A Life in Food
Meal prep can be the difference between staying on track with healthy eating choices or going off the rails and finding yourself ordering a Mc whatever through a speaker in the drive-through. Dedicating a few extra minutes on weekends to set up your meals for the week is time well spent. Whether it be lunches, dinners or both – planning ahead is essential.
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Chili. It’s a crowd pleaser for a reason and it just got even better. With the addition of dark beer and an Instant Pot, it’s magical. Chili that tastes like it lazily simmered away half of the afternoon in 30 minutes.
My original intention with this chili was bison instead of ground beef, however I didn’t embrace the idea of a $12 serving of chili. When did that happen? I’m used to paying a little more for food, but the price of bison has gone up quite a bit since the last time I purchased it. Once I regained my composure and the mothers of young children took their hands away from the delicate little ears, I set off toward the ground beef.
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Beans are the perfect introduction to the Instant Pot. If you are new to the Instant Pot craze, or even if you’ve had yours for a while now, these beans will make their way into your regular rotation. Tomatillo Poblano White Beans are my new favorite thing. I made them a few weeks ago when there was some football game. Everyone was making *quite* the fuss over it. Well, I had promised nachos for this sporting event and I delivered BIG thanks to these beans. I warmed some tortilla chips in the oven, sprinkled a few things on them and then heaped these beans on top. It was so dang good!!!
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This post is sponsored by Idaho® Potatoes. As always, all opinions are my own.
It’s winter. That means comfort food. But, we’re also trying to eat a little healthier too, right? We’re making an effort to eat more vegetables because we want to get more bang for our buck in the nutrition department. I’ve got you covered. This soup is nearly fat free, it’s low in calories and contains a ton of vitamins, minerals and fiber. While you are cozied up in the house, it’s the perfect time to put on a pot of this hearty winter vegetable soup.
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The Bloody Mary. It is THE quintessential brunch beverage, yet I only have them at a restaurant. Brunch and Bloody Mary’s go hand in hand. We are going to make a restaurant-style bloody mary at home. I made a killer batch of bloody mary’s last weekend and they were hands-down one of the best I’ve ever had.
First things first, we are making it from scratch. The difference is remarkable when you don’t use a store-bought mix. The drink tastes MUCH fresher and brighter, which if I’m being perfectly honest, can be dangerous. I’m usually a two drink max kind of girl and I had two drinks in no time flat. Consider yourself warned, because they go down Very Easily.
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This week, we have a very special guest post! You all know her as Pastry Chef Online, but she is my “Sissy”. She is like family to me. If I could choose a sister, it would be her. We met years ago and it was an instant kinship. She is a talented pastry chef, a great friend and a generous, kind and compassionate person. I am lucky to call her friend and we are all lucky that she has made us Red Flannel Hash with Country Sausage!
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Picadillo is Spanish for “hash” (or “mince”). Essentially, this is a Cuban version of the good old American mélange, eaten on its own or used as a filling for empanadas. Spanish influences, specifically Andalusian, are obvious due to the addition of olives and raisins. Picadillo is often served topped with hard-cooked or fried eggs and is usually accompanied by fried plantains.
Where are my fellow chile heads?!
Although I love peppers, I’m not one of those crazy people that shoves whole habaneros in her mouth… funny story about that, actually.
The year was 1993 and I was living in Guadalajara, México. I was a student at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara and a group of us were out strolling the Mercado Libertad, which is a huge multi-level market. It houses everything from food to shoes to flowers. Here we are, a bunch of 20 year old kids walking around with eyes popping out of our heads. This was the first time most of us had been on our own in a foreign country. We happened upon this vendor of chiles. You know where this is going, don’t you?! A girl in our group stated that she could handle really spicy food and was going to buy a few peppers. We tried (in vain) to warn her that these were seriously hot and she shouldn’t pop the entire thing into her mouth. Let’s just that the afternoon took a turn… to the Emergency Room! I guess I shouldn’t have said a “funny” story, just “a story”.
I’m not one to eat a whole habanero, but I do enjoy a little heat. The kind that makes your lips and tongue tingle, not the kind that feels like someone lit a match on them. I seem to have a higher tolerance for heat than some, which means that I may not be the best person to ask if something is spicy. We burn through jars and jars of chile paste like it’s going out of style (I assure you, it is NOT). Most of the spicy food we eat happens to be Asian. Bowls of noodles in fiery broth are my happy place. Food from Latin America is a close second and for good reason: I’m married to a Texan, I used to live in Mexico and we currently live in Florida. I chose this particular recipe to share because I love picadillo. I know, I’m totally selfish. I make big batches of this delicious filling to make empanadas. The saltiness of the olives with the sweetness of the raisins is really good.
My very favorite thing about this book is its inclusion of food from around the globe. I love exploring cultures through food and this book is a peek into how chile peppers really are a global ingredient. It’s fun to try new recipes and flavors, especially when the recipes are so varied and enticing!
Below is a short list of some of the 250 recipes you’ll find in this book. I have my eye on the Spinach and Tomato Dal next… What would be your first choice?
– Middle Eastern Walnut Dip (Middle East)
– Castilian Garlic Soup (Spain)
– Chinese Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup (China)
– Paella (Spain)- Tagine of Chicken with Apricots (N. Africa)
– Cuban style hash (Cuba)
– Original San Antonio Chili (US)
– Indonesian-Style Fried Rice (SE Asia)
– Cape Verde Sausage Stew (Africa)
– Spinach and Tomato Dal (Indian)
– Calabrese-Style Fried Potatoes with Peppers (Italian)
– Thai-Style Grilled Chile Salsa (Thai/SE Asia)
– Kimchi (Korea)
– Mexican-Style Tomato Juice – (Mexico)
– Chile-Spiked Chocolate Pots – (French)
You can find Judith on Pinterest, Facebook & Instagram!
This recipe has been reprinted courtesy of The Chile Pepper Bible: From Sweet & Mild to Fiery & Everything in Between by Judith Finlayson © 2016 www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with publisher permission. Available where books are sold. I received one copy compliments of the publisher. No other compensation was received. Links to the book are affiliate links.
If you’d like a chance to win a copy The Chile Pepper Bible of your own, make sure to enter the giveaway below! Thanks to the publishers Robert Rose for providing a copy for the giveaway. It is open to US and Canadian residents!
A little bit sweet, with garlic and ginger, and as spicy you’d like it, this fragrant, saucy chicken dish is made in a slow cooker. It’s super simple and requires very little hands-on time. Serve over rice with a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice.
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Eggs baked in mini bell pepper cups are the perfect brunch item. Make a few variations and your guests can help themselves, leaving you to enjoy your guests instead of being stuck in the kitchen.
I had bell peppers on my list. Not these sweet little things, but the grown up kind. When I laid eyes on these, somehow the big guys lost their appeal. I’m a sucker for cute little things.
As soon as I got them home, I started thinking about what I could do with them. The obvious was mini stuffed peppers or filling them with dip and sticking a few veggies in them. Then I went a completely different direction… I love the idea of these for a brunch. With the holidays right around the corner, these would be a perfect bite for Christmas morning or the day after Thanksgiving when any major cooking is off the table. The evening before, slice the lids from your peppers and wrap them up for the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, crack an egg into each pepper and slide into the oven. How’s that for easy and minimal cleanup?!
These are also perfectly portable, just toss a couple in a container and off to work or school you go! I’d much rather eat this than a dry granola bar. Looking for a light meatless supper? It’s got you covered there too! They are also a good size for little hands, no silverware necessary.
Back to brunch: I love the idea of a platter filled with a dozen of these, with different spices or seasonings, on a bountiful table for everyone to help themselves. (READ: I’m not waiting on you!)
Small servings work especially well for someone like me who is perfectly content to make a meal of several appetizers. I like to taste a few different things instead of having one entree! This allows me to have one baked egg and also a few other treats, which is really my goal in life… to try everything I can get my hands on.
Be creative! Try different combinations, different herbs, etc. Scallions, tarragon, chives and dill are great herbs for eggs. Curry powder, hot sauce, HP sauce (from UK) and of course hollandaise, if you’re feeling fancy, are delicious on eggs. Another option is putting a little cheese or bacon in the bottom of the cup, or whisking it all together and making an omelet baked in the pepper cup. Whatever your favorite egg combination, make it delicious!
I love desserts, this is not a secret. Some people like over the top, more is better, super rich desserts. These are not for me. We were recently doing a cake tasting and the chocolate cake was so rich that I could only eat one bite. Literally. I don’t mean, “Oh, I couldn’t possibly…” I mean it was so sweet that I could not eat more than a single bite. Who wants ONE BITE of cake?! Needless to say, some changes were made. I need something to counter the sugar. It could be something tart like lemon or cranberry, salt to balance out the sweet or even something as simple as almost unsweetened whipped cream. Unless it’s little pink piglets frolicking with puppies and baby monkeys in a field of wildflowers, I can’t handle that much sweetness.
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