Schezwan Chili

Scrub four delicata squash. Halve and de-seed. You can toast the seeds with a bit of salt and oil, they are quite tasty. Slice thinly and add to the crockpot.

Brown one pound of meat, ground beef, lamb, goat are all tasty options.

Add the browned meet into the crock pot and drizzle with 2 tbls sesame seed oil, 2 tbls rice wine vinegar, 3 tbls brown sugar, 2 tbls soy sauce, 1 tbls red pepper flakes, 1/2 tbls ground chili powder, 1 oz fresh ginger slivered, 12 oz homemade garlic tomato paste, one can well washed chickpeas, 4 cloves of crushed garlic, and 1 large onion chopped. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Orange Lanterns and Candied Orange-Chili Walnuts

In the beginning of October, I came across this photo circulating the Organic boards on Facebook and in Pintrest.

Here you can see the end product looks beautiful. I thought these would be perfect centerpieces for my November International Dinner on France.

But how do you get from step 1 to 3? What to do with all of the juice and pulp? I juiced my oranges using a glass juicer and then scraped the insides out smoothly, dumping the pith and pulp into a glass measuring cup.

I squeezed the extra juice from the mass using the back of a spoon. I used an aluminum pipe about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and used the sharp end to cut two holes, one in each half, so the it would sit flat on the plate and so the heat of the candle would not burn the fruit's skin.

With future lanterns I'll make the top hole larger as they started to scorch after an hour, as the skin dried out.

Here is the aftermath. A delectable three course supper completely decimated. Notice the missing caps, but people didn't mind and rather enjoyed the brighter light.


The juice ended up being used to make the slightly spicy candied orange-chili walnuts.



The recipe: 2 oranges worth of juice, 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 tbls olive oil, 2 tsp red pepper flakes, 8 oz halved walnuts.

Set out a well oiled cookie sheet.

On high heat, cook the nuts in the mix until the liquid thickens and bubbles and darkens, using a lightly oiled silicon scraper to stir the nuts frequently. Scrape everything evenly onto the cookie sheet, keeping the nuts separated. Once cooled, use a metal spatula to remove the nuts and hard candied caramel. It will have the consistency of peanut brittle. You can store it in a zippered storage bag.

Essex St. Pub - Bringing the Kitchen back to Life

The kitchen currently offers 14 traditional pub styled dishes. We tried five of the options, washing everything down with pints of local Rusty Chain and Irish Guinness.

We tried the grilled three cheese with tomato, made with cheddar, pepper jack, and Land o' Lakes American on Texas toast.

Mackies Grand Champion JD Chili is slow simmered and served with pepper jack cheese.   A mild, well flavored,  hearty red bean, beef, and tomato based chili, it was served with butter and toast.

The Evil Rufus key bomb is a sliced hot Mineo & Sapio Italian sausage link with peppers and onions in a spicy marinara with melted mozzarella cheese  and tucked in a warm Lugi hoagie roll. This was outstanding, a flash of flavor, scent, and color.       

The smoked bourbon surfer barbeque chicken wings were rubbed then smoked then dry fried and then coated with house made bourbon surfer barbeque sauce. The meat was falling off the bone, with the right blend of wet and sticky and not too much sauce. They were very, very good!

The wings came with a small salad with a bit of basil lemon oil. It was refreshing, like a palate cleanser.

Lastly, a P.L.T. This is a grilled pastrami, lettuce, tomato, with chipotle mayo on an XL Lugi's sliced and toasted sandwich. The pastrami is made in house. Seasoned and smoked, it's rich flavor makes the most moist and delicious sandwich I've had in a long time.

We came in just as the kitchen was starting up, catching Bob and Mitch off guard with our extra large order. When they asked how many in the party and heard only two, Bob peeked out the half door with his brows peaked in surprise. Barbara handled the bar and served baskets of hot food and cold beer with a sassy smile and quick wit. Mitch was prepping the juicy roast beef while we were there. Bob, the pub's head chef, was originally a soux chef from Mothers and jumped at the opportunity to run this new kitchen. He was prepping the dishes and smoking the chicken wings.

Bob had chili bubbling, burgers smoking, and pastrami grilling when I came in the kitchen to visit and catch them in action. The in house smoker uses hickory chips, no artificial liquid flavor here! All of the produce is locally sourced, as are the breads, which come from Luigi's Bakery.

When I spoke with owner Macky, he talked about how much work went into bringing the pub, from basement to attic, back to life.

With a great deal of pride shining on his face, he shared his vision of creating an indoor garden on the third floor to grow herbs and lettuces and more to be added to the dishes and how each step and the amazing feedback from the community has just reinforced how right it was in deciding to bring back the kitchen. 

I love this pub. It's close to home, serves a good drink at a fair price, and now with the kitchen up and running, a fine plate of food at an equally fair price. It has me looking for an excuse to visit more frequently. 

White Chicken Sausage Chili with Pureed Leek and Japanese Sweet Potato in a Bread Bowl

In a crock-pot, add two large cans of pinto and cannelloni beans. Add in 1 cup of water, 3 tbls of white pepper and freshly cracked or ground pepper, 1 tbls salt, 1 tbls powdered garlic, 3 tsp dry mustard, and 3 tbls of minced parsley. Pan fry 5 Spar's chicken sausages (I recommend the Apple, Bacon, Chive and Herb Sausages). Slice and add to the chili and cook for 4 hours.

Spray the bottoms of four oven safe bowls with olive oil spray. Divide pizza dough and shape into bowl shapes and fit over the bottoms of the containers, resting them onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Boil one medium sized sliced leek in 1 cup of water. Puree with a stick blender.

 Steam bake 1 Japanese Sweet Potato (Paper bag and microwave on the potato setting). Then slice and add to the leek puree.




Puree the sweet potato and then fill a pastry bag with the green creaminess and pipe onto your bowl, either on top or under the chili.

Five nice sized servings contain your day's recommended level of fiber and has been clinically shown to reduce blood sugar levels. Baked in its skin, 100 grams of sweet potato contains 90 calories with no cholesterol and minimal fat. Japanese sweet potatoes contain 11,509 micrograms of beta-carotene, which is especially important to the health of your eyes. An excellent source of vitamin A, sweet potatoes fulfil almost 12 times the daily amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine to maintain a low risk of chronic diseases. The vitamin C content in sweet potatoes is comparable to grapefruit and supplies 30 percent DV, or daily value.

One medium Japanese sweet potato contains 4 percent DV for calcium and iron and contains significant amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Sweet potatoes contain B vitamins -- thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate and B-6. In addition, Japanese sweet potatoes contain essential amino acids.

To learn another way to make this awesome fall vegetable go to this link.

Day 14 - Chili and McKenzie's Black Cherry Hard Cider

 

Breakdown cost of this meal.

McKenzie's Black Cherry Hard Cider $6.99
Cayuga Pure Organics Beans $3.99
Sorrento Cheese Mozzarella $2.99
Tomatoes $4.87
Mixed herbs and spices
Byrne Dairy Sour Cream $1.99
23 Meatballs (broken down) made at the beginning of the challenge

Total cost for 4 servings = $20.83

Cajun One Dish Dinner

Jasmine or Basmati rice– 1 cup

Curly Purple kale – ½ head
Red onion – 1, minced
Potato – 1, cubed
1 can of well washed beans

2 sticks of Chorizo or Andouille Sausage sliced 

Ginger – 1 inch, minced
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Green chilli – 2, slivered
Red pepper flakes – 1 tsp
Olive oil - 3 tsp

Cilantro - 1 tbls minced

Tempering
Olive Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Cinnamon – 1 inch
Cloves – 2
Cardamom – 2
Bay leaf – 1
Star Anise – 1

Cook rice with 2 cups of water. Fluff and set aside to cool.

In a large pan, fry up the beans in 3 tsp of olive oil. Set beans aside in a bowl.


Heat another tbls of oil and add spices for tempering given in the above said order. When the spices get slightly toasty, add onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, potatoes, and sausages (Chorizo from Avenue Boys Smokehouse). Sauté until onions and potatoes are soft. Now add the red pepper flakes, and salt. Remove bay leaf and star anise. Add thinly sliced kale, cover, and shut off the burner. Let steam finished for five minutes. Add beans and stir well and then dish out on top of rice.

Italian Lamb Ragu - Crockpot

This dish is quintessential Italian Comfort Food! It is for days when you are too tired to cook, and when it's too hot to turn on an oven but you need a warm meal to fill your belly. The flavors are bold and help your body, heart, and soul feel rested. This is perfect from Early Spring to Early Fall.

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil or sunflower oil

2 pounds lamb meat

1 can chopped tomatoes

3 bay leaves

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 dried chili peppers, crushed

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)

4 tbls of a mix of fresh or dried oregano, basil, and sage

Salt and black pepper

Add all of the ingredients into a large crock pot. Set on high and allow to cook for 2 hours. Remove the bay leaves. Make 1 lb of your favorite pasta and dish as you please; I used whole wheat rotini.