blue artichoke

Yesterday was chili weather: cold and rainy. GC invited some friends over to watch the Missouri-Oklahoma football game and I decided to make a pot of chili and a pan of cornbread to feed everyone for dinner. This was a last-minute decision, so I headed out to the grocery store to get the fixin's. I think everyone in town had the same idea, because the bean aisle was packed and there was a crisis in the spice aisle when it was discovered that there was only one more jar of chili powder left. I also got some tortilla chips and Rotel to make Rotel dip, as every good Southerner would do when lucky enough to find a 1-1/4# block of Velveeta in the fridge. What do you do when you have a living room full of red-blooded American men shouting at the tv? Feed them cheese.

The chili was awesome. Or, at least I think it was. I don't have much to compare it too, for I only started eating chili about a year ago. As a kid, I took the beans song to heart ("beans, beans, the musical fruit..." ) and decided that I simply disliked beans, even though I'd never eaten any. I knew I disliked toots. A few years ago, I eased my way into eating beans, starting with chickpeas, moving on to black beans and refried beans in Mexican restaurants, then opening up to all kinds, though I'm still undecided about pinto beans. My introduction to chili was at a chili cook-off in Richmond, where most of the chili samples were too hot to taste anything but burning. Yesterday's chili, though, was only mildly spicy, so I could actually taste individual flavors. GC and the rest of the guys liked it a lot too, but I've found that hungry guys almost always compliment free food, so I might just have to start a Chili Snackdown to see how this recipe really stacks up. In the meantime, you try it out and tell me how it compares to your favorite chili.

Chunky Two-Bean and Beef Chili

1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
Cooking spray
1 ½ pounds beef stew meat
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups chopped onion
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper
2/3 cup cabernet sauvignon or dry red wine
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoons ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (15-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can hot chili beans
Reduced-fat sour cream (optional)

Heat 1 teaspoon canola oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle beef with salt. Add half of beef to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining beef.

Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil, onion, and bell pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño; sauté 1 minute. Add wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return beef to pan. Stir in sugar and remaining ingredients except sour cream; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Garnish with sour cream, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

CALORIES 390 (26% from fat); FAT 11.4g (sat 3.2g,mono 4.8g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 31.3g; CHOLESTEROL 71mg; CALCIUM 94mg; SODIUM 825mg; FIBER 10.1g; IRON 5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37.5g
Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2007

Chili just isn't complete without a pan of cornbread.

Rosemary Corn Bread

2 (8 ½ oz) boxes cornbread mix
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 (8 oz.) container plain yogurt
2 (7 oz.) cans whole-kernel corn, drained
1 T. dried rosemary leaves

Heat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 13x9” pan; set aside.

Stir all ingredients together. Spoon into pan.

Bake 25 minutes or until just golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool. When cool, cut lengthwise into 3 strips and then crosswise into quarters. Cut each square into 2 triangles. The corn bread can be made ahead to this point. Remove from pan, wrap in foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.

To serve, thaw and reheat in the foil in a 325F oven for 10m or until heated through.

Serves 10.
Real Simple, November 2003

Now, I have had more than my share of cornbread, and can say with confidence that this is awesome cornbread. I used Jiffy Corn Muffin mix, which I think is the best commercial cornbread mix available. I ground up the dried rosemary in my spice blender because I hate biting into those long rosemary needles; grinding also helps distribute the rosemary flavor.

Missouri lost the game, so people left our house disappointed, but not hungry.

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