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Shortcut Szechuan-style Dry-fried Green Beans: vegan-friendly, popular with teens and adults alike

January 04, 2020

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Feeding 32 for Thanksgiving: Make Ahead Oven Dishes

December 06, 2019

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A Warm Bowl of Chili

December 27, 2021

When the weather turns cool, nothing is more satisfying than a nice bowl of chili. And a chili bar certainly makes for stress-free entertaining, accommodating vegan, carnivore and everyone in between! These four chili recipes -- chipotle black bean chili, white bean chicken chili, chipotle red and white chili with sausage, and a hearty vegetarian chili -- have become our go-to recipes over the decades They are simple, wholesome, delicious and adaptable.

Three of the four chili recipes below utilize canned beans as a shortcut. The fourth was the very first chili we tried making, and perhaps the most popular. With an Instant Pot, the whole world of interesting beans becomes available. We enjoy heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo, and have made most of the quick chilis also using dried beans. During the summer, feel free to add in any fresh peppers that you find!

A riff on Chipotle Black Bean Chili with fresh garden fennel fronds and pickled peppers

Toppings for chili are limited only by your imagination. Some of our favorites include:

•shredded cheese (sharp cheddar, jack, crumbled cojita)

•scallions

•cilantro

•avocado

•lime juice

•cooked chopped bacon

•chopped red or yellow onion

•Sriracha sauce

•Cholula sauce

•Sarasota Heat hot sauce

•Texas Pete hot sauce

•tortilla chips

•plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional: mix in a tsp of lime juice or ranch seasoning to taste)

Chipotle Red and White Chili with sausage and toppings

Vegetable Chili (Vegan except for optional toppings)

The chopped vegetables in this chili make for such hearty bites that no one ever notices that it is vegetarian, and it usually disappears first. If no one has dietary restrictions, we usually do not label it. More recently, we have noticed that if we do label it to accommodate our vegan friends, then some people do not let themselves have the chance to enjoy it. What a strange phenomenon.

Dried kidney beans are the base for this chili, but I recently made it with a blend of pinto beans and kidney beans to a nice visual effect. The array of vegetables was inspired by the Vegetarian Chili in Chili Madness by Jane Butel, but I use a different method of thickening the chili and a different set of seasonings.

Shortcut to the printable Love2Chow recipe.

Vegetable Chili using dried kidney and pinto beans

Love2Chow Vegetable Chili

2 1/2 cups dried kidney beans, soaked overnight in 2-3" of water to cover

2 Tbs olive oil

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

4 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs Penzey's Chili 9000

2 Tbs Penzey's Medium Hot Chili Powder

2 tsp salt (adjust down if using chili powder with salt in it)

Optional, crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano (preferably Mexican)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Up to 1 small can tomato paste

1 1/2 green or yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped

Toppings (see above, or step 4 for suggestions)

Soaking half a pound each of dried red kidney and pinto beans

1. In the morning, add more water to beans if necessary to keep them submerged. Test for softness. Drain and rinse when just tender, or they will start to fall apart during cooking. Transfer to a large, heavy saucepan with water to cover. Bring to boil over high head, then lower heat and continue boiling the beans, partially covered, until tender, about 1 h. Watch the water level carefully and add to keep beans in liquid.

OR add unsoaked beans to Instant Pot with 1 inch of water to cover. Cook at high pressure for 30 min in an Instant Pot, let sit for 20 min for natural release. (Cook 20 min if soaked overnight).

Mise on place for Vegetable Chili

2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic until translucent. Add celery, carrots, tomatoes, lemon juice, and all the spices. Cook, covered, until the vegetables are nearly tender, about 10-15 min. Add the bell peppers and cook another 10 min.

3. Add the beans and the water in which they cooked. Stir thoroughly and simmer for 30 min over low heat, adding tablespoons of either tomato paste or water as necessary to achieve desired texture, stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot.

This batch of Vegetable Chili was a bit soupier due to use of Instant Pot. Next time will use less water in Instant Pot, or reserve the cooking water and not add it all to the chili.

4. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with tortilla chips, chopped red onion, chopped scallions, avodaco slices, and lime to keep it vegan; add shredded cheddar and jack cheeses, plain yogurt spiked with lime juice or ranch seasoning for vegetarians. Add crumbled bacon or cooked sausage for the carnivores.

Vegetarian chili using red kidney and yellow-eyed beans from Rancho Gordo.

The next three chili recipes were modified from Superfast Suppers by Cooking Light magazine, which was published in 2002. I almost always substitute fresh garlic or onions, and it is pretty easy to use dried beans if you have time. See Love2Chow tips, below.

Chipotle Red & White Bean Chili Omit sausage for vegan.

This is one of my favorite quick chili recipes. It looks pretty, tastes great, and is simple to make. While it calls for crumbled sweet Italian sausage, I have also made it as a vegetarian chili. I had some fresh poblano chiles, cubanelle chiles and carrots from a friend's garden, which I added in with the the bell peppers, and served it with optional sausage on the side for toppings.

Shortcut to the printable recipe.

Chipotle Red & White Bean Chili with sausage

Chipotle Red & White Bean Chili. Serves 4, total time 20 min.

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 pound pork sausage (sweet Italian)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1-2 Tbs. Penzey's Bold Taco seasoning or 1 Tbs each Bold Taco (has salt) and Penzey's 9000 (no salt)

1 (14.5 oz) can Mexican style diced tomatoes, drained

1 (8 oz) can no-salt added tomato sauce

1 (15 oz) can no salt added red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (19 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, chopped, plus 2 tsp adobe sauce from can

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Toppings (see above, or step 4 for suggestions)

1. Cook onion, sausage and peppers, Drain and return to pan.

Sauteeing orange pepper and poblano chiles (instead of green) for this batch.

2. Add seasoning, tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, cannellini beans, and chipotle peppers

Our favorite seasonings for this chili

3. Bring to boil, cover and simmer at least 5 min.

Chipotle Red & White Chili right after mixing in beans

4. Serve with fresh cilantro, and optional corn bread, avocado, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Chipotle Red & White Chili with toppings

White Bean Chicken Chili

This is my husband's favorite chili to make and eat. Part of the beans are pureed to thicken this delightful creamy chili.

Shortcut to the printable recipe

White Bean Chicken Chili

White Bean Chicken Chili.

1 tsp olive oil

1 red onion (~150 g), chopped (~ 1 cup)

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 (15.5 oz) cans cannellini beans - do NOT drain

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup of no salt added chicken broth

1.5 tsp Penzey's Arizona Dreaming seasoning (or other salt-free Mexican seasoning)

1 cup (4 oz w) shredded pepper jack cheese

~1/4 tsp salt, to taste

1. Saute onion and garlic in hot oil in Dutch oven until translucent.

2. Mash one can of beans with a fork. Add both mashed and unmashed beans with their water and the next three ingredients to the pot. Bring to a booil and simmer 15-20 min.

3. Add cheese, stirring constantly, until melted. Salt to taste.

4. Serve with chopped fresh cilantro, chopped green onions, plain yogurt, salsa, or crushed tortilla chips.

Chipotle Black Bean Chili (Vegan except for optional toppings)

This is my husband's favorite chili to make and eat. Part of the beans are pureed to thicken this delightful creamy chili.

Shortcut to the printable recipe.

Chipotle Black Bean Chili

Chipotle Black Bean Chili (makes 6 2-cup servings).

2 tsp olive oil

10 oz (w) chopped onion

3 Tbs minced garlic

3 Tbs chili powder (Penzey's medium hot chili powder is salt-free)

2 canned chipotle chiles, minced, plus 1-2 Tbs. adobo sauce

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt or more to taste

4 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or 2 cups dried, precooked)

4 (14.5 oz) cans no salt added diced tomatoes with juice

1 (4.5 oz) cans chopped green chiles with juice

Toppings (See below)

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender about 2 min. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 min, stirring occasionally.

OR transfer sauteed onion and garlic to slow cooker, add remaining ingredients and slow cook for at least an hour. It can be kept warm and served out of the slow cooker.

A double recipe of black bean chili in slow cooker

Serve with toppings of choice (shredded cheddar, cilantro, scallions, onions, bacon bits, tortilla chips, hot sauce)

Freeze leftovers in 1 or 2 cup portions. As mentioned in Superfast Suppers, this can be used as a hamburger topper, or be incorporated into enchilada casseroles, turkey chili mac, chili pie with zucchini and corn under corn bread mix.

A triple recipe of Chipotle Black Bean Chili with toppings bar

🐾 For each 15 oz can of beans, I usually get about 1.3-1.5 cups of drained beans. Since dry beans swell about 3x, substitute 1/2 cup of dry for each 15 oz can. Or just make a bit of extra and measure out the beans after they are cooked.

🐾 Freeze cubed leftover chicken or turkey in 1 cup portions, to be pulled out when you feel like chicken chili.

🍃 When you open a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, be sure to freeze the extra peppers in an ice cube tray, with the sauce spooned on top. They usually thaw pretty quickly for chopping, or puree the whole thing and freeze tablespoons that can be added directly to the chili.

DID YOU TRY ANY OF THESE RECIPES? What is your favorite homemade chili?

Please post comments below or photos to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

Tag @love2chowblog and hashtag it #love2chow

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All Rights Reserved. Contact admin@love2chow.com for permissions.

https://www.love2chow.com/2021/12/a-warm-bowl-of-chili.html

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Love2Chow Szechuan-style Master Meat Mix

October 26, 2019

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Enjoying West Virginia Heritage Food at Lost Creek Farm

October 14, 2022

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Cookbooks

Riffing the Cauliflower Steak: Restaurant Cooking at Home

October 25, 2020

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Holiday Cooking Guide for Feeding a Crowd

December 31, 2019

Beginning with Thanksgiving, and extending through the winter holidays, this is a special time to gather together for many cultures around the world. However, it can also be stressful hosting and cooking for a larger number of people than usual. These time tested tips and recipes originate from my experiences hosting a 3-day Thanksgiving for over 30 people multiple times since 2002. I hope that other members of our family can add to these notes as the next generation in our family starts to enter the rotation...

Turkey, ham, goose, root vegetables, green beans, stuffing, gravy, leftovers, desserts. Not to mention breakfast and other meals for guests staying overnight. What a bewildering array of cooking activities to keep track of!

This year I became an "empty-nester" and started the Love2Chow blog to share my interests, recipes and experiences. It was my turn again to host a 70-year tradition in my husband's family of siblings and cousins getting together to feast and play games. The following blog posts summarize key steps for advance preparation, pulling it together for the main event, efficient use of leftovers for several post-event dishes, and breakfast for a crowd.

Post 1. Recipe for Mama's Chinese-Spiced Turkey

Before making a huge turkey for a big crowd, it can be helpful to try roasting a smaller preview turkey. Looking back through my Thanksgiving notebook, I realized that I have tried many techniques through the years for maintaining a tender breast while allowing the dark meat to fully cook. There is nothing worse than seeing red juices after slicing into your beautifully browned turkey. As described in the post, I think I finally figured it out. The technique is simple and has worked for a 13 pound turkey, a 22 pound turkey and an 8 pound goose so far.

My mother used to slow cook a much smaller 10-12 pound turkey for our family, following the method of Adele Davis in Let's Cook It Right. My previous turkeys used a modified version of that method. Using a probe, I found that the first 30 minutes at 350°F rapidly elevates the surface of the turkey to safe temperatures, and like sous vide, the bird can be held at its final temperature, turning up the oven to brown the skin for 1 h before serving. Although the roasting temperature is similar as that used for smoking meats, there are a lot of opinions concerning whether or not this style of cooking is safe. It does result in a fully cooked turkey with moist tender meat, with adequate time to render the fat from the skin so that it becomes wonderfully crispy during the final hour of roasting at 350°F.

However, slow roasting ties up the oven for extended periods of time. Moreover, modern turkey processing often involves injecting saline or broth into the meat, potentially introducing bacteria deeper than the surface. For these reasons, I experimented with methods to accelerate thigh/back cooking and keep breast temperatures lower while roasting in a 325°-350°F oven. This year, I discovered a surprisingly easy technique.

Click this link for:

•My family recipe for roast turkey dry-brined in a toasted salt, black peppercorn and szechuan peppercorn blend.

•My recipe for a smooth, silky pan gravy. By separating fat from juices and deglazed browned bits, you can calculate the minimum amount of fat and flour needed to properly thicken the gravy.

•The method for keeping breast temperatures lower than thigh during roasting, and temperature graphs from the 13 pound turkey.

•Making and storing turkey stock for future gravies or soups.

See Post 5 below for the Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe

Post 2. Oven-efficient make-ahead side dish preparations

One or two days before Thanksgiving is the perfect time to prepare for side dishes that are either reheated or finished shortly before serving. Cookies and desserts are also ideally made in advance, and many of these can be frozen for longer storage. Each of these dishes also works well as potluck dishes due to their make-ahead nature.

Click here for directions and links to recipes for:

•Brown Butter Bourbon Spice Cookies - a tender pillowy cookie balancing soothing caramel and vanilla notes with sweet, warm spices.

•Maple-Cinnamon glazed butternut squash - great on its own, or blended with roasted brussels sprouts, pecans and dried cranberries for a colorful warm or cold salad.

•Cider baked mashed sweet potatoes - a simple and satisfying Jeffersonian dish in which the sweet potatoes are cooked and mashed in apple cider.

•Blistered green beans to scale up the popular dry-fried Szechuan green beans - black vinegar, sesame oil and a unique sweet-salty pickled vegetable make these very popular. See the full recipe and updated method at this link. Expect a good number of beans to disappear early from snitching fingers...

•Remember to cook rice the day before if making rice stuffing!

See Post 5 below for the Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe.

Post 3. Pulling it all together after the Turkey is done (and maximizing efficient future yield from leftovers)

It can be hectic once the turkey comes out of the oven to get everything ready to serve. This post gives a step by step guide for getting the other casseroles reheated, finishing the stuffing, preserving the crispiness of perfectly roasted skin, making gravy (while someone else carves the turkey), and creating two batches of rich turkey stock to serve as the base for many future dishes.

Click here for:

•The temperature chart for the 22 pound turkey cooked using the technique of Post 1, and the supplementary breast cooked in a convection microwave (in convection oven mode).

•Sequence of events to reheat casseroles, carve turkey, make gravy and finish rice stuffing. See Post 1 above for the gravy recipe and Post 5 below for the Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe.

•Procedure to make Grade A and Grade B turkey stock, which begins with carving the turkey.

•Day after Turkey Noodle Soup

•Mennonite Turkey and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

•Turkey Pot Pie

•Turkey Enchiladas

•Why you should keep all the drippings fat separated from the juices in the freezer for future dips, breakfasts and pastry crusts.

Post 4. Two ingredient split pea soup using the leftover ham bone

The Friday after Thanksgiving, our family traditionally supplements the leftovers with a spiral-sliced Honey Baked ham. Any time you encounter a bone-in ham, make sure to grab the bone and pop it into the freezer. This particular Thanksgiving, I used the bone to make two dishes, a pre-Christmas version of the split pea soup with spinach and carrots, keeping 4 ounces of meat aside to make my rice stuffing for a Christmas goose.

Click here for the ham bone soup recipe

Post 5. Wild Rice stuffing with dry-cured ham, winter mushrooms and peas

This dressing is inspired by classic Chinese ingredients such as the famous Jinhua ham 金华火腿 (which I have never tasted, but understand is similar to Smithfield hams), green peas and the rich, earthy flavor and texture of rehydrated dried winter mushrooms (shiitakes). The dressing complements perfectly the spices on the roast turkey. This year I added roasted hazelnuts to high acclaim at Thanksgiving and pecans/cranberries for the Christmas goose.

Click here for the recipe, and a variation used with my first Christmas goose! The free range goose was tasty, and we used leftovers to make tasty barbecue ~~chicken~~ goose pizzas. However, the recipe still needs some work as the skin was not as crispy as I had hoped.

Post 6. Baked Challah French Toast with stone fruit jams

When you need to feed a crowd at breakfast time, this french toast casserole is not only extremely easy, but also looks impressive and tastes divine. The slices are warm and custardy on the bottom with crispy edges on top and go great with a variety of fresh berries.

Click here for the french toast recipe.

Post 7. Gluten-free breakfasts for a crowd: bacon, potatoes, coddled eggs and egg casseroles.

While there are a lot of gluten-free or low-carb breakfast casseroles starring eggs, varying amounts of milk products and often bacon or sausage, one of my favorite flavors is salsa with eggs. Click here for how-to guides for cooking brown sugar-glazed bacon and breakfast potatoes on a sheet pan, and baking cheesy coddled eggs with salsa in a muffin tin at the same time!

DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL HOLIDAY DISHES OR TRADITIONS TO SHARE?

Please post comments below or photos to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

Tag @love2chowblog and hashtag it #love2chow

https://www.love2chow.com/2019/12/holiday-cooking-guide-for-feeding-crowd.html?m=1

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Eight Treasures Sticky Rice Bundt Cake: Ringing in the Lunar New Year with Ba Bao Fan 八寶飯

February 10, 2022

We celebrated the first weekend in the Year of the Tiger with a dumpling wrapping party -- the first since the pandemic. It was great fun to get together with friends and family again. After enjoying all-you-can-eat pork-cabbage dumplings, gluten-free crystal dumplings, and various potluck sides, the evening was capped with this spectacular (and surprisingly easy) Instant Pot riff on a festive Chinese treat. Ba Bao Fan 八寶飯 literally translates to Eight Treasures Rice.

Instant Pot Bundt Pan Ba Bao Fan - a traditionally flavored, sweet sticky rice cake

Thanks to the pandemic, I had plenty of time for online cooking courses in the MasterClass series. These in turn gave me the confidence to try making a recipe for spring rolls that I had clipped and carried around with me for over 4 decades. Although I did not much care for the shrimp-snow pea filling because the soy sauce masked the delicate flavors of the main ingredients, I found myself making spring rolls over and over again, basing my seasonings on Grace Young's vegetable spring roll recipe in The Breath of a Wok. What I did learn from that old recipe was how simple it was to make spring roll wrappers. Can't get to the Asian Market for wrappers? No problem if you have flour, water and a pastry brush!

Among my more ambitious cooking endeavors was this beautiful, rich mushroom-topped celebration rice cake, based on a vegan recipe I found online by Yotam Ottolenghi. I had trouble finding some of the ingredients, so I adapted the recipe inspired by childhood memories of Ba Bao Fan 八寶飯. I also wanted to save time by figuring out how to make it using a Bundt pan that fit perfectly in my 6 quart Instant Pot. It was stunning to both eye and tongue!

A riff on Ba Bao Fan with 8 savory treasures, modified from Ottolenghi's Celebration Sticky Rice Cake

Interestingly, I learned that "Bundt" itself was a word invented by Dave Dalquist by adding a "t" to part of the German word bundkuchen. Although Google translate suggests it might mean anything from a Federation of Cakes to just a bunch of cakes, the Norway House website states that bundkuchen means "a cake for a gathering." So perfect for a lunar New Year celebration... albeit by Zoom for 2021

Pork-cabbage and red cabbage-carrot filled dumplings waiting to be cooked

So when it came time to plan the finale for our 2022 Dumpling Club party to ring in the Year of the Tiger (now that everyone is vaccinated and boosted), I decided to try making a more traditional, sweet Ba Bao Fan 八寶飯 in a Bundt pan for extra pizzazz.

Shortcut to the recipe.

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Search This Blog

Shortcut Szechuan-style Dry-fried Green Beans: vegan-friendly, popular with teens and adults alike

Feeding 32 for Thanksgiving: Make Ahead Oven Dishes

A Warm Bowl of Chili

Vegetable Chili (Vegan except for optional toppings)

The next three chili recipes were modified from Superfast Suppers by Cooking Light magazine, which was published in 2002. I almost always substitute fresh garlic or onions, and it is pretty easy to use dried beans if you have time. See Love2Chow tips, below.

Chipotle Red & White Bean Chili Omit sausage for vegan.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Chipotle Black Bean Chili (Vegan except for optional toppings)

Love2Chow Szechuan-style Master Meat Mix

Charky's Basil Eggplant

Enjoying West Virginia Heritage Food at Lost Creek Farm

Riffing the Cauliflower Steak: Restaurant Cooking at Home

Holiday Cooking Guide for Feeding a Crowd

Post 1. Recipe for Mama's Chinese-Spiced Turkey

Post 2. Oven-efficient make-ahead side dish preparations

Post 3. Pulling it all together after the Turkey is done (and maximizing efficient future yield from leftovers)

Post 4. Two ingredient split pea soup using the leftover ham bone

Post 5. Wild Rice stuffing with dry-cured ham, winter mushrooms and peas

Post 6. Baked Challah French Toast with stone fruit jams

Post 7. Gluten-free breakfasts for a crowd: bacon, potatoes, coddled eggs and egg casseroles.

Eight Treasures Sticky Rice Bundt Cake: Ringing in the Lunar New Year with Ba Bao Fan 八寶飯

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