Using Up The Used Meat Inventory - Slow Cooker Beef Chili

We had several packages of assorted beef from the Used Meat section, including some tri tip pieces and some round steak. Time for chili!

The Colonel has definite ideas about chili. It should not have beans. Chili Lovers throughout the nation and world often have strong opinions on the Bean/No Bean divide. Those who say Texas Chili never has beans are contradicted by people who say Texas Chili can have beans, get over it! Is it Chile con carne, or Chile con carne y frijoles? 

During a throwdown on the subject by Lifehacker, a fellow mused:

The half of me that's Mexican cannot comprehend chili without beans. What would that be? A slurry of well-spiced sadness? Then I remember that chili as a condiment, say on your dogs and your fries, is indeed very often beanless with no loss of enjoyment. We must bridge this cultural bean gap!

Chili-like dishes were served by the Aztecs and other indigenous people, and in their world, beans were one of the Grand Trio of food crops: Beans, corn (maize) and chiles. Since protein was mostly provided by beans rather than meat, historic chili was probably Chile con frijoles. Sin carne. (without meat)

I admit to being in the I Love Beans camp. I straddle the Great Bean Divide in our home with the Bridge of Bean Compromise of adding beans only to my portion and keeping the Chile con carne pure for my man.

My recipe is based on what my Dad used to make. He worked with ground beef instead and would have kept the spices confined mostly to chile, garlic and onion powders, without fresh chiles. But it was always good. 

The Colonel's Dad apparently also made a darn fine chili. 

Bring it on, in all forms, along with toppings and some warm cornbread. And try crumbling some of the cornbread in the bottom of a bowl and spooning chili over it for a leftovers meal.

Bridge this cultural bean gap!

Mangia!

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

2 ½  pounds beef stew meat , cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces

4 ounces chopped bacon

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced red bell pepper

1 cup diced green bell pepper

1 large jalapeno chile, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

 1 to 2 cups beef stock

¼ cup flour mixed with water to form a thin slurry

2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans drained

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Optional toppings:

Additional crispy bacon

Sour Cream

Cheddar Cheese

Green onions

Place the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat, and cook until evenly browned. Set aside on paper towels to drain and drain most of the grease, leaving a little to brown the beef. Dry the beef pieces, season with salt and pepper and working batches brown on all sides. Don’t crowd the pan.

Place the vegetables and beans in the slow cooker. Mix the tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, slurry and spices together in a bowl. Add the beef on top of the veggies along with the bacon. Pour the liquid over everything, and if the liquid doesn’t quite cover the beef, add some more beef stock.

Cover, and cook 8 hours on Low. Serve with toppings.

Red Lentil Soup with Ham - Another Bone For Puppy!

I mentioned we had a ham a few weeks ago and  had been taking a break for several days from ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham wonderful ham!  The bone had been in the freezer and I happened to have a lot of red lentils in the pantry, a result of forgetting I had some when I was in the Mediterranean market.

I like lentil soup very much and have featured it before on the blog. This one uses the red lentils, which have a lovely rose orange color when dried but lose it when they cook. So at the end of the preparation, they look like regular yellow lentils. You could use yellow or brown lentils in this as well.

I recently discovered Ham Better Than Bouillon, so this was the inaugural recipe with the product. It smells really fantastic!

Happiness is ham bone...with leaves!

It, like the barley soup, tends to thicken when cooled, so when re-heating you'll probably want to add a bit of water or chicken stock.

And of course, happy puppy got another bone. She's living in a Dog Paradise.

Serve with bread, or soft pitas. Mangia!

Red Lentil Soup with Ham

Adapted from Heather Christo

1 leftover ham bone from half ham spiral cut, or two ham hocks

2 cups leftover ham, chopped (if not using ham hocks)

1 Tbs butter

2 cups onion, small diced

2 cups carrots, small diced

2 cups celery, small diced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

2 cups dry white wine

8 cups chicken stock (I used half chicken and half ham Better than Bouillon)

12 oz dried red lentils, rinsed thoroughly and drained

2 tsp dried cumin

2 tsp smoked paprika

Kosher salt

Heat a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the ham bone and let it sear in the pot for a few minutes.  Add the butter and let it melt with the ham bone. Add the vegetables and thyme to the pot and sprinkle them with Kosher salt. Stir the vegetables with the butter and let them sweat until soft and tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the white wine and scrape any browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the lentils.  Cover the soup with a lid and let the soup simmer about 30 minutes until the lentils are fluffy and tender.

Remove the ham bone (or hocks if you are using those), allow to cool enough to handle and cut meat from it to add back into soup along with the leftover ham meat.

Season with the cumin, paprika and Kosher salt.

Lamb And Pearl Barley Scotch Broth - And Doggie Gets Bone!

Post-Easter, with the many leftovers that had been crammed in the fridge and freezer slowly diminishing in quantity, it was time to put some bones to good use. We had a ham a few weeks ago and still had a lot of sliced ham in the freezer, but had been taking a break for several days from ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham wonderful ham!  The bone was in the freezer along with the lamb leg bone. Time for soup!

This thrifty craving corresponded with a couple of days when the temperature dropped from the 90s to the high 60s. We pretend that's the depths of winter here in the Valley of The Sun. So, soup!

The original recipe calls for two lamb shanks. Goodness knows I love my shanks but when I cook those, I like to have the meat front and center and not hiding in broth. But the bone is lovely for the flavor and I reserved a cup and a half of chopped lamb meat for the soup. I also increased the barley by 1/4 cup and the stock by a cup because I love chewy, hearty barley.

Bone? Yes, please!

Finally, I added some chopped fresh thyme.

As leftovers, the barley will continue to soak up broth so when you reheat this, you'll probably want to add some more water or beef stock to the soup.


Some bread is all you need to make this a complete soul-warming supper. And an eager doggie ready to take on the bone.

Mangia!

Lamb and Pearl Barley Scotch Broth
Adapted from Taste.au.com

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lamb leg bone or two shanks
1 1/2 cups leftover lamb meat, if using bone and not shanks

1 large fennel bulb, finely chopped

1 brown onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 cup dry white wine

5 cups beef stock
3/4 cup pearl barley

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the lamb shanks and cook, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until brown all over. Transfer to a bowl. Add the fennel, onion, carrot, celery and thyme and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the wine, beef stock, barley and tomato paste and stir to combine. Return the lamb to the soup and bring to a simmer.

Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 2 hours or until lamb is falling off the bone. Transfer lamb shanks to a plate. Remove the meat and discard the bones. Cut into 2cm pieces. Return to the soup. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle evenly among serving bowls. Serve immediately.

Easter Sunday - Herb-crusted Leg of Lamb With Roasted Potatoes, Fennel And Radishes And Stir Fry Asparagus With Bacon

Our first Easter together! No Easter egg hunt was planned, just a lovely lamb roast with some lovely sides.

Leg of Lamb was a very special and rare treat growing up in our Lower Lower Middle Class world. Dad prepared it very simply, cutting slits in the meat and inserting slivers of garlic. I am still a fan of that method but nowadays like to give the Baa Baa a nice crust of herb-y, garlic-y goodness.  

The side dishes are based on fairly traditional Easter side dishes of spring asparagus and potatoes with a bit of flair. I love roasted fennel but I have never tried roasted radishes. You have to try this! The radishes were seriously good and the lemon butter sauce was Da Bomb. For the asparagus, some quick-pickled crispy fried shallots top a stir fry with bacon added. What's not to like?

Here's to lamb sandwiches. Mangia!

Herb-crusted Leg of Lamb
Food and Wine

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 heads garlic, cloves separated but not peeled

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon minced rosemary, plus 3 sprigs

1 tablespoon minced thyme

One 6-pound bone-in leg of lamb

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

2 large carrots, cut on the diagonal 1/2 inch thick

2 large celery ribs, cut on the diagonal 1/2 inch thick

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup of olive oil with the minced garlic, rosemary and thyme.

Score the fatty top side of the lamb about 1/4 inch deep. Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the whole garlic cloves, onion, carrots and celery with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Arrange the vegetables in an even layer and season with salt and pepper. Scatter the rosemary sprigs over the vegetables and set the leg of lamb on top, fatty side up. Spread half of the garlic-and-herb rub all over the lamb, making sure to rub it into the score marks. Roast the leg of lamb for 20 minutes.

Spread the remaining rub over the lamb and add 1/4 cup of water to the baking sheet. Roast the lamb for about 1 hour and 20 minutes longer, rotating the baking sheet a few times, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 145° for medium. Add a few more tablespoons of water to the baking sheet at any point if the vegetables start to get quite dark.

Transfer the lamb to a carving board and let it rest for 20 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprigs. Carve the leg of lamb into 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve with the roasted vegetables.

Roasted Potatoes, Fennel & Radishes with Lemon Brown Butter Sauce

The Kitchn

1 pound fingerling or very small yellow potatoes

Olive oil

Flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound radishes, tops removed

1 fennel bulb without stalks, about 1 pound

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 lemon, juiced, about 1 1/2 tablespoons

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon maple syrup

Fresh mint leaves or dill fronds, to garnish

Heat the oven to 450°F. Cut the potatoes in quarters lengthwise and toss with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl, as well as a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes on a large baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until barely tender.

Meanwhile, trim the tops and bottoms of the radishes, and quarter them lengthwise. Trim off the top and bottom of the fennel bulb and slice in half lengthwise, then quarter each half and cut the quarters into pieces about 1-inch-wide. Toss the fennel pieces and radishes in the bowl with another 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are just beginning to get tender, spread the radishes and fennel on the baking sheet and toss to combine. Return the vegetables to the oven and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the fennel and radishes are tender and juicy but not yet soft.

While they are roasting, heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes or until it melts and then browns. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the lemon juice, mustard, and maple syrup. When the vegetables are done, toss with the sauce and spread on a platter or in a bowl and garnish with mint  or dill leaves. Serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Asparagus With Bacon And Crispy Shallots

Adapted from Bon Appetit

¼ cup black vinegar (I went with balsamic)

¼ cup sherry vinegar

2 small shallots, thinly sliced into rings

4 ounces slab bacon, cut into 1x¼-inch pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 1/2 cup more for pan frying 

Kosher salt

1 pound asparagus, trimmed, thinly sliced on a diagonal

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Combine both vinegars in a medium bowl. Add shallots and let sit, tossing occasionally, 1 hour. Drain and pat dry.



Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until most of fat is rendered and bacon begins to brown, 5–7 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Pour off fat. 

Pour in 1/2 cup oil. Heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 300°.  Fry, tossing occasionally, until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels; season with salt. 


Heat reserved skillet over medium-high. Swirl remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in pan to coat (this keeps food from sticking); pour out excess. The oil should be shimmering—if it’s not hot enough, the asparagus will steam not caramelize. Add asparagus, season with salt, and cook, tossing, until almost cooked through, about 1 minute. Add bacon and 1 Tbsp. water; cook, tossing, until asparagus is cooked through, about 30 seconds. Add soy sauce; toss to coat. Serve topped with shallots.

Southern Skillet Lemon Chicken Thighs With Potatoes And Spinach

I have been enjoying a cookbook I picked up several months ago: Mastering The Art Of Southern Cooking. While there are many delights within, I had some chicken thighs from a BOGO sale at the store and wanted some inspiration, so even though this recipe doesn't seem especially Southern, it was certainly tasty.

Who doesn't love the ease of a one pot meal? This is a brown and braise dish that comes together on the stove top in under under an hour of mostly unattended cooking.

Chicken thighs or drumsticks can be used in this savory dish, which is also Spring-like and bright with lemon. The braising liquid makes a delicious sauce. Don;t forget bread to help soak up those juices!

Mangia!

Skillet Lemon Chicken Thighs With Potatoes And Spinach
Mastering The Art Of Southern Cooking

3 tablespoons oil
1 tablspoon butter
6 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
1 pound fingerling potatoes
10 whole garlic cloves
Juice and zest of one lemon (I doubled this)
2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, minced
Salt and pepper
2 to 3 cups chicken stock
12 ounces baby spinach (I doubled this as well)

Heat the butter and oil over medium heat in a deep skillet or Dutch oven until it shimmers. Add the chicken skin side down and brown well, about 4 minutes. Turn and brown the other side.

While chicken browns, cut the potatoes into halves or quarters and peel the garlic cloves. When chicken has been browned and skin side is facing up, sprinkle the chicken with the lemon juice and zest, reserving some zest for the finished dish. Tuck the potatoes and garlic around the chicken, season with salt and pepper and add broth to a level of a couple of inches.

Cover the pan and reduce heat and simmer 10 to 20 minutes, checking liquid level occasionally, adding more stock if the pan is getting dry.  Continue cooking for another 20 minutes or until temperature registers 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Add spinach, and cover and cook another minute until spinach is wilted.

Move to a plate and add any remaining stock to the pan, scraping up browned bits. Boil until slightly reduced and serve on the side as a sauce.

Crockpot Carnitas Burrito Rice Bowl - Still On Healthy Trend....Or Semi-Healthy Trend Anyway

I had been craving slow cooker carnitas, and had a pork shoulder roast from the Used Meat aisle staring me in the face, begging me to use it. Into cart it when, and then later into slow cooker.

While nothing beats the traditional method of preparing carnitas, with slow braising and then frying, this recipe gives you the taste of traditional carnitas with a lot less work. After slow cooking and shredding, you could drain the pork and fry it on the stove top to give it a brown crust if you prefer.

To keep this on the Semi-Healthy side of life, rice steps in for the tortillas, with the Pico de Gallo adding crunch and color.

Mangia!


Crockpot Carnitas Burrito Rice Bowl

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

Carnitas

5-6 pounds pork shoulder roast (or butt)

1 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoons smoked paprika

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (12 ounce) Mexican beer

1/2 cup orange juice

2 limes, juiced

1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles in adobo, minced

Rice

3 cups cooked rice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime, juiced

Pico De Gallo

2 cups tom tom or cherry tomatoes, chopped

1/2 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped

Other Toppings

1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 lime, juiced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Shredded cheddar cheese

pinch of sugar

pinch of salt

Begin with the Carnitas. Combine seasonings (salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, onion powder, chipotle chili powder, oregano, cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder) together in a bowl and mix until combined. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Rub the pork all over with a about 1/3 of the seasonings. Once hot, add pork and sear on all sides until golden brown (about 2 minutes per side).Add pork to the crockpot and sprinkle with remaining seasonings all over. Pour in beer, orange juice, lime juice and chipotle chilies, then cook on low for 10-12 hours. Check once or twice if possible.

 Before serving, use forks or kitchen tongs to shred pork in the crock pot. Mix to combine with the remaining liquid in the crockpot. Keep warm until ready to use.

For the pico de gallo, in a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon salt with the pinch of sugar. In a medium bowl, toss the tomatoes gently with the salt mixture. Add onion, jalapeno, lime juice and cilantro and combine.

Toss the rice, the cilantro and lime juice. Keep warm. To assemble divide the rice evenly among 4 bowls. Top with some of the pico de gallo and shredded lettuce and then add the warm carnitas. Sprinkle on the cheese, and add some avocado slices on top. Finish with the chopped cilantro.

Thai Quinoa Salad with Grilled Pork - Going For The Semi-Healthy

I had been craving a nice grain and veggie salad. But there was also some lovely pork chops in the Used Meat section, so why not a lovely grain and veggie salad with Thai flavors and sliced grilled pork on top?

Quinoa takes to flavors so well and it has a nice chew to it. I am surprised I don't end up using it more, say, instead of rice or couscous. It has a lot of protein and I think it has borne its Health Food 15 Minutes with some longevity. Kale had a similar trajectory but seemed to experience Restaurant Menu burnout sooner than quinoa. I seem to see quinoa salads and sides on more menus than the once ubiquitous kale salads.

This recipe was delicious and it would be very adaptable, for switching out veggies and types of meat, or no meat at all. I enjoyed the cabbage best of all due to its power crunch and color, with the peanuts coming in close second. This called for thawed frozen edamame but I didn't feel like all that work. I think next time I'd add sliced sugar snap peas.

Mangia!

Thai Quinoa Salad with Steak

Adapted from Foodie Crush

1 pound thin boneless pork chops, cooked on stove top grill and sliced
1 cup quinoa

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and shredded

1 cucumber, chopped

6 green onions, chopped

1-2 cups shredded red cabbage

4 teaspoons fish sauce

3 limes, juiced

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon sesame oil

pinch of red pepper flakes

½ cup chopped peanuts

½ cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup chopped basil

Rinse the quinoa under cold water and cook in a medium saucepan according to package directions. Remove from pan and let cool.

While quinoa is cooking, cook the pork on a stovetop grill .

Add the quinoa, vegetables and chicken to a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the fish sauce, limes, sugar, vegetable oil, sesame oil and red pepper flakes until the sugar has dissolved. Taste for sweetness and for heat and add more to taste. Pour the dressing over the quinoa and vegetables and stir to combine. Sprinkle the cilantro, basil and peanuts over the salad and stir lightly. Serve or refrigerate for up to a day.

Orange Chicken - Fake National Chinese Fast Food Style!

Actually, I was hoping to replicate how the Crispy Orange Beef from Panda Inn (an independent in San Diego) used to make it, rather than the Orange Chicken at Panda Express, but they're no longer around and heaven knows how I'd get their actual recipe. I've never written to Bon Appetit to ask them to intervene on the subject, and it's just too late now, so get over it!

The Colonel loves Orange Chicken from Panda Express. I generally favor independent restaurants over chains and particularly when it comes to Chinese food, but the last time we had a craving, we had gone over to the County courthouse complex to get our license to get hitched, with the thought that we'd just hang out there and get in line to have the deed done. Turns out you have to line up at 4:30 PM to be served by a Justice of the Peace, and this was 10 AM, so we headed out to schedule the ceremony another day.

We decided to celebrate the procurement of the license with some Chinese and Freixenet, and there were not going to be many Chinese restaurants in our neighborhood open at 10 AM. We thought about Super Dragon where we had the yummy Peking Duck on Christmas in honor of Associate Justice Elena Kagan, but that wasn't going to work. So we ran by Panda Express.

I have been enjoying The Wok of Life blog and have a backlog of idea from them including Chinese BBQ pork and buns. This recipe turned out well enough but I tested the limits of The Colonel's heat tolerance with the chiles. I'd make it again but tone down the chiles in the recipe and have some more on the side for me.

Mangia!

Orange Chicken
Adapted from The Wok of Life

Ingredients

1 pound boneless chicken thighs, cut into chunks

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 ½ cup canola or vegetable oil for shallow frying the chicken

1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

6 dried red chili peppers

3 to 4 pieces dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel (optional, I used zest from a fresh orange)

2 star anise

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed into slurry with 2 tablespoons water

1 scallion sliced on an angle into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Toss the chicken in the sesame oil, white pepper, garlic powder, salt, and Shaoxing wine; set aside

for 20 minutes. Put the cornstarch in a shallow bowl, and heat the oil in a small pot until it reaches

350 degrees F. Dredge the chicken pieces in cornstarch and fry until golden. Transfer to a plate lined

with paper towel.

Heat a wok over medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the dried chili peppers, tangerine

peel, and star anise, and toast for about 20 seconds, being careful not to burn the aromatics. Add the

orange juice, chicken stock, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce.

Bring the sauce to a simmer and gradually add the cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly. When the

sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon (you don't have to use all of the slurry if the sauce is thick

enough), add the chicken and scallions. Toss quickly, and serve!