2 Alarm Chili

Recipe has been adapted from Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit. 

We haven't purchased the 2 Alarm Chili Kit for years, but use to keep several on hand at all times. You can find the kits on Amazon if you can't find them at your local grocery store.

Ingredients:

29 oz. Kidney beans, drained and rinsed well (or equivalent of cooked dried beans)

30 oz. Tomatoes, diced

14 oz. Tomato sauce

1 lb. Turkey, ground

Spices:

2 tsp. Paprika

1/4 tsp. Cayenne

3 tsp.  Garlic powder

1/2 cup Chili powder

1 Tbsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Oregano

2 Tbsp. Flour

2 tsp. Salt

Directions:

Cook and drain turkey. I prefer to add the spices next and toss well with the meat. Add the wet ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes or more.

Notes:

· All of herbs/spices are dried.

· We never use the flour or salt. The chili seems thick enough w/o the flour, and everything canned has high sodium content anyway.

· Ok, of course I don’t use the garlic and onions either- but you should!

· You can use less tomato sauce to keep it thicker. We use garden fresh tomatoes that we freeze in quart size bags to use throughout the year.

Play around with the recipe as you like. It’s pretty forgiving. If you need it less spicy, you can omit or decrease the amount of cayenne pepper. Remember, you can always add MORE heat, but is darn hard to take away heat. Ask me how I know! We also like to toss in any veggies that are laying around such as zucchini, bell peppers (red, yellow or orange).

This is an all time favorite in our house. I usually make a LARGE batch of the spice mix to keep on hand. Did I mention it goes great with corn bread? Recipe to follow... eventually.

Enjoy and I hope you like it.

Karan

Peruvian Roast(ed) chicken- oh yeah

This is now a favorite recipe that is great to start a day or two ahead and then with easy peasy cooking (via rotisserie or oven) you have one might delicious chicken that is great for firsts, seconds and .... even broth!


This recipe is adapted from America's Test Kitchen.

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 2 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp black pepper freshly ground
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp oregano (dried)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime zest
• 1 tsp minced habanero chile -or your favorite substitute
• 1 whole chicken- anywhere from 3-6 lbs.

First, add all ingredients sans chicken into a food processor of your choice- we use our lovely Vitamix - thanks Mom and Dad for the perfect mixer/blender ever! Mix away until well merged. When you remove the lid, be careful- it is a powerful, fragrant mix with a Scoville scale that will loosen up the most plugged nasal sinuses! Prep and clean your chicken, removing any innards. Loosen the skin of the chicken from the bird. Once this is done, scoop a large portion of the mixture into the area between the chicken meat and skin, rubbing it around thoroughly to cover all areas. Place extra mix inside the bird.

Cook at 325 for approximately 1.5 hours or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165°. We like to cook ours on the rotisserie, but uses the oven when it's cold outside. Remove your bird and cover with foil to rest. Enjoy your tasty chicken with sides of your choice, and don't forget to boil the carcass for a very delightful homemade chicken broth.

Kale Lasagna

Recipe is a modified version of Kale Lasagna Diavolo from Vegetarian Times Jan/Feb 2011.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. olive oil

• 1 16 ounces kale, stems removed
• 1 15-oz. pkg. fat-free ricotta cheese
• 6 oz. goat cheese, softened
• 4 cups prepared tomato puree
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 6 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Prep:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. 

2. Cook kale in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle. Thoroughly drain or wring out kale, then chop, and set aside.

3. Combine the ricotta and goat cheeses well, and set aside.

4. Heat tomato puree and red pepper flakes; Add salt and pepper as desired.

5. Start layering contents in baking disk (9 x 12) starting with tomato puree to coat the bottom of the dish to prevent sticking. Use two lasagna noodles per layer. Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese and bake for approximately 45 minutes, checking after 30 minutes. You want the top to be bubbly, but not burnt ;-).

When I'm in a hurry, I cut up the lasagna noodles into smaller pieces, mix all ingredients and bake as directed. Still tastes great, and cuts the prep time. This dish freezes well and makes 8 servings.

Enjoy!

Karan

Fettucine Puttanesca

Joey's old timey Fettuccine Puttanesca

Ok, this picture might mean absolutely nothing to you, but boy did I, and eventually Joe, get a hearty laugh out of it. I insisted this recipe must be from his dad, but after reading it I conceded that Joe must have been the author. For those that have tried to either make this meal or had it made for them, the picture resonates that this is a tried and true recipe. No need to change a thing, other than get it off the old dot matrix printout that has been stored away, and secured in some updated format.
(#technology, #internet, #permanent storage, #easy to find, #still using a mac).

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
? Dried tomatoes
1 35 oz. canned tomatoes
1 tsp. sugar
12 oz. pkg. pasta
12 olives, chopped
1 oz. anchovies
2 Tbsp. capers
2 Tbsp. parsley

Over medium heat, in hot olive oil, cook onion until tender but not brown. Stir in garlic, tomatoes with liquid, sugar, dried tomatoes, and salt. Boil and simmer on low for 20 minutes. Add olives, anchovies, and parsley. Serve over pasta. Serves 4.

BTW- don't you just love the oil stains on the original?

Karan

Hummingbird nectar

For the LIFE of me I cannot remember this very simple recipe. One to four. Yep. It's that easy. You can add the red food coloring if you like.

1 cup  sugar
4 cups water

Bring it to a boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat off. You only need to stir the mix while bringing to a boil, and after it's been sitting to cool. Once this is cool, filler up! Our hummers love this ratio and we get to enjoy their presence several times a day, as do my cats... No worries, the feeders are up high!

Buffalo wings

Ahhh.... tried and true is the mighty buffalo wings, ala Joe. Yep, most of these recipes are ala Joe...

1 pkg. fresh chicken wings
3/4 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce (original)

Cut chicken wings apart and spread on a oiled pan, or use parchment paper. Place wings in a 500° oven, preferably on convection*, for 20-30 minutes, check wings after 20 minutes. We prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon to allow steam to escape, thus allowing the wings to crisp a bit.

Take cooked wings out and toss in large bowl with the Franks sauce. Place wings back on clean pan and place in the (now temperature off, convection on) oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Enjoy!

We cut up a head of celery to go with the wings, and serve with a ramekin of blue cheese dressing of your choice.

Who wants to play Chicken?

Nobody wants to play chicken, but I know lots of good friends that like to eat it!  A brood of friends were over this past weekend and Joe and I planned a rotisserie chicken dinner. No, not one of those store bought ones that never even makes it on a platter. We're talking about a Granda Original Rotisserie Chicken cooked on our Kirkland Signature all-in-one grill (NLA). Literally, the only things this grill doesn't do is clean itself and do the dishes. Insert small bow down to Costco. And for those of you wondering- no Joe did NOT remove the Kirkland Signature emblem to replace with a Char-Broil emblem (unlike his off brand faux Snap-On tool box). I genuinely love our grill- go Costco! We've used the bajeeebers out of this grill- literally using it more than the oven and stove, even in the winter.

After a friend filled weekend, I got an email from one (hey Sarah!) asking for  "whatever you marinated the chicken in". Here ya go!

Rotisserie Chicken Rub

Generous amounts of ground Aleppo, Kosher Salt and Olive Oil.

I'd put amounts down, but this is one "recipe" we truly shake on, no measuring ever occurs. We season to our taste, which might burn to some folks. After cleaning the bird we apply liberal amounts of olive oil, aleppo and kosher salt in that order. We put it on our rotisserie for about 90 minutes at 325°. (Disclaimer- although our grill rocks, we do have a new temperature gauge on order- so don't quote me on the exact temperature, but I do think it's close.) It's always best to check in with your chicken from time to time. If it looks done, it very well might be. Chicken is considered done with the internal temperature reaches 165°.

How does one go about enjoying their tasty chicken? Well, I'll show you how. :-).

We ended up randomly hungry at around 10 p.m. .... and thoroughly enjoyed standing around the kitchen eating tasty rotisserie chicken. This dinner goes down as one of my all time favorites. Who needs plates when you're among good friends?