The Best Chili Recipe

Not originally mine but I am loyal. You must have a tolerance for spicy.

From Epicurius.com: Although this recipe doesn't produce the familiar-looking red chili--it's more green than red--it does turn out a chili that has become one of our staff favorites.
Servings: Makes about 14 cups, serving 6 to 8.

Ingredients

2 canned whole chipotle chilies in adobo* or 2 dried whole chipotle chilies*
1 cup water, boiling hot if using the dried chilies
2 pounds fresh tomatillos (available at Hispanic markets and may supermarkets) or three 18-ounce cans whole tomatillos*, drained
2 large onions, chopped
8 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin
4 pounds ground turkey
2 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons dried orégano, crumbled
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 green bell pepper, chopped
two 4-ounce cans mild green chilies, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon cornmeal
a 19-ounce can (about 2 cups) white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
sour cream as an accompaniment if desired

*available at Hispanic markets, some specialty foods shops, and some supermarkets

Preparation

If using the canned chipotle chilies, in a blender purée them with the water and reserve the purée. If using dried chipotle chilies, stem and seed them wearing rubber gloves, in a small bowl let them soak in the boiling-hot water for 20 minutes, and in a blender purée the mixture, reserving the purée.

(bridget note: to puree the tomatillos, blanch them in boiling water for about 3 minutes. cool and squeeze excuse liquid out. Then food processor )

In a large heavy kettle cook the onions and 5 of the garlic cloves, minced, in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until the onions are softened, add the cumin, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the turkey and cook the mixture, stirring and breaking up the lumps, until the turkey is no longer pink. Add the reserved chipotle purée, the reserved tomatillo purée, the broth, the bay leaf, the orégano, and the salt and simmer the mixture, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep the turkey barely covered, for 1 hour. Stir in the bell pepper, the canned green chilies, and the cornmeal and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Stir in the white beans, the coriander, the remaining 2 garlic cloves, minced, and salt to taste, simmer the chili for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the beans are heated through, and discard the bay leaf. The chili may be frozen or made 3 days in advance, cooled, uncovered, and kept covered and chilled. Serve the chili with the sour cream.

Last Outings

Yesterday was about pond dig out (taking advantage of the drought), yard clean up, and dinner with our friends from Rainbow Lake. Linnae brought a delicious pork roast from the Paul Smith's farmer's market, with a mustard/maple syrup drizzle, I made a potato/apple gratin, and a shrimp, tomato, fresh corn salad with mint and asian dressing. Linnae also brough the most incredible peaches which everyone had with ice cream. It was a great send off, as we are both leaving this week.

This morning was more pond clean out, and storage room clean out. We still have at least 2 feet to go of pond muck. Anyone have any other brilliant ideas besides shoveling? I know my roots are Irish dirt digger but this is getting ridiculous. Now, off to a last round of golf and Tail O the Pup.

The Great Refrigerator Clean Out

So we leave Monday back to the city and we are trying to make it through without grocery shopping. I am not a freezer/defroster by nature but seem to have accumulated quite a bit. There were lots of plans dropped for impromptu fun which means meals were left uncooked. We have a few flank steak, shrimp, lamb and lots of chicken breasts so I will be doing quite a bit of defrosting during the next few days. Tonight, we had frozen shrimp. With it, I decided that I would make a heaping of pasta and Joe and I would have pesto shrimp pasta(a plethora of fresh basil in the garden, of course), and Clarke and Oscar would have shrimp pasta with a simple wine/garlic/butter sauce. Oscar declared everything not to his liking (harrumph) and he ended up with leftover bacon and bread. (I am not used to this persnickety eater thing and am trying not to make it a big deal but it is realllllly annoying. ) I wanted to add fresh tomatoes but unbelievably, my tomatoes are not ripe yet and I am saddened that I may be taking them back green to Manhattan. I am already researching cold climate gardening methods for next year...

Recipes

From the pig roast. Here you go, folks. In case I haven't been crystal clear, if I post a baking recipe, you can pretty much assume monkeys could have made it successfully. I am no baker but I sure am having fun trying this summer. Pix of both dishes are below in slide show.

Peach Blackberry Tart
Make oatmeal-cookie crumbs by blending cookies in a processor until finely ground.

Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups oatmeal-cookie crumbs (made from about 32 crispy oatmeal cookies)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
2/3 cup peach or apricot nectar
5 tablespoons sugar
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 2/3 cups coarsely chopped peeled peaches
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups large blackberries

For crust: Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter fluted tart pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray. Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter in medium bowl until moist clumps form. Press dough evenly over bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Bake until dry, about 10 minutes. Cool crust completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with foil. Let stand at room temperature.)

For filling: Whisk nectar, sugar, and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan until smooth. Add half of peaches and lemon juice. Using potato masher, mash to coarse puree. Simmer over medium heat until mixture is thick, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Fold in remaining peaches. Spread filling evenly in crust. Arrange blackberries around top edge of tart. Refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 6 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Bridget Notes: I pushed extra peach parts through sieve to get juice for nectar, as the peaches were really juicy. For crust, I added extra butter as the crumbs didn't seem to be staying together. In tasting, the crust was a bit too buttery (Not by joe's standards) so I'd go back to regular. I omitted 2 TBL of sugar in filling as I don't like tarts that sweet and the peaches were already very sweet. I added vanilla to filling. I used wild berries which were tiny so I just polka dotted the top. I added some fresh whipped cream. Shockingly I didn't have time for proper chilling so I threw in freezer for an hour and it worked like a charm. I didn't have tart pan so I used regular spring form

Pecan Bars (Cook's Illustrated)
Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup, packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans
6 TBL unsalted, cold, butter, cut into small pieces

Filling
4 TBL unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBL Bourbon
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 3/4 cups pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray 9 inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Fold two 16 inch pieces of parchment paper and lay in pan perpendicular to each other. Spray them and push into corners.
2. Place flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and pecans in food processor. Process until it resembles course cornmeal. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Pat mixture evenly into prepared pan and bake until the crust is light brown and springs back when touched (about 20 minutes)
3. For filling: While crust bakes, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, bourbon, and salt in a medium bowl until just combined. Add egg and whisk until incorporated
4. Pour filling on top of hot crust and spring the rest of the pecans over the top. Bake until the top is browned and cracks start to form across the surface 22 to 25 minutes. Coon on wire rack, remove from pan and cut into square

Bridget's Notes: I added fresh rasberries to the top of the filling before I baked and in my opinion, they made the dish great. A bit of tart with the uber-sweet and looked pretty. i also goofed and used dark corn syrup -didn't notice big problem. We didn't have bourbon ( sorry Barb and Jason, we left in the city!) so I used Jack Daniels. I used 2 TBL as I like the boozy taste -per CI instructions :-). I didn't have square 9 inch pan so I used my 13 x 9 pyrex. was worried but all was well. We don't have food processor here (but we will after this recipe) so I used the blender on crust. Not so fun. Not recommended.

Joanne had some great recipes, including a BBQ sauce that the men in my life can't stop talking about so I will try to post those later.

Weekend Recap - Recipes

Saturday breakfast:

• egg strata (recipe courtesy of Whole Foods). I substituted artichoke for asparagus, used wild mushroom mix instead of portabello, added ham, and fresh rosemary and didn't use garlic.


• ginger muffins (recipe courtesy of FoodTV.com)


• fresh tangerine juice


• melon

Afternoon snacks: Our guests brought treats from Fairway, including great cheese, olives, hummus.

Saturday Dinner:

• Skirt steak, marinated in garlic, lime, soy sauce, a dollop of maple syrup and dash of cayenne pepper. (ok, we also grilled ny strip and thank god we did because Clarke aka skinny hendrix decided to eat his weight in beef that night)


• Fingerling potatoes with white balsamic, olive oil dressing and fresh cilantro


• Heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella on a bed of chicory


• Corn on the cob with jalapeno, lime butter (from epicurious)

Sunday breakfast:

• Pancakes with fresh, wild berries


• Bacon