Cashew-Crusted Chicken Pita

April 7th, 2010

Before we go on, I just have one thing to say.  I am writing you this outside.  I’m on our rusty patio furniture, outside and happy as a clam in shorts and short sleeves.  Judge me for being mean all you want.

While you’re judging me for being mean, you might as well know that I also love chicken nuggets.  Though I appreciate the beauty and taste of fried chicken, in reality, I would more often go for breaded chicken nuggets or patties, you know all the parts that naturally appear on a chicken.  Sometimes I am so stuck in little kid mode, I can’t help but desire those little circles of goodness.  The weird thing is, I’m not that into the fried stuff.  Shove it in the oven and after twenty minutes or so, I am happily chomping.

Since I’m grown up now, I now know that those little nuggets are no good for me, but I didn’t want to leave it completely behind.  Here’s my take on chicken nuggets, grown up and in a healthy, delicious sammich!

Cashew-Crusted Chicken Pita
(serves four | about twenty minutes prep and twenty minutes cooking time)

Cashew-Crusted Chicken

two chicken breast halves (I did mine in nuggets, but was much more time consuming)
1/2c flour
two large eggs
3/4c of roasted, unsalted cashews
1/2c of panko bread crumbs
1t of salt
1t of pepper
1 t of garlic powder
cooking spray
four  pocketless pita/flatbread
1/2c of tahini hummus
olive oil
handful of spinach and cherry tomatoes per person

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and coat a 9 x 13 baking pan thoroughly with baking spray.

First, grind 1/2c of cashews very finely in a small food processor.  Add panko and grind for 15-30 seconds.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup of cashews and pulse for 15 seconds (this will get a great cashew texture.)

Cut chicken breasts in half so there are four strips all together.  In a shallow dish (like tupperware), combine flour, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Mix well.    In a second shallow dish, crack two eggs and beat well.  In a third shallow dish (or a large freezer bag), dump the cashew/panko mix.

One by one, dip a strip (rhyme!) in the flour until well coated, then egg, then roll in the cashew/panko mix (if you choose to use the freezer bag, reserve all the strip to shake in the freezer bag at the end) then set in the baking pan.  Once all strips are well coated, place in the oven for ten minutes, spray with cooking spray then flip and bake for another ten minutes.

About three minutes before the chicken is done, stick the four pieces of flatbread in the oven to warm up.  Remove from oven, slather a layer of hummus, then the spinach and cherry tomatoes, add the chicken and drizzle a little olive oil with a pinch or two of salt and pepper.

EAT!

Posted in Chicken, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Pulled Pork without a Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven

April 7th, 2010

Though I could fill my house wall-to-wall with electronic devices, I think gadgets have no place in the kitchen.  Before I purchase any item, I think about how many uses it has.  Where it would live.  How much it would cost to ship if I move.  How often I would use it.  My logical side has snubbed me of almost every device I’ve thought would be fun to have, leaving me with things like a kitchen scale, a mixer, and a mandoline.  Though they both have passed most of my tests, I cannot ever get past the weight and bulkiness of a slow cooker and/or Dutch Oven.  Seeing as I do live with three other people with a well outfitted kitchen, I could never justify owning either.

Spring is in full force now.  My friends are on their allergy medications, and I just came in from my first meal outside.  I sipped a great beer, ate some home cooked Mexican food (recipe coming soon), and watched ants crawl along the wall on my back patio.  I was completely relaxed, because I knew it’s about that time when the temperature will drop at night and nothing will be as great as some pulled pork or brisket and me, without a slow cooker or dutch oven, will be able to cook it.

If you are cooking this ahead of time, I would suggest doing the initial cooking when you have time, refridgerate/freeze (just be sure to leave time for a slow thaw) and wait until about two hours before it’s needed to cook the meat in your choice of sauce.

Pulled Pork:
(serves a pound a person | takes overnight marinating, 4-7 hours cooking, but 10-15 minutes active time)

pork shoulder with plenty of fattiness (the white lines)
olive oil
1 clove of garlic per pound
1/2 onion chopped per pound
two healthy pinches of salt and pepper per pound
one cup of vegetable, pork, or chicken broth per pound
one cup of water per pound (may need more)

The night before cooking, smother the pork with salt and pepper (I use other spices depending on what I’m making.  i.e. if iti’s going to be used for Mexican food, I use chili powder as well) and massage it well into the pork.  Pour a generous glug of olive oil onto the first side, rub.  Repeat for the other side.  Place in a large freezer bag and keep in the fridge about eight-twelve hours before cooking.

On cooking day, fill a pot with garlic, onion, spices, broth and water.  Stir well.  Turn the burner on medium and add pork.  Make sure the pork is well covered with water (if it has a lot of fat, it will float to the top and that’s fine.) Bring to a simmer for a couple minutes.  Turn heat to low and cover.  Cook for anywhere between 3-6 hours (depending on how big the shoulder is) until you are able to shred with two forks.  Remove from the pot, empty the water.  Shred meat with two forks.

At this point, either reserve the meat for future use or add sauce and cook on low covered for another hour, stirring occasionally.  Taste, season, serve!

Keep this technique in mind as I have a handful of great recipes using pulled pork and brisket!

Posted in Pork, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Christine and Bread: A Love Story

April 1st, 2010

During my detox, I woke up from a dream that entirely consisted of bread.

I was in my kitchen and a lovely two pound boule was set before me.  Taking my trusty bread knife, I sliced the entire loaf into several thick pieces then set them carefully in my preheated oven.  As they toasted to a slight brown, I unwrapped the gold package of butter and mixed it with chives, dill, and pepper.  I removed the slices from the oven, now warm enough to melt butter and put them on a large plate.  Then, I used both hands to shove the entire sliced up loaf in my mouth.  Like a cartoon comic, crumbs flew from my mouth and scattered everywhere and I lapped them up.

It doesn’t surprise me I dreamed about bread.  I was on day 17 of 18 on my detox which has kept me far from anything with gluten and if you read my twitter, I really missed bread the most (I’m sorry about the fact I can’t shut up about it.)

Bread baking is a tradition in my family.  Every Christmas, my mother would fish out a piece of loose leaf paper littered with my paternal grandmother’s large, neat handwriting and weathered from frequent use.  She would prop it against the fruit bowl, take out her largest bowl and dump bags of flour, yeast, and other ingredients.  If we were home, we would help and if my grandmother and aunts were visiting, there would be an assembly line of measuring, kneading, resting.  Everyone on my father’s side makes about five to ten loaves in their homes to this day.  Now, the Eriksen Christmas only has one tradition that matters– Julekaga (pronounced you-la-kah-guh).  There is nothing like eating a fresh piece of toasted Julekaga with the tiniest bit of butter during Christmas break.

Enter my first trip to France.  At 18, after high-tailing it out of high school a semester early, my best friend, her mother, and I hopped a plane to Europe to spend a month.  I had my first French croissants and baguettes and knew I could never love American bread from the store again.  In the mountains of Colorado, I searched for baguettes that were even remotely close and fell short.  I thought and scoured but was too intimidated to try making a baguette.

Here I am, a longer time than I wished away from France and I’m still obsessed with finding delicious bread.  There are bakeries I’ve purchased from, but nothing really compares.  On my birthday in 2008, alone and away from my family, I decided to take the plunge and make my first loaf of bread all by myself:

The results were phenomenal.  I made a fantastic BLT with it and though I was in and out of my affair with homemade bread for a few months, I’ve entered a union with it wholeheartedly.  I would rather eat no bread than store bought bread.

I’m lucky though.  While making a loaf a few weeks back with a friend, I noticed her looking cluelessly at the raw dough.  I instructed her to, “knead it.”  She grabbed an end and punched it a little.  I took it over, showed her a few tricks and soon, she was kneading it with me.  After a short rest, it was time for shaping. I said, “Just make a boule.”  She looked at me confused.  It was then I realized that because of my family tradition, I knew quite a bit more about bread baking than the average Jane.

So, I found two great bread recipes that are perfect for first time bakers.  You don’t have to know what the gluten is doing or if the yeast is alive or not.  It’s also a very simple recipe that is a great start to baking your own bread.  Here’s a step-by-step guide you can bookmark and come back to, so you don’t have to re-read my ramblings.

Easy Peasy Bread Recipe

No-Knead Bread Recipe

Posted in Baking, Bread, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Noodle Party! Jap Chae! EXCLAMATION POINTS!

March 29th, 2010

You may notice I love a certain punctuation mark that many people avoid like the plague.  Though I can drop a semicolon like it’s hot, my punctuation of choice is the ever so lovely exclamation point!  I know it can grate on the nerves, but personally, I love it.  When I read about passionate people in their art, I get disappointed if they stifle their excitement.  I enjoy candor, casualty, creativity, and alliteration (threw you for a loop there, didn’t I?)!  In person, I get just as excited and silly about things.  I laugh loudly, I pretty much smile until my cheeks hurt, and I dance.  Oh, I dance and I have so many dances… especially revolving food.  So, when I read Steph’s “About” on Momofuku for 2, I could only ask her, “Do you have a noodle dance?”  Just to check if I wasn’t the only one…

And I’m not. So Steph, Shao from Fried Wontons for You, and I decided to throw a little party to bring together other noodle lovers!

This time we played with dangmyeon noodles, made from sweet potato starch, and also referred to as “glass noodles.”  At first they don’t look like much, but they’re slurpy and they wiggle once cooked.  Taste wise, I’ve always found them neutral.  They are perfect to adapt a dance around.

Also, I’m super excited, because this is the first time I’ll be posting a traditional, Korean recipe handed directly to me from my mother!  See, I made the ever so traditional Korean dish: Jap Chae!

I love the Korean language, its simplicity is astounding.  Jap Chae is translated to “a mixture of vegetables,” because Jap Chae origins come from super thin cut veggies and only evolved into the dish I’m sharing later.  It’s a great, light dish packed full of nutrients.  My mother actually serves this at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners since Jap Chae squeezes in a few power veggies like mushrooms, spinach, and carrots in an interesting way.  Now I have a supply of dangmyeon noodles, I’m sure I’ll be using them when I make a “leftover stir fry” (when I grab everything I need to use soon and make gobs of stir fry or fried rice.)

Make sure you check out the other noodle party participants and watch out on twitter and this blog to see when the next noodle party you can participate in!

Jap Chae
serves four as a whole meal, more as a multi-course | takes about twenty minutes prep (not including time to curse at your brand new mandoline) and ten minutes to cook.

two bales of glass noodles/dangmyeon
1T of cooking oil
2 tsp of sesame oil (separated)
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic
3 medium carrots, julienned (I used heirloom carrots that’s why they’re so many colors!)
about 1/2 c of mushrooms (I used two portabello mushrooms, you can also use dried mushrooms, just make sure you rehydrate them)
1/2 lb of fresh spinach
2 glugs of soy sauce
a few pinches of sugar (to taste.)

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Throw in the noodles and cook for about five minutes.  Drain, rinse with cold water then toss one tsp of sesame oil in the noodles to prevent sticking.  You can cut them into shorter pieces at this point (though I can hear my mom in the background, “Cutting noodles shortens your life!”*) then put to the side.

In a wok or large sautee pan, add cooking oil over high heat, swirl to coat.  Once the oil is very hot, fry onions and carrots for about one minute (not much longer) then add garlic and mushrooms for about thirty seconds.  Add spinach until just wilted then soy sauce, sugar, and noodles.  Fry for about two to three minutes then remove from heat.  You can toss sesame seeds in if you’d like.  At this point, I let it cool and serve it cold, but you can also eat it warm.

* – this is not a death threat from my mother.

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Posted in Korean, Noodles, Recipes | 15 Comments »

Big Scary Garden

March 27th, 2010

I’m definitely an advocate of buying local, using organic ingredients, and only eating free range animals.  The taste just doesn’t compare.

This year, I’m going to try to eat even more local than the farmer’s market.

I started my first seedlings today: lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas, and a handful of herbs (seven different kind).  If you’d like to follow its progress, check out my facebook fan page which will have exclusive updates on my garden (probably complete with a little bit of angry ramblings about how I can’t understand why nothing is growing).  Even create your own badge!

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Posted in Gardening | 2 Comments »

Vanilla Fig Tea Cupcakes with Root Frosting

March 26th, 2010

Dear World,

I am happy to announce that I have met my match.  My one and only.  My true loves of all.  I regret to inform everyone that there is a little less love for everyone else because any extra love is going directly to these.

I know what you’re thinking.  To you, they probably don’t look like much.  Well… there’s so much more.  See… in those are these:

Last year, I heard a lot of buzz about a new spirit on the market called Root.  The local shop, Art in the Age, wrote up a lovely page dedicated to this beverage here.  Basically, Root is the recipe, prior to the Prohibition, for root beer.  After my first taste, strong overtones of vanilla bean, subtle root beer flavor, I knew I would be a fun ingredient for baking.  Adding a light touch of alcohol is a great way to add depth and bring out certain flavors. Don’t go out and drink a whole bottle of this while eating cupcakes and write back, “Thanks for the alcohol poisoning.”  Moderation, people, moderation.

Now the second element to this recipe, is tea.  One of my bi-weekly errands is to local tea stores, I could wander over the lists of loose tea for hours and Philadelphia has some love for tea.  I say some, because, sadly, my favorite tea bar, Remedy, shut its doors less than a year ago though you can find a majority of their tea is online.

As I rummaged through the kitchen cabinets, searching for a chai that would go with these cupcakes, I discovered many things.  Strong green tea from the Asian Market (mine), detox tea (mine), female cleansing tea (which I actually think one of the boys purchased on accident), sinus draining tea (Elizabeth), regular black tea for hot toddys (Jay), but mostly the four of us have a serious tea addiction.  Seriously.

After moving onto the other cabinet shelf, I found the perfect match:

This Vanilla Fig Black Tea is available here.  So, my dear readers, I’m done with all of your other cupcakes.  Your fancy mcschmancy decorated ones with their fondant and their sparkles.  These cupcakes might not shoot rainbows from their nether regions, but taste wise– they are, as my friend described, “delightfully complex.”

Relationship wise, until marrying these cupcakes is legal, I’m single as ever.  Let’s fight for cupcake marriage.

Oh and additional bonus– these take one WHOLE stick of butter.  For frosting AND cake.

Vanilla Fig Tea Cupcakes with Root Frosting
(adapted from Joy the Baker | Joy puts this in very good words, so I didn’t change the words much!)

1 cup all-purpose flour
a scant 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk (minus 2T)
8 oz of black tea (vanilla flavored is best for this recipe)
2-3 T of Root (optional)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, heat milk to almost boiling.  Steep tea according to instructions.  Set aside to cool.  Add Root.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into the bowl and blend on slow speed with a mixer (or by hand.) until the mixture is a sandy consistency and everything is combined.  Gradually pour in half of the tea/milk/Root mix and beat until the liquid is just incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated.  Scrape  sides of the bowls well and mix until the batter is smooth for only a few minutes– do not overmix.

Line a muffin pan with twelve cups and fill all until a little less than 2/3 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden.  Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
(frost 12 cupcakes, double for a 9 inch cake.)

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 T of milk
1/2 T of Root (adjust to taste)
a sprinkle of cinnamon

Beat powdered sugar and butter together until well mixed on medium low.  Once well mixed, turn the speed to low and add milk and Root steadily and slowly.  Once all incorporated, crank up the speed to high for about five minutes.  Beating the frosting longer will make it lighter and fluffier.

Frost cupcakes and sprinkle some cinnamon on top!

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Cleaning Out the Fridge + Noodle Party + Pineapple Fried Rice: OH MY!

March 20th, 2010

Today, Philadelphia smells amazing.

I hope that shocked you into reading yet another post.  I’m not joking about the smell.  I’ve decided the first day of spring is my new favorite day of the year.  Everyone can have my birthday, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, well maybe not Thanksgiving. . . but the first day of spring is MY kind of holiday.

In honor of spring, I’m shaking the dust off of recipes I haven’t written down before I go on vacation and forget everything.  I’m cleaning out the fridge, so excuse me as I clog your RSS feed for a couple days.  I could stagger these posts, but I have good reason to publish this immediately.

Today, I woke up and was just done with being inside.  After hitting the farmer’s market early, Ed and I wandered around the entire city, meeting up with a couple friends and moseying on home.  I came home exhausted, flopped on my bed, and debated dinner for the zillionth time (I’m thinking Quinoa burgers) when I got a quick call from Linzy.  I made this rice on Tuesday and it was a hit at a dinner party I attended.  Linzy was already craving more!

Speaking of eating with friends. . .

MARCH 2009: NOODLE PARTY

A couple noodlemaniac twitter friends, Steph at momofukufor2.com (@momofukufor2) and Shao at friedwontons4u.com (@friedwontons4u) are organizing a little virtual shindig, specifically geared to NOODLES!  We’re each going to be taking some Korean sweet potato noodles (dangmyeong), making a dish and posting them!   You can participate too!  Check this little invite Steph wrote up:

Who: Everyone!

What: We’re all making noodle dishes using dangmyeong, Korean sweet potato glass noodles.

When: Noodle Party posts are going up on March 29th.

Where: Your blog, our blogs. Your twitter, whatever you got.

Why: So we can all dance the noodle dance together! People who join the party will get a Noodle Party badge for their site and of course, as always, everlasting fame!

How: Just give one of us a shout on our blog contact forms, leave a comment, or hit us up on Twitter!  I’m @bigscarykitchen!

Now on to the recipe!

Hints about fried rice:

1.  Always start with cold rice.  If you are in a time crunch, put freshly cooked rice in a big bowl, stir around to let the heat escape then stick it in the fridge.  Prepare the other ingredients and toss the rice a little to cool it.

2.  Cook the ingredients separately and make sure everything is ready before you start cooking.  This cooks up fast.  Use high heat.  Make sure the pan is heat.  Don’t be tempted to constantly move the rice around though.  If you don’t have much room in the pan, cook in groups.

Pineapple Fried Rice
serves six | prep time is about 10 minutes and ten minutes of cooking time

Four cups of long-grain rice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
A cup (or more if you like) of pineapple, sliced into small pieces
1 T of fish sauce
1 teaspoon of soy sauce (or more to taste)
1/2 T of pineapple juice
2 T of oil
ground pepper to taste

Heat up wok or frying pan and add cooking oil (remember high heat is important).  Add garlic and onion and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add rice, pineapple pieces, pineapple juice, and stir to distribute evenly.  Add fish sauce and dark soy sauce to blend well with rice. Stir-fry for another minute or so, add pepper to taste and serve.

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Posted in Cooking, Recipes, Rice | 2 Comments »

Lettuce Wraps: Just for Girl

March 19th, 2010

This is me and my sister, Jemma, or sometimes referred to as Girl at probably two and four?  Here are a few facts about my sister and me:

We were both born in Idaho about two years apart.  She is older.

We have a younger brother who was not born in Idaho.

She lives in Irvine, CA and I live in Philadelphia, PA.

She is a lawyer.  I work in publishing.

She hates onions.  I love onions.

She cannot spend more than thirty minutes in the kitchen.  I love all day projects.

We have not seen each other for over one year.

Lastly, I will have to change the picture on this post 100 times until I find one she likes.

In my head, I call my sister “My Right Shoe.”  Not only because she is right handed and I am left handed, but because we are opposite but we make a matching pair.  You may or may not know but during my detox, my biggest cheerleader during this whole process has been my sister, Jemma.  She introduced me to the detox.  I started sending her recipes of what I was going to make that night and ideas I had to use the ingredients I was allowed to eat.  She flipped, not literally though that is something she is capable of doing and I am not.   The other line went silent a moment and I heard, ”I ate chicken and brown rice for four weeks.”

I sent her a couple of my recipes and she said, “Send me more.  Quick and flavorful recipes.  And by quick I mean, I don’t want to spend longer than the length of a television show in the kitchen.”

Well, my dear older sister, I’m happy I actually have something to teach and this is for you.  A recipe that is inexpensive, tasty, and quick to prepare.

Lettuce Wraps

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
2 T soy sauce
1 T mirin (optional)
1 T fish sauce
1 T Hoison sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp grated ginger
three or four green onion stalks (white and light green part only)
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 red onion (lg)
1/4 c water chestnuts
1 T of canola oil
Romain lettuce hearts (also can be done with iceberg or bibb lettuce)

1.  Mix soy sauce, mirin, fish sauce, Hoison, rice vinegar, ginger, green onion, and garlic with the meat.  Marinate for  at least 10 minutes or overnight.
2.  While meat is marinating, chop half an red onion and water chestnuts.  Heat oil in a wok or sautee pan on medium-high heat.  Throw in the red onions for about a minute.
3.   Add meat mix.  Cook until browned, moving in the pan to prevent burning and drain.
4.   Wash lettuce.  Wrap some filling in lettuce to eat!  (You can also add cooked rice noodles or rice in the wrap.)

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Cilantro-Lime Roast Chicken with Rice

March 18th, 2010

I’m a big old quitter.

Yup, I went out and I ate cheese and some toast a day early.  It was just too nice to snub a drink with friends.  Sorry detox, but sitting outside and eating are my two favorite things.  I caved in and got a quality beer, a couple slices of cheese, and a four slices of tiny toast.

Mm… I’m okay with quitting earlier than planned.  It’s barely a day and the last thing I want to do is go into some sort of coma after stuffing my face at the Bellagio buffet.  I didn’t eat anything super greasy or bad, and for that I’m proud of.  I didn’t realize I would make it this far, but 48 cupcakes and four loaves of bread later, I am free of some of my food dependence.

Now, I have a few more detox meals to post and this is one of them.  Yeaaah, it’s Mexican which I’m finding can be very flavorful without being high sugar and fats.  If you’re looking for an easy crowd pleaser, this is definitely a go to recipe.  IT’s even easy clean up– ONE pan!  One pan!

Cilantro-Lime Roasted Chicken
serves 4 | 5 minutes prep and 40 minutes cooking time

1 chicken (about three pounds) cut into six pieces, defrosted and deskinned
2 T of olive oil
1t of chile powder
1t of ground cumin
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
1t of salt
1t of black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c of fresh cilantro, chopped
8  shallots, halved

Preheat the the oven to 425.

Chop the chicken and remove skin.  Place in a baking pan that fits everything in one layer snuggly (I used a 9×13 pan)  Add everything into the pan toss, coating everything well.  Toss the pan into oven, it’s okay if the oven is not completely pre-heated.  Cook the chicken for about twenty minutes, turn the chicken around and leave it in the oven for twenty more minutes.  Once chicken is done, turn off the oven and serve!

Lime-Cilantro Rice

I used a rice cooker, so when I made the rice, I put the juice of a lime in with the cooking water.  Once done, throw in a quarter cup of fresh cilantro and a couple pinches of salt and pepper!

Posted in Chicken, Cooking, Detoxing, Recipes, Rice | 1 Comment »

Black Bean Espresso Chili

March 11th, 2010

I’ve lost my voice.

It’s been less than 24 hours, yes, but I love my voice.  I use my voice often.  I need my voice for fun activities, like doing an impression of Toad from the Super Mario Brothers Games or singing Death Metal Karaoke and Metal Rock Band.

Ok, so you have me up against the wall and I will admit– I savagely abuse my voice.

The saddest part of losing my voice is always my laugh.  I laugh a lot.  I laugh loud.  I laugh at almost everything.  I make myself laugh.  Right now, the sounds I make are more squeaks and raspy breaths and it’s really cramping my style.

On the other hand, my father, a retired military man, is a very serious man.  Growing up, my siblings and I always tried to get him to crack a smile or join us in a silly game.  He rarely laughed.  As we got older, suddenly I started finding my dad hilarious and he started laughing more.  Now, talking to him I have more gut busting moments than watching one of my favorite comedies.  I found that his dry sense of humor has not changed, I just grew into it.  It’s a lot like chili.

See, one of the five things my father cooks in our family is chili.  Being the strange man that he is, he claims it’s the best chili ever.  It contains cans of kidney beans, ground beef, chili powder and a secret ingredient I can neither remember nor do I believe it is secret anymore.  It’s a fairly simple recipe with deep flavor and best topped with cheese and served with corn bread.  I remember it was always slightly too spicy.  It takes four hours to make.  Sitting and typing this, I can taste the chili, it’s that ingrained in my memories.

Sometimes, I crave chili, but as I’ve gotten older and more interested in cooking (and maybe once recently I ate chili from the same restaurant twice in two days), I’ve lost interest in chili.  What’s so great about it?  It’s has loads of fat in it and, I say this as a true meat lover don’t get me wrong, it has all that beef that makes you feel gross afterwards.  And then I came across this recipe.

Like my father’s sense of humor, chili can grow up.  It can be a little different, but just as delicious.  It’s a great meal, high protein, and packed with tomatoes.  This is not a traditional Texas chili, but, and I will touch on this time and time again, I don’t think there should be only one way to make a recipe like chili.  There are just too many great combinations.

This is a vegetarian chili.  The espresso powder adds the rich flavor helping with the lack of ground beef.  I really didn’t miss the beef in this recipe.  It’s very similar to a traditional chili recipe in that this chili is best very slowly cooked and is even better as it sits in the fridge.  Also, just a tip, I tried to find the highest quality of canned tomatoes I could find which made a huge difference.  I put some grilled chicken on top, but it isn’t necessary.

Black Bean Espresso Chili
serves four generous portions | preparation time is about twenty minutes and total time about an hour

1/4 cup olive oil
3 onions, chopped
1/8 cup instant espresso powder
1/8 cup ground paprika
1/8 cup  ground oregano
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons honey
3 large garlic cloves, minced
6 cups cooked black beans OR mixture of beans OR 3 15-ounce cans of beans
1 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tsp of pepper
Chili oil to taste
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Add onions and sauté until translucent.

Mix in the espresso powder, paprika, oregano, and cumin and cook for 1 minute.  Add tomatoes, honey and garlic. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the beans, the water, salt, pepper, chili oil and cinnamon. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring often, for about 30 minutes, or until mixture thickens a bit more.  Serve and enjoy.

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