Chili with Sausage and Jalapeno

It feels like it's time. Time for soup making and bread baking and more specifically.... time to try more chili recipes. There are so many recipes out there for chili. They can be 38-ingredient-long labors of love or simple throw-it-in-the-pot kind of recipes. This was one of the straight-forward, classic tomato sauce and cumin types, but with sweet Italian sausage added for a boost of meaty flavor and fresh jalapenos to turn up the heat.

 We both loved this bowl of chili. It's nice and thick (perfect for scooping into a tortilla chip) and has just the right amount of heat....for me, anyway. Someone may have doused his serving with hot sauce....There aren't any beans in this version and we really didn't miss them. I loved the green peppers and the fresh spiciness that the jalapenos added. We may have found  our new favorite chili recipe...until I make the next one on my list, anyway. This is a great "classic" chili, perfect for people like my dad, for instance, who just want the basics. No frills, no experiments, no surprises. Just chili. And that was exactly what I wanted for dinner.


Chili with Sausage and Jalapeno
serves 8
from Bon Appetit


4 T. olive oil, divided
1 lb. lean ground beef
3/4 lb. Italian sweet sausages, casings removed
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes in puree
3 T. chili powder
2 T. cumin
2 T. light brown sugar, packed
1 T. ground black pepper
2 t. dried oregano
2 t. dried basil
pinch cayenne pepper
2 T. lime juice (optional- I left this out; my tomatoes seemed plenty acidic already)
Hot pepper sauce
Grated Monterey Jack cheese
Chopped red onion
Sour cream

Heat 2 T. oil in heavy large pot over hight heat. Add beef and sausage; cook until brown, breaking up with a spoon, about 8 minutes. Transfer meat to a bowl. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add remaining oil to pot. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and bay leaves. Cook until vegetables are soft, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Return meat to pot. Mix in tomatoes and next 7 ingredients. Simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in lime juice. Season with salt. Serve in bowls, passing condiments on the side.

Blueberry Oat Scones

It's high time I started baking again. I love it, but unfortunately, I have a hard time sharing. Luckily, my mom and dad were here for a visit and helped give these scones a good home. I love this recipe for a number of reasons....

Carrot-Ginger Soup and Scallion Meatballs with Snow Peas and Shiitakes

It's been a while since I've made something that made me this happy. I'm not sure whether it was just the taste, or if it was the satisfaction of making a meal that my husband raved over, or if it was the knowledge of time well-spent on a Saturday night, or a combination of all of these. But just know that every slice of the knife, every second spent reducing the sauce, every penny spent on ingredients-- it's all worth it. This is a comforting, and yet exhilarating, combination of flavors and textures. You really do need to try these recipes. They have to be experienced to be believed.

Bananas Foster Oatmeal

Maybe this is how blogging is supposed to be. I took this picture on the spur of  the moment, after I took one bite, looked down and thought, " That's beautiful." So I decided to post it and share my creation with you. It started out as banana nut oatmeal, which I had made before and my husband loved. As it's his birthday today, I wanted to create something extra special for him and bananas foster oatmeal was born.

Up until now, I've posted recipes that I thought would be delicious, or would take a good picture. I would spend days, and even weeks and months trying to find the perfect recipe. And nothing would get posted.  I have a lot less time these days to cook since I've started working two jobs, so that's affected my blogging/cooking/baking routine, too. But even more than that, I would try to plan, to perfect the dish and the plating and photography in my head so I would have something "blog worthy". But I'm going to try to be more organic in my posts, sharing what I make because it's something I think everyone needs to have in their lives. This is one of those things. It's a decadent bowl-- definitely something for special occasions and it's quite possibly the most elegant way to dress up your breakfast ( or brunch, if you're like us and wait until 12:30 to think about eating on a Sunday). I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Bananas Foster Oatmeal

serves 2-4

3 c. water

1/2 t. salt

1 c. stone-ground oats (we love Bob's Red Mill brand)

1/2 c. walnuts, toasted

3 T. butter, divided

2 ripe bananas, sliced at an angle

scant 1/4 c. dark brown sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 t. cinnamon

grated nutmeg

milk/ cream, to taste

Bring water and salt to a boil in medium saucepan. Add oats slowly, whisking to prevent clumps. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 2 T. butter in pan. When foam subsides, add bananas and cook 3-4 minutes and turn over. They should be softened and warmed through, but not mushy. Add brown sugar, pinch of salt, cinnamon and a few gratings of nutmeg; stir gently to melt the sugar, being careful not to mash bananas. Cook 3-4 minutes longer, stirring gently, then add 1 T. butter and continue to stir until melted and smooth. When oatmeal is cooked, taste for seasoning. I like to add a little more salt and a bit of sugar to bring out the flavor of the oats. Stir in milk or cream to taste ( a creamy oatmeal will balance the sweetness of the topping). If you like, stir in about half of the caramel from the bananas, leaving just enough to coat them and some extra for drizzling. Portion oatmeal into bowls and top with bananas, caramel sauce and toasted walnuts.

Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies

I've always been on the fence about the combination of chocolate and pumpkin. I will almost always choose peanut butter or caramel.... but this recipe made me change my mind. This most definitely works and if you've ever wondered why people insist on putting these two flavors in the same pan, well, this is why. It's delicious. 

Peach Pie

When is pie more than just a dessert? When it becomes a legacy. When it becomes the symbol of one of the most influential people in your life. When it has meaning. That's what this picture represents. It's who I am and who I would like to become. Come along with me on my journey....

Chipotle Fish Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Cream

Is there anything more perfect for summer than a fish taco? We don't think so, unless it's eating ice cream by the quart or making cheeseburger sliders with mini pretzel rolls. But for this post, I wanted to share a creation/bastardization of a recipe I had tried before and tweaked slightly to make my own. As much as I love a fried piece of fish, I'm a little wary of deep-frying things in my tiny kitchen. So I took my favorite breading for pan-frying fish and gave it a Baja twist.

Besides the crispy fish fillet, the other star of this dish is the lime-cilantro cream. Imagine, if you will, a cool, creamy tzatziki sauce with a Mexican accent and you will have an idea of how delicious this sauce is. You could easily use any leftovers as a dip for vegetables and it's so easy, you will want some of this on hand and within easy reach. Just three ingredients: sour cream, lime juice and cilantro (and I added some lime zest as well because you can't have too much lime!), season to taste and you're ready for taco night.

I love the colors of red and green cabbage. You could just as well have one or the other, especially if you're only serving a few for dinner. But extra cabbage in the refrigerator means coleslaw at your fingertips and I am nothing if not a coleslaw fiend. That, also, is a summer staple and I've never had a home-made coleslaw I didn't love.

Here is where I got creative with the original recipe. The first time I made these, the instructions directed me to coat the fish with minced chipotle chiles and cook until blackened. The problem I ran into was that the moisture of the chiles in their delicious adobo sauce was that it was far too moist to actually sear and blacken the fish. It was tasty, but there wasn't any texture. So I decided to take the cornmeal coating of my favorite catfish recipe and apply it here. I brushed the fish with the adobo to make the cornmeal adhere and fried until well and truly crisp and golden. I won't be making fish tacos any other way.

Chipotle Fish Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Cream

Serves 8

adapted from Bon Appetit

1 c. sour cream

1 c. finely chopped cilantro, divided

2 T. lime juice

zest of 1/2 lime

1 T.  cumin 

1 t. salt

1 can chipotles in adobo

       (sauce only, reserve chiles for another use)

1 c. yellow cornmeal

1 1b. basa/ tilapia fillets

1 T. vegetable oil

16 6" corn tortillas

1 stick butter, melted

2 c. shredded green cabbage (1/4 of a head)

2 c. shredded red cabbage ( 1/4 of a head)

2 c. chopped plum or cherry tomatoes

Whisk sour cream, 1/2 c. cilantro, lime juice and zest in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk cumin, salt and cornmeal in a shallow dish ( such as a pie plate). Lay fish on a large plate and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Working with one fillet at a time, brush/ smear adobo sauce over both sides of fish, then coat with cornmeal mixture, pressing to adhere. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add fish and cook until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Move to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with a little more salt, if desired. Heat another skillet over high heat. Lightly brush one side of each tortilla with melted butter. Working in batches, place tortillas, buttered side down, in skillet. Cook until soft, about 20 seconds per side. Arrange tortillas, buttered side up, on a platter. Break/ slice fish into small portions and divide amongst tortillas. Top with cabbage and sprinkle with tomatoes and rest of cilantro. Drizzle with cilantro-lime cream and serve.