Want a Change - Lamb Chili with Puy Lentils

Hadn't ever thought about Lamb in a Chili but it is very good.
Instead of Beans...try The French Style Puy Lentils.  Slightly nutty and chewy.
Perfect

This amount probably would feed 8 people
You can either halve it or just freeze the extra.
Perfect to have on call

Oh and of course any leftovers...Make Pies - My Mantra
This came from The NY TImes Cooking site attributed to Pierre Franey
As they said, a nod to his French roots ...using Lamb and the little Puy Lentils
When you fry the Lamb there is a lot of excess fat, I would suggest that you drain most of that off

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 kg lean lamb, chops cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 cups finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded and chopped fine
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons chile powder
1 teaspoon crumbled fresh oregano, or 2 teaspoons dried
2 bay leaves
3 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth, fresh or canned
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup dried green lentils
Sour cream for garnishing
Limes for garnishing 

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot,
Add the meat.
Cook over medium-high heat for three or four minutes,
stirring with a heavy metal kitchen spoon to break up any lumps.
Add the onions, garlic, celery, red pepper, jalapeno pepper, cumin and chile powder, and stir to blend well.

Cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the oregano, bay leaves, tomatoes and chicken broth along with 1 cup water and salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Cook for 20 minutes.

Place the lentils in a saucepan with 3 cups of water, and salt to taste.
Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often. Drain.

Add the lentils to the meat mixture.
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Remove bay leaves.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, some grated cheese, coriander leaves and wedges of lime

Tick ✓ another Chili for the repertoire

Gorgeous Golden Syrup Pudding and Tacos at Grandmas-Kid Friendly Meals

It's Thursday and this is the first time I have had the kids around for 3 weeks.
We of course, have been in Rarotonga .
Joseph sent me an email, he has been cooking steamed puddings with his father.
Golden Syrup Steamed Pudding, what’s more
Great… dessert problem solved.
In my freezer, I had some Black Bean Chili, click here for the recipe which is delicious
So let's do tacos.
The beauty of Tacos is that they assemble themselves
Make their own choices.
The kids just loved this meal.

So to make the pudding
Joseph used the Chelsea Sugar Recipe from their Website.
This is enough for 4 individual puddings or 1 larger one
We used Dariole Molds

Ingredients
125g butter
1/2 cup Chelsea White Sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
Pinch salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened yoghurt
1/2 cup Chelsea Golden Syrup

Method
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well.
Add sifted flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add yoghurt and half the golden syrup and mix well.
Lightly grease a pudding bowl or in our case individual Dariole molds
Pour in enough of the remaining Golden Syrup to cover the bottom of the molds
Spoon the batter on top.
Cover with lightly greased foil and secure with string.
Place molds into large pan
Pour boiling water till halfway up the molds

Cover with lid
Bring water back to boil, then turn down to simmering
Boil gently for 40 minutes, adding extra boiling water if necessary
Remove molds carefully, and slide knife around pudding before turning out.
Serve warm with whipped cream

What lovely light pudding, soaked in Golden Syrup.
We served with a big dollop of Chantilly Cream.
(Cream whipped with sugar and vanilla).
Heaven.

The tacos were great
I wont give exact quantities, it is really up to you.
All depends on how many people or how much of each ingredient suits you

So you will need a box of Taco Shells
Then to serve with the Chili, I made a simple Avocado Salsa


1 ripe avocado,
1 tablespoon of finely chopped red onion,
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley,
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mash lightly with a fork, just enough to break the Avocado up

Had a stressful time whilst making the Avocado Salsa
The lid came off the black pepper grinder and black peppercorns went everywhere, including into the salsa. Very frustrating.

So all the Avo had to be scraped clear of any pepper and virtually, I had to start again.
No-one wants whole peppercorns in their salsa

A Quick Tomato Salsa
Chopped tomatoes,
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slurp of olive oil,
Several basil leaves, torn

I also mixed a 1/2 cup of unsweetened yogurt with a handful of chives and
The juice of half a lemon
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

A bowl Grated Cheese
And a bowl of Grated Carrot
A very easy meal and how healthy is that?
Joseph grating the Cheese

Miss Cleo was desperate to help
She picked the herbs for me.
She cleared the table

Then she cleaned it

But it all gets a bit much for her at times...

Yes once again I am the Leftover queen
One must use up the bits and pieces in the Fridge
There was some Chili, not quite enough for a full meal
1/2 an avocado
Some cooked potatoes
There was still some Yogurt left from the night before
and some fresh Herbs from my garden

How about Mexican Rostis
Rosti, Potato Cake is a Swiss dish but I thought would make a good carrier
for the leftovers

Fusion Food?
Yes I think so.

First grate the potato
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat some olive oil in a pan
Take a big handful of grated potato
Place into the hot pan
Squash into a flat cake
Turn the heat down to medium and cook the Potato Cake till golden
Turn onto a plate and slip back into the pan to cook the other side
When that side is golden slip onto a plate for serving

Meanwhile
Make a quick Avocado Salsa
Lightly mash the Avocado
Add 1/4 red onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 medium tomato de-seeded and finely sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dash hot sauce
(I used Chipotle Sauce, that I had in the fridge, but Tabasco would be fine)
Mix and set aside

In another bowl place
3 tablespoons unsweetened Yogurt
Juice 1/2 lemon2 tablespoons of chopped chives
Mix well and set aside

Heat the Chili and you are ready to assemble
Top the Rosti with the Chili

Yogurt
and finish off with the Avocado

Nice glass of wine and Friday dinner sorted

Black Bean Chili - Feeding a Crowd - Thank you Bobby Flay

Bobby Flay, King of South Western Cuisine, is the inspiration for this Chili Dish
It was son-in-law Chris's birthday

and there was a crowd. What better to feed many people.
This delicious Chili, is served with Toasted Cumin Crème Fraiche and an Avocado Relish.
I served it with rice.
I also added frozen corn, it seems to me, that one should have corn, in this kind of Chili
There was enough for the meal that night and enough leftovers to make Chili and Rice Pies

and then plenty more to freeze. (This made a Taco meal for the Grandkids)
So so tasty and so so economical.
This is his recipe in entirety, which includes Chili Powders that I couldn’t find here in New Zealand, so I just used the Chili Powder available. BUT if you can buy his Chili please use it

For the Chili
1/4 cup olive oil
1 kilo minced beef,
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon pasilla chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 bottle dark beer
5 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-sodium or water
1 can chopped tomatoes, drained and pureed
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper puree
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups cooked or canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Handful of chopped Coriander leaves

Directions

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat.
Season the beef with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned on all sides.
Transfer the meat to a plate and remove all but 3 tablespoons of the fat from the pan.

Add the onions to the pan and cook until soft.
Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the ancho powder, pasilla powder, and cumin and cook an additional 2 minutes.
Add the beer and cook until completely reduced.
Return the beef to the pot,
Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, chipotle puree, and honey, and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add the beans, the corn and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat, add the lime juice, coriander and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a dollop of Toasted Cumin Crème Fraiche and Avocado Relish.

Toasted Cumin Crème Fraiche


1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 cup creme fraiche
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the cumin in a small sauté pan over medium heat.
Toast until lightly golden brown.
Place in a small bowl.
Stir in the crème fraiche and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Avocado Relish:


2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, finely diced
Lime juice
Chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper

Our friend Justine would have happily eaten the Avocado Relish as is.

Vodka, Chili, Beetroot - More Homemade amd Homegrown Treats

Its been a bit busy.
I was inspired to make this Chicken and White Bean Chili from Giada de Laurentiis
My daughter Katie is allergic to products from the nightshade family so this Chili
will work for her and nice change to have white chili instead of a red one.
I made some changes mainly because I was missing some ingredients. It still worked
I cooked for my grandchildren. They filled their burritos with the chili, grated cheese, carrot, lettuce and loved it

I had chicken breasts and poached them,
This is the most simple way to do this,

Bring some chicken stock to the boil
For extra flavour throw in an chopped onion, a chopped carrot and some fresh herbs
Parsley, rosemary, oregano perhaps
Simmer for 10 minutes to extract the flavour from the vege

Add chicken breasts
Bring back to the boil.
Simmer about 2 minutes
Turn off the heat
Cover and leave at least 30 minutes.

Guaranteed moist, flavourful, chicken
Cook and shred ready for the chili.
Reserve the stock for the chili
I also added a chopped red pepper with the onions
but for the nightshade intolerant leave that out.
So here we go

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 chicken breasts (Poached as above)
* 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
* 2 tablespoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 1 450gms cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 bunch (about 1 pound) Swiss chard, stems removed,
   leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces (optional
* 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
* 2 cups reserved chicken stock
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven,
Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Season with 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder.
Cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes
Stir the flour into the mixture.
Cook a little longer to cook out the flour
Add the beans, Swiss chard, corn, and chicken stock.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits
that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Simmer for 15 minutes
Add shredded chicken simmer another 15 minutes
until the liquid has reduced by about half
and the chili has thickened.

Add the red pepper flakes and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the chili into serving bowls.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley
Or  turn into burritos or tacos perhaps.

Excellent.


Chris loves to garden and grow fresh vegetables
Yum
This year he has experimented with white beetroot as well as the traditional red.
I made this little salad
Red beet, white beet and asparagus.
Delicious and healthy...whats more

Simmer the beetroot till fork tender
Simmer the asparagus to your liking
Peel the beets and cut into chunks
Ditto with the asparagus.

Season with sea salt and pepper
Drizzle a good olive oil and some lemon juice.
I guarantee it won't last long

Now I am putting some Vodka down for Christmas Day
Did some shopping at Duty Free 
Michael Chiarelli has this recipe it looks great
It is currently fermenting

3 bags frozen Cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Peel of 4 oranges
2 large bottle Vodka
Put Cranberries, sugar and vanilla bean into pot and over medium heat cook gently till some of the berries pop their skins
Cool

Meanwhile Put the orange peel and vodka into a mason jar or something similar
Add cooled cranberries
Stir
Put lid on and leave for at least a week

I believe you are not allowed to touch it till it is done. It is getting darker I am desperate to smell and taste it.
Bring on Christmas Day.

Gilli's Chilli and Rice Casserole - In honour of Mr Obama

Wednesday 21st January 2009 NZ Time
Today is the start of a new age - The Barack Obama Age.
This morning our time, he was inaugurated as 44th President of the US of A
I listened to the ceremony on my little transistor radio very early this morning.
The reception is less than memorable and most the time I have to hold the little radio in the air.
But it was worth it. His speech was stunning.
I took this shot around 7am, I thought it was worth recording.
What a beautiful day…what a good start to this new age.

Luckily for us we are tied up with Silverado and Geoff has My Sky and he recorded the ceremony, so we spent the morning watching this momentous occasion.
How is that…here we are in Whangaroa Harbour, on the other side of the world…on a boat… through the wonders of technology able to watch this world event

We were blown away with this charismatic man – if anyone can get the people going again in this global situation he will I’m sure.
What an orator.
I love the fact that he included 2 lines from this song written for Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger’s 1936 movie “Swing time”
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern

"Pick yourself up
Dust yourself off"

I was inspired to sing
"Let’s start all over again"

Such a great sentiment. Go Obama
Here is our future
Isn't that fabulous?
But onto food I made a good dish yesterday.
As a starter we were lucky enough to have a beautiful whole snapper grilled
Courtesy of Laurian off Silverado
It was slashed, covered in coriander, parsley, salt, pepper and lemon, a touch of garlic some olive oil
It was fabulous but would you believe that I didn’t take a shot of any of the glorious food.
Smack my hand.
Anyway we followed it with the My Chilli
Really simple.
I like to use tinned Mexican style beans all prepared for you but I do add some spices of my own and of course tinned tomatoes

500 gms mince
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili flakes

1 more tablespoons olive oil
1 onion sliced
1 small carrot chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
1 tin Mexican beans
1 tin cherry tomatoes in juice

First
Brown the mince in olive oil
Season with spices
Cook for a couple of minutes
Remove from pan set aside

Saute onion, garlic and carrot till soft
Add back the mince
Plus beans and tomatoes.

Check seasoning and adjust if necessary
If the beans are not hot enough some more chilli flakes would be good.

Cook gently for about 30 minutes
This improves on hanging about but you can eat it straight away.

Serve with Steamed rice mixed with fresh coriander leaves
Pop some sour cream and extra coriander leaves on the top

Excellent.

Now we had left overs and I forgot to put the leftover rice in the fridge.
Sat on top of the stove all night.
Bit worried that I might poison us, (a bit like Ruth Reichl’s mother!)
so I decided I should turn these leftovers into
A Chilli Casserole
"Gilli's Chilli and Rice Casserole"
Baked in the oven that will kill any stray bacteria.

So as this kind of dish a bit like the Famous American Tuna Casserole
I dedicate it to Mr Obama and his beautiful family
First I made a béchamel sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups milk

3 tablespoons grated cheese

Left over rice and chili
Extra grated cheese and 2 tablespoons fresh coriander
1 tablespoon Panko breadcrumbs

Make the roux
Add milk and cook till thickened
Add cheese
Season
Add rice and chili
Mix well
Into casserole dish and top with Grated cheese and coriander and the Panko breadcrumbs.

Bake medium hot oven about 30 minutes

This was fabulous we greedily ate it all, we should have shared it, but it was too good.

So in the words of Dorothy Fields

"Nothing's impossible I have found,
For when my chin is on the ground,
I pick myself up,
Dust myself off,
Start All over again."