chili

Today over lunch at d.b.a. we discussed different chili recipes. My favorite is still black bean chili with masa harina, this is a recipe I've sort of made up a while ago from various recipies I've tried in the past.

2 Tbs. ancho chili powder
2 Tbs. ground cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1 can black beans (goya works fine)
1 28 oz can of whole tomatos (or you could use crushed or whatever)
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbs. masa harina

1. chop up the onion and garlic cloves, put it in a pot with some olive oil & cook for a few minutes
2. add chili powder, cumin, coriander
3. add black beans (drain off some of the extra water first if there's a lot in the can)
4. stir
5. add tomatos
6. stir, bring to a boil over medium high heat
7. let it boil for about 5 minutes then lower heat to low
8. cook at least 30 minutes, but you can leave it on low heat for much longer if you need to
9. 5 minutes before serving, mix in masa harina to thicken, stir until it thickens

thanksgiving hacks

Having just cooked a two Thanksgiving dinners, I thought I would blog a few Useful Thanksgiving Hacks.
Turkey: Turkeys are actually easy to cook.
1. remove turkey from whatever packaging it came in.
2. Remove neck and other icky pieces from inside it and toss them
3. use a nice turkey roasting dish
4. rub the entire turkey with butter, shake some salt & pepper over it
5. toss about 6 bay leaves into the turkey cavity
6. put it in the oven at about 350
7. set a timer for 45 minutes
8. when the timer goes off, pull out the turkey. use tongs to flip it (easier than using those crazy turkey forks) and re-butter the entire bird
9. put it back in, re-set the time
10. when the breast & wings start getting very crispy, cover them in aluminum foil
11. cook, flipping & re-buttering every 45 minutes, until it's at 165F in the breast
Gravy: create a roux by putting 2 tablespoons of butter into a pan, and adding some flour. stir it around & mash it up. add some chicken stock and turkey juice. if you need to thicken it, make more roux in a new pan, then move the gravy to that new pan & stir well.
Timeline: the hard part of making a thanksgiving dinner is time management. Here's mine:
1. start the turkey
2. cook some veggies that can be microwaved at the end (sweet potatos, green beans)
3. prepare some biscuit dough that can sit in a fridge
4. make some mashed potatos, leave them sitting over a double boiler on low with a lid on them
5. when the turkey is done, pop the biscuits in the oven
6. make gravy, have someone warm veggies in microwave
7. when gravy and biscuits are done, serve