Chili de Jillian

If you ask someone what "makes" chili, you are likely to get almost as many answers as people you ask. The original chili con carne was simply a stew that included exactly that: chili peppers and meat. In some places, beans were added to limit the need for expensive meat. In other places, tomatoes or tomato sauce were added. A specific bunch of herbs and spices often added to chili became known as chili pepper in the U.S. In Texas, chili is served with no beans or vegetables at all, while a mostly meat and tomato chili is poured over spaghetti in Chicago.

But what exactly is chili to me? This is the "chili" that I make for my little family, and whether you agree that it is real chili or not is up to you. I just have not found a better name for it than "beans with meat, vegetables, and assorted hot chili peppers." Either way, it is still pretty tasty! Even my two year old likes it, spiciness and all. (By omitting the "optional" ingredients, you can make a pretty good vegetarian chili as well.)

Chili de Jillian

Ingredients

Chili
3-4 cups dry pinto beans
2 jalepenos, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes, or two large tomatoes diced
1 13 oz. can mushrooms, sliced or diced, or a cup of diced button mushrooms
1 large onion, diced
1 can corn or half a bag of frozen corn (omit if serving chili over polenta)
Either 3/4 diced polska kielbasa or a cup of cooked ground beef (optional)
Approx. 2-3 tablespoons oregano
Approx. 2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Polenta
1 cup corn grits
4 cups water
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Procedure

1. Either soak dry beans overnight or simmer for an hour, then drain. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook beans until tender. If you are going to use salt at all, don't add any until your chili is almost done or else you might oversalt it.

2. Add everything else and simmer until the soupy part of the chili thickens and everything is cooked.

3. While chili is stewing, boil four cups water in separate pot. Add corn grits to boiling water and stir until mixture becomes quite thick. Remove from heat, pouring into a bowl and let cool.

4. Serve chili over cooled polenta. For best flavor, let the flavors mix in the refrigerator for a day before reheating and serving.

Note: This recipe makes quite a large pot of chili, so use a stock pot if you have one. We can usually eat this for three days, or freeze it for later. We usually get a huge bag of dried pinto beans at Costco for ten bucks every several months, so this can be a great penny-pincher recipe.

Easy Thai Coconut Soup by Our Best Bites

I'm subscribed to this great cooking blog called Our Best Bites, and they have some pretty fun recipes sometimes. Their latest recipe is called, "Quick and Easy Thai Coconut Soup." I really love Thai food, so this recipe sounds great, and it's not as crazy as Thai recipes usually are. The sad thing is that even though it's "quick and easy," I still don't have ginger, lime, or jalapenos just lying around, to say nothing of rotisserie chickens. Oh, and we're fresh out of Ramen. Bleh. But maybe I'll still give it whirl sometime later when I can spare five bucks on dinner. :)

Easy Thai Coconut Soup
Recipe by Ourbestbites.com

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh minced ginger, or 1 ½ teaspoons ground dry ginger
2 14.5-ounce cans chicken broth
1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk or light coconut  milk (about —cups)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 packages ramen noodes (discard seasoning packet)
optional: ¾ cup sliced mushrooms
1 ½ tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 cup diced or shredded cooked chicken
toppings:  additional chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, and lime wedges

Procedure:
1. Heat medium sized pot to medium-high heat on stove top.  Add olive oil, jalapeno, and ginger (if using fresh.)  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until jalapeno and ginger are softened and fragrant.  If using ground ginger, add now and stir.

2. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, and salt and increase heat to bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and add noodles (note: you will discard seasoning packet that comes with noodles.)  Simmer 3-5 minutes, until noodles are softened.

3. If using mushrooms, add them in the final 2-3 minutes of cooking the noodles.  Add chicken and simmer for about 30 seconds to heat through.

4. Remove pot from heat and stir in lime juice, chicken, and cilantro.   Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with additional chopped cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges if desired.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

Note #1:  This type of noodle absorbs liquid exceptionally fast, so you should serve the soup immediately.  If you know you need to keep the soup warm for a while before serving, wait to add the noodles until a few minutes before you’re ready to serve.

Note #2: "Light coconut milk works great, and remember you can buy coconut milk in cartons by the dairy milk as well, and it’s much cheaper per ounce there than it is for a can.  At my store it was .05 cents per ounce, which would make the equivalent can about .67 cents.  Generally a can of coconut milk $2- $3 a can so the carton is a great deal comparatively.  The cartons are lower in calories and fat and have a consistency similar to the light coconut milk (which is thinner than full fat coconut milk).  For some recipes I prefer canned coconut milk, but for this soup, either will work just fine."