Keith's Chili

Sorry to have had such a hiatus on posting recipes!  As an update, we moved to St. Louis, MO this summer, and Steve started school as a PhD student at WashU.  Life has been crazy and we haven't cooked nearly as much.  However, we still managed to find a couple new recipes to share!  

This recipe has been around my family for a while and comes from my stepdad, Keith Liberman.  We do it in a crockpot, but you can do it in a regular pot as well.  It's great, because it can feed you for a whole week!

Ingredients

1 can peeled tomatoes

1 large can tomato sauce

1 medium can tomato paste

1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilis (undrained)

3 cans red kidney beans

1 small can (4 oz.) diced green chilis (undrained)

1 yellow onion, diced

2-3 garlic cloves (I always add more because I love garlic)

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate

1 tablespoon of molasses

1 bottle of dark beer (we use Guinness)

2 lbs. extra lean ground beef

Fixins You May Want to Consider

Cornbread

Chopped white onions

Shredded cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Instructions

1.  Cook the beef on medium heat until brown.  You don't need to put anything in the pan such as butter or oil.  Drain.

2.  Throw all of the ingredients (including the beef) into a crock pot (or large regular pot if you don't have a crock pot).

3.  Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.  You can do less, but this is the least I recommend.  We usually cook this after we eat lunch on Sundays.  Fix with fixins.

4.  Enjoy!  Make sure you have lots of tupperware for leftovers!

Red Velvet Pancakes with Espresso-Infused Maple Syrup, Candied Pecans, and Cream Cheese Frosting

One of the things Steve and I said we were going to miss the most when we left Colorado was our favorite brunch place, Snooze.  They have these amazing red velvet pancakes, and we set out to find a recipe that at least somewhat compared.  Here's what we came up with:

I would recommend making the cream cheese frosting first (you can do this in advance and refrigerate), then the maple syrup. While the syrup is sitting, do the pecans, then the pancakes.

Pancakes:

Ingredients:

1 c all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt (this is different than the course grain stuff that you grind)

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg

3/4 c buttermilk (but you want about a cup in case the mixture is too thick and you need to thin it out)

1 c sour cream

1 tbsp red food coloring

1 tsp vanilla extract (or a little more, nothing tastes worse with a little extra vanilla) :)

3 tbsp melted butter, plus a little more for the pan

Instructions:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well (flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, sugar, cocoa powder).

2. Combine all the wet ingredients except butter in a different bowl and mix well. (egg, buttermilk, sour cream, red food coloring, vanilla).

3.  While whisking the wet ingredients, stream in melted butter.

4.  Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk until fully combined and not lumpy.

5.  Pour pancakes of desired size into the pan (about 1/4 c. each is normal).  Let it set on one side, then flip and finish the other side.  Repeat until pancake mix is gone.

Just a note, this recipe makes about 8 pancakes, so if you are serving a large group, it would be helpful to double or triple the recipe.

Recipe adapted from: www.kitchenkonfidence.com

Maple Syrup:

Ingredients:

1 c maple syrup

4 tablespoons whole bean dark roast coffee

Recipe adapted from:  cookingclub.com

Instructions:

1. pour out 1 cup of maple syrup into saucepan

2.  Add coffee

3.  Over medium heat, bring to a boil.

4. Remove from heat and let stand for 15-30 minutes.

5. Strain syrup with strainer into bowl to remove beans.

6.  Serve warm.

Candied Pecans:

Ingredients:

Pecan pieces (1 c or however much you want)

butter for the pan (about 1 tablespoon)

1 tsp. sugar

Instruction:

1. Put butter in a small pan over low-medium heat.

2. Let the pan heat for a minute or so and melt the butter.

3. Put in the pecans and stir until covered with butter.

4. After about two minutes of pecans toasting, sprinkle on sugar.  

5.  Remove from heat.  Pecans should be a bit darker brown by the time they are done.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

5 ounces unsalted butter

7 ounces cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla (again, or a bit more) :)

Instructions:

1.  Beat the butter in a standing mixer until smooth.

2.  Beat in the cream cheese with the butter and mix until smooth.

3. Reduce speed to low (because otherwise you will get sugar all over yourself) and mix in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Once mixed a bit, you can increase speed back up to medium.  Beat until smooth.

4.  To decorate your pancakes, put the mixture in a ziplock back and cut of a small corner on the bottom (just one of the corners).  Squeeze the ziplock and the frosting will come up (see melted hearts, above). 

Enjoy!

Shrimp and Veggie Kabobs

Ingredients:
2 green peppers
1 white onion
1 lb. shrimp
8 oz. (1 package) baby bella mushrooms
1 bottle caribbean jerk dressing

Instructions:
1.  Slice onions and peppers to be approximately 1" x 1".
2.  Marinate shrimp, onions, mushrooms, and peppers in any caribbean jerk dressing (approximately 1-2 hours)
3.  For about 1 hour, soak wooden skewers in water
4.  Thread veggies and shrimp onto the skewers, grill and eat!

NOTE: you can use whatever veggies and/or meat you would like.

Steak with Carmelized Onions and Bleu Cheese

Ingredients:
2 fillets (we do approximately 8 oz. of meat per person)
1 can Stubbs beef marinade
Bleu cheese crumbles
1 white or yellow onion

Instructions:
1.  Put the fillets in tupperware or a pan along with Stubbs marinade (fill with marinade until bottom is coated put to 1 cm, but make sure to coat the top with marinade as well).  Marinate at least 1 hour and flip halfway through.  The longer you marinate, the spicier your steak will be.

2.  Chop the onion into strips.  Put in pan and coat with oil or butter.

3.  Cook the steaks on the grill to desired doneness.

4.  Cook the onion on medium-high heat until the onions start to brown and then carmelize, about 15 minutes.

5.  When steaks are done, top with onions and bleu cheese.  You can dip the steak in the leftover, UNUSED marinate (not the stuff that your raw meat sat in) in order to get a little more kick.  Serve and enjoy!

Sea Scallops with Chile-Lime Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb. sea scallops (serves 2)
2 limes
2 tbsp. butter (1 for the sauce and one for the pan)
1 1/2 tbsp. Asian sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp. Sriracha sauce (hot chili-garlic sauce)
1 tbsp. minced green onion
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. With the medium side of a cheese grater, grate lime peels to make enough shaving to fill 2 teaspoons.  Cut one lime into wedges and reserve.

2.  Mix 1 tbsp. butter (softened), green onion, sweet chili sauce, and Sriracha sauce and lime peel in small bowl.  Set aside. NOTE: the original recipe does not call for Sriracha sauce, but someone who had used the recipe previously noted that it was too sweet, so we added some.  You can either add more or even take out this sauce based on whether you like your food spicy or sweet.  We were definitely glad we added this, but we're suckers for spicy food.

3.  Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper.  Melt other tablespoon of butter in pan and heat on medium-high.  Once the pan heats up, add scallops and cook until opaque in the center (the time here will vary depending on the size of your scallops, but we did about 5 minutes each side).

4.  Put a large dollop of sauce on each plate and swirl to cover the plate.  Add more as needed.  Set the scallops on top of the sauce.  Squeeze lime juice from lime wedges over each plate and serve.

A quick note about presentation:  We put the sauce on the bottom of the plate and are glad we did.  Scallops are so good just on their own, and the sauce should just be used for dipping or else it becomes overwhelming.

Enjoy!

Adapted from: Bon Appetit Test Kitchen

Spicy Shrimp and Bok Choy Stir Fry

A couple of weeks ago I unsuccessfully attempted to follow the South Beach Diet Phase I for two weeks. I was mainly unsuccessful because the recipes that Steve and I tried for dinner were less than stellar.  And, well, lets face it, I love me some carbs. :)  However, we tried this recipe and have decided to make it a "go-to".  Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 scallions
2 minced garlic cloves (I buy the pre-minced stuff from the store and use a teaspoon.  You can never have too much garlic) :)

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 lbs. bok choy
2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce- aka Sriracha

Instructions


1.  Chop the bok choy crosswise.  Thinly slice the scallions and separate the white and green parts.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, scallion whites (but keep the greens!) and garlic.

3.  In a wok or pan, heat vegetable oil on medium-high heat.  Add shrimp mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp turn pink and are cooked through.  Transfer to a large (clean) bowl.

4.  Add bok choy, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender.  Drain any liquid from the skillet and add the bok choy to the bowl with the shrimp.

5.  Add soy sauce and chili-garlic sauce to the pan, stir and bring to a boil.  Add shrimp mixture and toss until coated.  You only need to cook the shrimp again until they are reheated.

6.  Stir in scallion greens and serve warm and over rice if desired (but then its not South Beach Friendly).

Attributed to: South Beach Diet iphone app (yes, really)

Cheesy Corn Flake Hashbrowns

In case you needed an easy side dish to take to an Easter pot luck tomorrow, here is a classic!

Ingredients:

1 large bag of frozen hashbrowns (30 oz. is fine)
1 diced white onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 sticks of melted butter
10 oz. (1 1/4 c.) sour cream
12 oz. (1 1/2 c.) grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 c. corn flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Thaw the hashbrowns.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix the hashbrowns, onion, cream of chicken soup, 1 stick melted butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

3.  Spread the mixture into a 9x13 pan.

4.  Put the cornflakes in a layer on top of the mixture.  Drizzle remaining butter over the top.

5.  Cook for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

6.  Serve warm!