Chili!

Con Carne if you nasty~.  Haha! :D  Sorry about the nonsensical reference to a Janet Jackson song from too many decades ago. :p  Of course there is nothing nasty about Chili, or Chili con Carne.  I love the stuff!  I ate a bunch this past week and I'll make some more in the coming weeks and then some.  It's great because it's easy to cook, last for a long time especially if you bother to freeze it, and most importantly, it tastes great!  So without further ado, lets look at the ingredients:


- 3 lbs, Beef, cut in to small cubes: What I do when I bring meat back from Costco is cut it in to what ever size pieces I'll use it for then put it in to gallon size zip lock bags so I can stack them like sheets in my fridge for future use.  Well, a gallon size zip lock bag sheet of beef turns out to be about 3 lbs of meat.  I know because I used my trusty digital scale to measure it just now. :)  I usually get two of these "sheets" out of the standard sized package of "stew meat" I get from Costco.  Btw, "stew meat" is basically the cheapest cut you can get at Costco but it is in no way cheap meat.  As a matter of fact, you'll realize while cutting it up in to small cubes that it's actually pieces of more expensive cuts of meat which didn't quite fit in to the proper size for those cuts.  Good eats!


- 2 lbs, Pork, also cut in to small cubes: The situation is the same here as the beef accept that a sheet of pork usually comes out to about 2 lbs of meat for me.  I usually get "country style ribs" for this.  Again, the cheapest cut of pork you can get at Costco but it's one of the tastiest in my opinion.  As a matter of fact, I've served this cut Korean BBQ style and my friends were very happy with it.  Ironically it comes out sort of similar to "sahm gyup sahl" or three layer pork belly, a Korean favorite if you anything about Korean BBQ.  Anyway, if you're interested in trying this meat Korean BBQ style, just buy some country style rib meat and just throw it on a griddle just like you would with any kind of Korean BBQ.  Then, as it's customary in Korean cuisine, use a pair of scissors to cut the meat in to more easily edible slices.  Serve with the usual Korean BBQ accoutrements like ssahm jahng(mixture of miso and gochu jahng, Korean pepper sauce), sliced garlic, some clean lettuce, and rice.  Man, that's some good eats.  Holy smokes!  I should get back to listing ingredients here. hehe~. :D  Btw, speaking of smokes, Korean "BBQ" is  not barbecue but technically grilling but whatever... :p


- 2 lbs or 2 cans, Beans: What ever beans floats your boat will do.  I prefer red or black beans for this.


- 2 to 3 Onions, chopped in to squares: I say 2 to 3 because onions come in all shapes and sizes and how much you put in here should really be up to you.  I usually go with 2 onions if it's onions I bought from Costco which usually tends to be on the bigger side of the scale.  Ones from the farmers or the supermarket tends to be a bit smaller.  Like I said, put in 20 if you like onions.  You're making it for yourself.  Do what makes you happy! :D


- 1 head of Garlic:  Yeah, you read it right.  1 HEAD, not 1 clove. Don't even worry about peeling it all nice.  I just cut the head of garlic right down the middle and pop out the half cloves.  I then either just crush it under the blade of my kitchen knife or just slice the half cloves in to simple slices.  Done!


- 2 HEAPING table spoons full, Chili powder: It's basically ground red pepper powder with cumin but some of the other spices the manufacturers of these powders put in makes for a more rounded flavor then what can be easily made at home.  Trust me, there is a certain pleasure in creating a rub or a Chili powder from scratch but not if you just want some good eats in a hurry.  So, go with the powder.  It's all good~. :)


- 2 tbsp, YOUR secret powder: Yup.  I put in my "secret powder" in my Chili.  Again, it's a hodge podge of flavors which adds to the complexity of the whole thing which is always a good thing.  Just make sure your powder isn't mostly salt.  More flavor is always welcome but saltiness is not.


-1 tbsp, Cumin: Like I said, there is already cumin in the chili powder but there is always room for more flavor, no?


-Some Ground Cayenne Pepper: I say some because this is where your personal tastes really comes in.  It's pretty obvious the more you put in the hotter it will get.  For me, one tbsp is just enough for me to feel a little something after a bowl of the stuff which is perfect for me.  You might look at that and laugh, in which case more power to you.  Go ahead and add more. :)


- 1/2 stick of butter and some flower, preferably in a shaker:  This is for the roux.  I'll explain in a minute why you want the flower in a shaker. :)


Oh, yeah, you're gonna need some oil to sauté with.  Corn, sunflower, grape seed, whatever will do.  Lets get to cooking.


1) First sauté the cubed meat in batches, making sure to get some "fond" on the pan by cooking the meat uncrowded in a hot enough pan to leave some browned bits behind.  Put the cooked meat in to the pot which will eventually be used to boil the chili.  Make sure the pot is big enough to hold everything with enough head room. :)  Btw, why two kinds of meat?  Well, I used to make it with just beef but this one time I didn't have enough beef so I substituted pork and I liked it better.  I think you will too. :)


2) Once all the meat has been sautéed, turn down the heat, put some more oil in the pan, and "sweat", that's cooking jargon for "slowly brown", the onions and the garlic in the pan in batches if the need be.  Stir frequently.  You don't want to burn the onions, just brown it and garlic burns even faster so watch out.  Add the cooked onions and garlic to the pot.  Repeat until all the onions pieces and garlic are cooked.


3) Put the beans in to the pot.  You can dump the liquid from the can as well if you like.  


4) Pour enough water to cover everything in the pot plus about an inch of water on top.  I told you you'll need some headroom~. :)  Put over medium heat.


5) Now add the powdered ingredients in to the pot and stir well.  Wait until it starts boiling then turn the heat down just a little more then let the ingredients simmer for the next 2-3 hours making sure to skim the "scum" off the top as the chili slowly cooks.  I personally start making the roux to thicken the chili about 2 hours in to cooking time.  Speaking of which...


6) Heat a flying pan over low to medium heat.  Before the pan gets too hot, swirl the half stick of butter around in the pan melting it.  Then, shake flower over the melted butter, not so much that the flower completely covers melted butter but instead the flower basically fries in the melted butter making it all bubble up.  This is a work around I use to speed up the cooking of the roux.  Traditionally, I'm suppose to mix the butter and the flower together then stir and stir away until it all cooks for 30 minutes or more.  I don't have time for that so I use this method because at the end of the day what's important is that the flower granules are cooked.  Frying flower granules I dropped in to oil using a flower shaker seems to accomplish this for me.  Anyway, stir the mixture, shake more flower on the mixture, then stir some more until the whole thing becomes like a paste instead of bubbling oil. Make sure the pan is not too hot.  You don't want to burn the flower. The roux should be brownish in color by the time you're done which is what you want.


7) Turn off the heat under the pan with the roux in it then pour the roux you just created in to the pot with the chili.  Stir the roux in to the chili then continue simmering the chili for several more minutes.  You should see the chili thicken right before your eyes as you stir it.  Once the chili liquid no longer drips off your spoon like water but instead flows like, well, thickened sauces are supposed to, you're done! Yeepee!  Time to eat! :D


The Chili should be good to eat as is but you couldn't go wrong by adding some cool sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and some chopped chives/green onions before serving.  Yum, yum, yum!  But, hey, don't take my word for it.  Make some, have some, and let me know how well it turned out for you! Happy eating! :)


Oh, yeah.  Feel free to let it cool down then put in to containers to freeze.  My chili never lasts long enough for me to have to resort to freezing mine but I do heat mine up in the microwave before I eat'em.  You might want to have a cover over the dish you heat the chili in.  It will definitely boil and spot the inside of your microwave. :)

How to dry cooked pasta.

I often use pasta as my starch when I have pre-cooked "saucy" foods like curry or Chili con carne, and of course pasta sauce. The problem with pouring saucy foods over just cooked pasta is that if the pasta is not drained thoroughly then the water from the pasta eventually pools at the bottom of the dish and just dilutes the saucy goodness on top. Water is good but it's for drinking, not eating, you know? So, what do I do to make this problem go away? I have two methods, one hot and one cold. :)

For hot foods, like say if I'm going to pour some cold curry or spaghetti sauce on the pasta and heat it up in the microwave, I first pour out the pasta on the dish I'll be serving it on then microwave just the pasta by itself for about five minutes. Basically what this does is it makes the water clinging to the surface of the pasta "boil". I then take the pasta out and mix it around with a fork or a spoon. You should see a lot of steam leaving the pasta at this point and that's the point since steam leaving equals water leaving. You'll notice that the surface of the pasta will quickly start to "dry out". With the excess water now evaporated away, pour on what ever cold sauce you want to heat the pasta with and take it for a spin in the microwave again. Voila! No soggy pasta! Woohoo~! Oh, just remember, microwaving the pasta will "cook" it further so you may want to adjust how al dente it is before you stick it in the microwave so the texture ends up closer to what you prefer. I'm not a big al dente guy so I'm all good usually. :)

So, if I have this awesome hot method, why do I need a cold one? That's because I'm big fan of Hawaiian food, da bes kine ya~, and that means I love macaroni salad made with mayonnaise! I'll post my recipe for my mayonnaise macaroni salad in the near future but what's important here is that if you make mayonnaise macaroni salad with hot macaroni you end up with... macaroni floating in oil. Although tasty in its own way, trust me I've had it and it's good ;) , it's not exactly what I'm looking for. So, when I boil macaroni to make salad with I run it under cold water until it's all chilled then take it for a spin in the, you guessed it, salad spinner! I have one of those OXO pump type salad spinners and about six to seven pumps usually does the trick for me. By the time I stop the salad spinner by pressing down on the little black button, the pasta is nice and dry and ready to meet some mayonnaise. Yum yum yum!

So why not just salad spin all pasta whether hot or cold? I suppose you could but then I'm not sure if pouring boiling hot water on the inner basket of a salad spinner, which is most likely made of plastic, is such a good idea.

And there you go. Two ways to dry cooked pasta. Never have soggy pasta again! :D

Pasta ala Sawtelle

Since I mentioned the quick pasta dish I've been so enamored with lately, I think it's only right that I mention my recipe for it. Here are the ingredients:

- 1 serving of pasta: For me this is how much pasta fits into a ring I make with my index and fore fingers.

- 1/3 stick of butter: This isn't exactly correct since I buy large blocks of butter from Costco and slice what I feel like but this should be close enough.

- 1/2 cup of milk: I like a little sauce left over when I'm done. Feel free to adjust to your tastes.

- 1/2 cup, spaghetti sauce: The tomato kind. Anything will do. I like the stuff in the glass jar that comes in three packs from Costco. Yeah, I shop there a lot. As a matter of fact, I'm probably over due for a run. :p

- 1 Tbsp of my "secret mix": Not so secret actually. I found myself constantly adding salt, garlic powder, oregano, ground pepper, onion power, etc. so I just pre-mixed it and have it in ready in a plastic container. I do this sort of thing a lot, especially with BBQ rubs. Mmm, mmm, good~!

- pinch of red pepper flakes: Something about them red pepper flakes. It's just not the same without'em...

You might be wondering why I call this "Pasta ala Sawtelle". Well, the reason is because the milk + tomato sauce "sauce" was something I decided to make at home after having dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in West L.A., Sawtelle Kitchen. It's usually the fried katsu plate or the seafood linguini for me when I'm there and after a decade of eating the stuff it finally occurred to me one night that "Hey, there's like tomato sauce and cream in this sauce. I should try that at home." Alas, no seafood at home, too much hassle, but the dish is still delicious and literally takes 20 minutes to make, most of that time is waiting for the water to boil so I'm very happy with it.

Okay, enough background info. On to the cooking.

1) Boil the pasta: Again, up to you how "al dente" you want it. Me, not so much. You... well, do what you like. :)

2) Drain the pasta and set aside: I like to lower the heat on my stove before I take the pot off the fire. That way, I can place the frying pan I'll be using the make the sauce with on the fire while I dump the contents of the pot in to the colander to drain the pasta. Remember, every second counts~, especially when you're hungry.

3) Melt the butter in the pan: Don't burn it now. I did say lower the heat before putting the pan on it.

4) Put the "secret mix" and the pinch of red pepper flakes in the bubbling melted butter, stir together, and let it cook until I can smell that the spices in the mix have "toasted". Again, don't burn it~.

5) Pour the milk and the spaghetti sauce in the pan and stir together with the melted butter and spices mixture. Let the whole thing come to a boil then let it boil for a minute or two in the pan.

6) Add the drained pasta from the colander in to the pan. Mix together with the sauce until nice and evenly coated. We're almost ready to eat!

7) Pour the whole thing on to a plate. Break out the block of Parmesan cheese, yes mine is from Costco, and grate it on to the plate covering the off-pink pasta with a blizzard of Parmesan flakes.

And that's it! It's time to dig in!

Of course for variation sake, you could throw in a variety of grilled meats like chicken breast, steak, or what ever floats your boat on the pasta. Believe it or not, one of my favorites is... Fried Eggs! ;p

The why.

As I'm sitting here eating the quick pasta dish I'm quite enamored with at the moment which I cooked for myself, it occurred to me that there were recipes I used to make long ago that I no longer remember how to make. This struck me as being quite sad. I'm sure I'd still love those recipes all over again if I could make those old recipes but now I just don't remember how.

And that is why I've decided to start this blog really for myself so I'll be able to remember in the future what I love so much today. And if it just so happens you like the recipes too then more power to me! :D And to you too of course. :)

Hope you enjoy! I know I will~.