Some People Too Hot for Chili???

So far I have only one recipe being sent my way. Come on people, there's some yummy bbq sauce up for grabs..... (I ship internationally!!!)

Chilly Chilly..... Chili

It's getting closer to that time of year.

What time of year, I hear you ask?

CHILI TIME!!

Last winter I took part in a chili cook-off and came in last. True, there were only 4 or 5 entries, but still, last is LAST. And I know why; I used tinned tomatoes and tinned tomato juice. Very processed tasting, very salty and very acidic. In contrast, the winner of last years cook-off, had a more subtle flavour and a variety of textures.

On a side note: Kyle, the cook-off host, made some of 'the worlds hottest chili' which was so hot it literally blistered my face. I sweated and the sweat left welts!!!!

This year, I am going to experiment from scratch!

So we all know that there are some staples found in chili; beef, tomato, beans etc, but I intend to put together a concoction that will take all that stuff and make it better.

Luckily we have a small crock pot (a slow cooker for my european readers) that we have used in the past to make queso dip. I'll be able to use that to try out combining flavours over a low heat for long hours without making gallons of the stuff and forcing myself to eat it for 2 weeks straight.

We had a lovely cold snap over the weekend, visions of lighting the fire, warming some apple cider and eating bowls of chili sprung to mind. Yet today was back to around 90F (32 degrees Celsius) and so it kind of thwarted my drive to stop by the shop on my way home and buy my first set of ingredients. The rest of the week looks pretty much the same, hot and muggy with thunderstorms, so I'm going to use the time to 'think' about possible ingredients.

So I ask you, my readers, do you have any suggestions for interesting chili ingredients? If I use any of your suggestions I shall make sure to call attention to it when I use it!!!!

Ooooh, here's an additional great idea: Send me YOUR recipe for chili!! I shall cook and blog about the first 5 recipes and my favourite will WIN 2 bottles of Famous Daves BBQ Sauce

Your recipes can be any kind of variety of chili; vegetarian, chicken, bean free.... whatever!!! Just get the recipes to me (njbarcomb@gmail.com) by October 4th for a chance to win some yummy bbq sauce, perfect for this time of year to jazz up your meats!

Also, you don't have to be a follower of this blog to enter, the more the merrier, but remember, only the first 5 will be cooked and blogged :)

I won't use YOUR recipes in any cook-off this year, it'll just be something fun to try, blog about and give a prize :)

Who says there has to be meat in a burger?

As the fall season approaches it's been so nice to have the windows open throughout the house. I love the smell of an aired house, it reminds me of home.

Matt has some good news, he was offered and accepted a new job!! He is going to be working for Pillar Technology Group LLC as an agile coach and delivery lead (whatever that means!) I thought he was going into the postal service or gynecology, but no, it's software delivery. So for the next six months he'll be flying each week to South Bend, Indiana and coming home for the weekends. After that he'll be flying to wherever the next customer is located. He's super excited about it, looking forward to doing some of the work he has a huge interest in. I'm really proud of him for the way he went about looking for a new job once he decided he was through with Union Pacific.

So in just under two weeks I'll have to find way of cooking well for one person during the week.

Tonight I made portobello mushroom burgers with a tomato pepper salad and cantaloupe.

I love portobello burgers! I just add some water (about 3 shot glasses worth) and oil to a pan, heat it up and then add the whole mushrooms. I let them 'steam' for about 3-4 minutes each side and then serve. They are always so tender and juicy and get a really good flavour from being cooked. I served the burger with sauteed red onions, sliced avocado and a sprinkling of feta cheese. Yummy!

The salad was a quick throw together of tomatoes, yellow onion and yellow bell pepper, a little bit of olive oil and some hot salsa seasoning. It was fresh, tangy, crunchy and contrasted with the tenderness of the portobello burger.

For dessert we had some fresh cantaloupe melon. Mmmmmmm sticky face!

Matt has a conference tomorrow, so I'll be cooking something just for me. It'll most likely have mushroom in it as I have leftovers.

And, as always, don't forget to kiss your cook!

Too many cooks? I don't think so!

Well since my last entry both Matt and I have cooked a meal. Actually, Matt should have cooked 2 meals, but the first time he went to the store and came back with ready to eat chinese food. Hmmmm, not exactly cooking if you just have to open your fork!!

I had some left over basil from the salsa I made last week and so I used it to make some Summer chicken and basil stew.

I had to alter the recipe a bit. Instead of using 4 chicken thighs I used 1 chicken breast and 2 pork chops as I had them in the freezer and wanted to get rid of them.

It was a simple recipe and the comments from other cooks on the website said it was yummy! It was a bit of a disappointment to be honest.

The flavour was good, but it was missing 'something'. Matt suggested that some big beefy portobello mushrooms would have been good with it and I agree. I don't think I'll cook it again.

Then yesterday I stayed late at school to study for my organic chemistry test and so I emailed Matt asking him to be in charge of getting dinner. Luckily he remember his scolding when last time he returned with the chinese food, so this time when I got home there were 4 pots going on the stove. He made a lovely spaghetti dish with a creamy white wine sauce, scallops, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes. Then at the table we sprinkled a little crumbled gorgonzola cheese on it. It was delicious!!!!! I could have easily had seconds, but I'm trying to stop that.

I did eat again later though; we have been watching the 1980s A team and so I had some large pretzel sticks while also pretending to be hannibal.

Penny was very confused and spent the whole time sitting on my lap wondering why food was hanging out of my mouth for such a long time!!