Beefy Chunky Vegetable and Bean Chili

Aside from a very occasional grass-Today's chili will be a big pot for several people I'm cooking for, and me. beef  inburger, the only thing I use ground meat for is meat loaf. For that I use beef, lamb, venison, elk, chicken, turkey. . .whatever I can find that looks good and healthy. Usually a mix of at least 2 of the above. I loosely follow my mom's meatloaf recipe, and it always tastes great. I'm planning to make more of those this winter, so those recipes will be appearing here.

This big pot is for several people I was cooking for, as well as for me. I've finally discovered that my beef-of-choice for chili is beef stew meat. It always turns out great whereas a roast or steak can be tough. Since the pieces are usually about 1¼" cubes, I cut each one into quarters. This way, in the browning-deglazing process, they get well browned, tender and develop really good flavor.

While the meat is browning in single source EVOO, chop the vegetables. Today I used 2c celery, 1 big onion, 1 lg. green pepper, 3 mini red peppers and the celery tops will go in during the last 5 minutes of cooking time.

Brown the meat until it sizzles, then add liquid and simmer again until it sizzles. Do this 3 or 4 times to bring out all the great flavor of good quality meat. Season it lightly, during the last browning.

To deglaze the pot, you can use water, cooking sherry, Vodka or beer. Beer is the best with red meats. I no longer drink alcohol, but love the way certain ones interact with animal protein to enhance the flavor. Most of the alcohol evaporates by the end of the cooking process.

This time, I used water, then - since I didn't have beer - I poured in a splash Marsala cooking wine at the end. If you take the time to do this browning-deglazing with a liquid, you'll be surprised at how little seasonings you need to add!

Pour in the 28oz. can of stewed tomatoes, and the smaller can of petite diced tomatoes with all the juice. All the chopped vegetables along with a cup or two of water if needed, and a big spoonful of beef Better Than Bouillon. Simmer everything together on low-medium heat, covered, for about a half hour. Next add the drained-rinsed black and garbanzo beans along with the chili beans - but do NOT drain or rinse those. Just pour both cans right into the pot. If you like corn in your chili, now would be a good time to add a couple of cans of drained whole kernel corn (not creamed corn). Now the celery tops also go in the pot.

Simmer everything together another 10-15 minutes. Serve it now, or for best flavor, chill and reheat it several hours later.

I had a bowl with a double corn muffin I made to go with the potato corn chowder. This time I cheated and used a jiffy mix to which I added an extra egg, EVOO, 1t baking powder, 1/3c ground flax seed, 1 can drained corn and some quick cooking oats. . .Lin

Another Blended Tomato-Vegetable Soup

This turned out so well! I tasted it with and without the coconut milk, and it's great both ways.

Chop the celery and carrot and saute in Greek Kalamata extra virgin olive oil. When the aromas start to release, add 1 medium onion and lots of fresh garlic, chopped. Add the seasonings of your choice, I used black pepper, smokey paprika, garlic salt, a blend of ground-dried vegetable seasoning, from Costco, and some vegetable Better Than Bouillon.

Stir in the stewed and diced tomatoes. Rinse the can's with fresh, cold water and add 36oz. or so to the pot. Simmer everything, over low heat, for an hour or two. Blend with an immersion blender, then check the flavors. Add a little coconut sugar if too acidic and make any other adjustments to the seasonings. 

Let this cool a bit if you're adding the coconut milk. Just stir that in and reheat to a very low simmer. Serve with oyster crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich. The next day I made some stir-fry steak, potatoes and asparagus and served that in a bowl with a scoop of this soup over the top. That was also excellent! Like a chunky tomato-cream gravy. . .Lin

Roasted Spicy Tomato—Vegetable Soup

Scrub and rough cut the vegetables for roasting.

4 Roma tomatoes
3 mini bell peppers
3 red or Yukon Gold potatoes
6 big peeled garlic cloves
1 med.—lg. purple onion
4 carrots

Put this group of vegetables in a big bowl, drizzle with EVOO to coat everything then pour onto parchment paper lined baking sheets with edges. Roast at 375° until nicely browned.

After roasting, if possible, peel the skin off the tomatoes and peppers and throw that away. Transfer the roasted vegetables to the pot with the celery. 

3 ribs of celery

You'll want to keep the celery, and the other greens more fresh, so  those don't get roasted. Put the chopped-sliced celery in EVOO, in a 6 quart soup pot. and sauté a few minutes before adding the roasted vegetables. To this you'll add about 52oz. canned tomatoes:

1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes
1 28oz. can diced tomatoes (not shown)

Rinse the cans, adding about 28oz. of that water, then stir in the seasonings and coconut milk:

2T± vegetable Better Than Bouillon
1T± Lowry's Garlic Salt
1t± powdered rosemary
1t± powdered oregano
2t coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1 13.6oz. can coconut milk

Simmer this on low heat about 15 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender, then check the flavors. Blend in the following greens:

1/2 bunch of Italian parsley
celery tops
some fresh basil

Serve this with a dusting of fresh grated strong flavored cheese, and oyster crackers.

This will feed lots of hungry people. . .Lin

Smokey Goat Curry Stew

Ahhh, as always, I wish I had bought WAY more goat meat on my yearly trip to a favorite international market in The Cities.

Today I thawed 4# of these chops about halfway, then cut off as much of the outer fat and marbling as I could. I didn't buy smoked chops this time, they just didn't look as good as these. 

So, to fix this, I drizzled them with a good amount of EVOO, then seasoned with smoked sea salt, smoked Spanish paprika and the peppery, smokey, Arizona garlic chipotle seasoning. 

Roasted them for 40 minutes at 350° then turned the heat to 400° for an additional 20 minutes.

Chop, slice or 'chunk' the following vegetables:
4 med. carrots
2+c chopped celery
1 med. purple onion
2 big Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 head of green cabbage
1/2 big green pepper
2c cauliflower forets
5 big garlic cloves

5 bay leaves
14oz, - 28oz. canned diced tomatoes
48oz. vegetable broth
8-10oz. Thai curry sauce
2-3t mild curry powder
2-3t ground cumin
2T Better Than Bouillon - low sodium beef

I put the chopped vegetables in a 6-8 quart pot, drizzled them with EVOO and sautéed and sizzled them while stirring regularly, for several minutes. 

Add the next group of ingredients, and the roasted goat chops. Stir, then simmer covered for an hour or so until the carrots are cooked the way you like them and the meat is tender. Hopefully the meat will be tender. . .Goat is a challenge, but the flavor is great. Similar to venison and lamb. . .Lin

Another Tomato (vegetable) Bisque

I've discovered I really love bisques!

I was going to attempt a shrimp bisque today, but got sidetracked by all the vegetables I wanted to use, so I decided to wait on that for now. Today it's a 4 quart pot of tomato vegetable bisque.

• 3 stalks celery
• 2 big carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 3 colorful mini peppers
• 2T Moroccan EVOO

• 1t lemon pepper
• 1t fresh ground black pepper
• 2t Rosemary Seasoning *
• ~ or Italian seasoning
• 1T Chicken or Vegetable Soup Base
• 1T good quality dark balsamic vinegar

• 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 14.5oz can of stewed tomatoes

• 1c sour cream

Slice-chop all the vegetables into a 4 quart pot. Drizzle with the olive oil. Stir-saute' for about 10 minutes until they start to scent your kitchen and turn translucent. Add the seasoning group of ingredients and continue to stir for a few more minutes before adding the tomatoes and 2-4c water. Cover and simmer on low heat for another 20 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender. Cool for an hour, then stir in the sour cream. Serve topped with croutons, dill, sunflower seeds and a dab of sour cream. . .Lin