Jeb’s Chili

Posted on by aurorameyer

 

One of J’s favorite dishes is his father’s chili. It makes more than enough for three meals and a few lunches for us. Like most of our favorite meals, this one gets better the longer it simmers. It looks complicated, but I promise it’s easy and worth it.

Jeb's Chili

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

Base Ingredients:

  • 1 pounds and 1/2chili or stew beef you can also use ground beef if you want
  • 1 pound pork chop cut up or you can use ground pork
  • 2-3 green bell peppers chopped
  • 1-2 onions chopped

Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1 beer (any kind cheap is particularly good)
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder (REGULAR chili powder not ancho, not super, not hot. Trust me)
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 2 teaspoons ground chipotle we buy them whole and use a coffee grinder for this
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 to 1/2 d cup iced celery
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 can rotel or green chiles
  • lime juice as needed
  • 1 can rotel or green chiles
  • lime juice as needed

Instructions
 

  • Brown the meat.
  • Add the chopped bell peppers and onions and cook until desired caramelization.
  • In a separate pot make the sauce by adding the first 11 ingredients and simmering for about 45 minutes until smooth.
  • Then add the tomatoes and meat and peppers and onions. Simmer one to two hours.
  • Add 1 to 4 tablespoons massa flour to thicken if needed (most of the time we leave this step out).
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

My opinion: This is delicious with shredded Monterrey jack cheese, lime juice and tortilla chips. J prefers his with corn bread. It’s perfect for a cold winter’s night.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Posted on by aurorameyer


In college, J and I practically lived on jambalaya and coffee. Of course, it was the boxed version and after eating it for two years, we got pretty burned out. Which was sad because jambalaya is so tasty and easy and perfect for a chilly evening. Luckily, J found this jambalaya recipe and with a few tweaks cured the burnout.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 (14 ounce) package andouille sausage, sliced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 large celery ribs, chopped (we left them in half moons)
3 tbs garlic, minced (we eyeballed this as we like garlic)
1 bunch scallion, chopped
1 (32 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juices
about 15 ounces chicken stock
1 1/4 cups long grain rice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon Tony Chacere’s creole seasoning (as the original recipe states, there is absolutely no substitute for Tony’s)
cracked black pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Cook sliced sausage over medium high heat in a 6 quart stock pot until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic and scallions and cook until softened but not translucent, about 4 minutes. Add cubed chicken breast and Worcestershire sauce and cook just until you can no longer see pink. Add the bay leaves, basil, oregano, sage, paprika, Tony Chacere’s, salt, black pepper, tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add rice, bring back up to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Cover and reduce heat to low, simmer for 30 minutes. The jambalaya should still be wet, but not soupy. Remove the bay leaves. Enjoy!

My opinion:
We’ll be adding this back to our regular dinner rotation. It was super easy to make and make more than enough to freeze half for a later meal.

Gazpacho

Posted on by aurorameyer

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This super easy and delicious meal is a great way to use up the extra tomatoes from your garden.

Ingredients:
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
2 red bell peppers, Seeded and chopped
2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Directions: put everything into a blender. You may have to work in batches. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Plate, drizzle with olive oil. Serve chilled with a few cocktail shrimp and toasted bread.

My opinion:
This is delicious. Wonderful on a hot summer evening.