they are completely covered with a thin layer of oil. Take a baking pan and cover it with tinfoil. You want to use tinfoil to help them get crispy. Then place them on the foil and sprinkle with a chili based BBQ spice.

Add caption

Preheat the oven to 200C and when it's warm put the pan in the lower third of the oven for 20 minutes. Take the pan out and turn all of them over and then put them back in for another 20 minutes. I like to do some carrots and onion together with the wedges since they take about the same amount of time. The wedges should be fluffy inside and very tasty. Pick and choose what you want to serve them with.

 

 

Today I decided to have my wedges with a homemade burger. One of my favorites. 

Sunset today. Absolutely amazing.

Tonight there was a blue moon. simply stunning. 

Plantation XO Barbados 20th Anniversary

Today I'm going to go away from the whole food thing and go to one of the other things I like in life and that's a good drink. I'm a single malt kind of guy, but this rum is absolutely amazing and both run or whiskey lovers can enjoy. It's a rum that is aged in oak barrels which gives it a spectacular taste.

Plantation XO Barbados Bottling Note

A superb-looking decanter bottle of XO rum from Barbados, aged in bourbon barrels before being shipped to France for a secondary maturation in Cognac Casks from the Ferrand house... The result was awarded 94 points from the Beverage Testing Institute.

Taste

Nose: Hints of spicy oak on the nose, with guava, a little desiccated coconut and dried banana. Buttery.

Palate: Spiced, creamy palate entry, with sweet vanilla notes and caramel. Oaky spices.

Finish: Caramel. Toasted oak.

A little tip for this would be to get yourself a good whiskey stone. This is a premium drink and should not be ruined by watering it down by the same way you don't water down a good whiskey. 

If you can't find good whiskey stones give me a heads up and I can help you.