All-American Chili

I made a big old pot of chili over the weekend and have been having it for lunch this week. Love it! I love it with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, crescent rolls, etc. I love chili! Any-who, no pic for this one, I mean chili is chili, but I wanted to share the recipe anyway. I changed a few minor things, so below is my version of the recipe from Cooking Light. This didn't have quite enough heat for us, so another jalapeño or some other sort of heat will be added the next time I make this.

6 oz. pork sausage

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped red/orange/yellow bell pepper

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb. ground sirloin

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

2 tbsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. ground cumin

3 tbsp. tomato paste (or 1.5 tbsp of the double concentrated stuff in a tube)

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

2 bay leaves

1-1/4 cups beer

2 (28-oz.) cans whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped

1 (15-oz.) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained

1/2 cup shredded cheese

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onion and the next 4 ingredients (onion through jalapeño) to pan; cook 8 minutes or until sausage and beef are browned, stirring to crumble.

Add chili powder and the next 7 ingredients (chili powder through bay leaves), and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in beer, tomatoes and beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaves. Sprinkle each serving with cheese (and your other favorite toppings) and enjoy!

Blueberry Cream Muffins with Streusel Topping

Jim loves blueberry muffins and since I was in the mood to bake the other day, I decided to pick up some fresh blueberries and make muffins. I found this lovely recipe that adds sour cream to the mix and had to try it! I made a few slight changes/additions so below is what I did. Enjoy!

4 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

zest of one lemon

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups sour cream

2 cups blueberries, divided

For streusel:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. white sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 tbsp. cold butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Gradually add sugars while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, salt and baking soda.

Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in 1-1/2 cups of the blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Place remaining blueberries on top of muffins and press them in slightly.

For the topping, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Sprinkle on top of muffins before baking.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

I went to a BBQ/Housewarming party yesterday and decided to take these tasty little treats. For one, they're gluten free which makes them perfect for people on a gluten free diet, and two, they're really easy to make! And quite delicious I might add. I decided to scale the recipe up to 24 servings so below are the following measurements I used. I also decided to pulverize the sugar in a food processor to make it really fine. I then put the chocolate chips in the food processor and made them almost like chocolate crumbs. Mmmmmmmmm, chocolate in every bite.

4 egg whites
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup and 2 tbsp. and 1 tsp. white sugar
1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup and 3 tbsp. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla. Beat until the whites form soft peaks. Slowly add sugar; beat until stiff peaks form and mixture becomes glossy. Fold in cocoa and chocolate chips.

Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls on to a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Spice-Rubbed Salmon

Another quick and easy salmon recipe. I don't have any creative chit-chat to add so onto the recipe...

2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. packed brown sugar
4 5-oz. skinless salmon fillets (we only had 2)
1 small cabbage, cut in 6 wedges (I used half a head and cut it into 4 wedges)
2 to 3 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 large carrot (I used baby carrots)
Orange wedges

In small bowl mix chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Rub spice mixture on salmon. Brush cabbage wedges with 1 tablespoon of the oil.

On charcoal grill (we used gas), place salmon and cabbage on greased rack of uncovered grill, directly over medium coals. Grill salmon 4 to 6 minutes for each half-inch of thickness or until it flakes when tested with a fork, turning once halfway through cooking time. Grill cabbage 6 to 8 minutes, turning once.

Meanwhile, peel carrot and cut in wide strips. Remove fish and cabbage from grill. Coarsely cut cabbage; combine with carrot and 1 to 2 tablespoons remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with oranges. I also added some homegrown tomatoes to my plate. So good!

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Once again I was in a baking mood, but I didn't want anything really super sweet. We had a bunch of blueberries and I came across this recipe on the Food Network and thought it was perfect. It's really good too!

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Pork Tenderloin in Bourbon

Jim found this recipe for the pork loin we had in our freezer. He let it marinate overnight and then cooked it on the grill. I know the picture doesn't look like much, but it was pretty good. And then we used the leftovers for pork tacos later in the week.

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, halved
3 pounds pork tenderloin

Mix together soy sauce, bourbon, brown sugar, and garlic. Pour over pork, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, turning occasionally. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Remove pork from marinade, and place on rack of shallow roasting pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F/71 degrees C.