Souper Sunday- part deux!

Okay, okay, so Chili is not really a soup.  But, like I said, we'll be featuring soups and stews and chili's and "one pot wonders" on Sunday's during the cold winter months, or "chili" winter months I should say ;)  They're all in the soup family, we'll call them "soup cousins".   

From time to time we'll also be featuring some MANLY recipe's from my friend Mike, who I happily refer to as my "Alternative Life Partner" or "Husband from another Wife" :)  LOL.  He's my best friend's husband and a dear, dear friend to me. We share a love of food and a love of cooking, but you'll see that we are vastly different in our cooking philosophies.  He once made a 50 layer Boston cream pie made of crepes and I thought he'd lost his mind.  And, he thinks it's odd that I shred my own cheese instead of buying it in a package??  Funny stuff!   You'll also see that our take on chili is very different and our list of ingredients could not be more opposite.  BUT!  That's what makes our friendship so great.  We always have something to talk about, to debate out, to discuss....and it's usually about food! 

Check out Mike's introduction to the HOUSEPITALITIES followers as well as his recipe for a yummy traditional chili below.  Then!  Be sure to check out HOUSEPITALITIES White Chicken Chili recipe that Mike so kindly disses in his intro, though he ate 6 bowls of it at my house last winter and couldn't shut up about how great it was ;)


Mike's Manly (Award Winning- yes, office awards count) Chili

Hello everyone.  My name is Mike and I was honored when Jen asked me to contribute a post from time to time on her blog.  She said that she wanted to get a man’s perspective on her blog, and since I’m the manliest man she knew she said I’d be perfect.  (Ok, so she might have added, “…the manliest man she knows  THAT WOULD ACTUALLY SIT DOWN AND WRITE SOMETHING”, but my memory is pretty hazy on that point, and I have very short attention span.)  And if there is anything that this blog needs, it’s definitely a man’s touch, because holy cow, there’s a lot of pink going on.  And if you are a man and have made it this far, I commend you, but I’ll assume that I’ll mostly be writing to women who may or may not tell their husbands/boyfriends/etc. about it.

A quick note about me to establish my man cred, I’m in my early 30’s and a fairly typical guy.  I watch football on Saturday and Sunday (at least when my wife doesn’t plan something right in the middle of the Michigan State game, which she has an uncanny knack of doing), play baseball during the summer and hockey in the winter.  If I could, I’d only shave once a week, and I have two pairs of jeans that I rotate, and I refuse to use emoticons.  I also like to cook, which can totally be manly especially when fire is involved - no pansy electric stove for me with it’s cute spirally orange burners, give me the gas flames - so I’ll share some of my favorite recipes, just an FYI:  There will be no salads here!

Fall is football weather.  While a lot of tailgate food comes to mind, I want to start my first man post with the manliest food I can think of – chili.  Conjuring up images of old Western cowboys and cattle drives, chili is all man.  Meat, beans, and chilies are all you really need.  There have been attempts to “estrogenize” it – making it “white” (chili is red, white bean chicken chili is not chili - it is a soup), adding vegetables such as celery, or making it…(gasp and I can barely get myself to type this)…vegetarian.  So obviously there are many variations on chili, but I want to pass on one of my favorites.  It has a deep rich chile pepper flavor to it and its heat can be controlled to whatever you’re comfortable with.  I like a little heat, but not so much that it overwhelms the flavor.

Mike’s Award Winning Chili

• 1 lb of meat (I prefer ground chuck)
• 1 package of chili seasoning (you can add all the individual spices separately, or spend $1 – you chose)
• 1 can of black beans
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes
• 4-6 dried chiles (I like a combo of chipotle, Anaheim, or Ancho peppers)
• Salt and pepper
• Accompaniments:

o   Sour Cream

o   Cheddar cheese (or try Queso fresco for a change, this Mexican cheese crumbles and doesn’t melt)

o   Green onions, chopped

Directions:

Split the dried chiles and remove the seeds (the more you keep the hotter the chili).  Grill each side on a hot skillet for about 10 seconds until there is a little blistering.  This will get the oils moving and more flavor out of them.  Place in a bowl with about 1.5 cups of warm water to reconstitute, approximately 15-30 minutes.

Mix the peppers with the water in a food processor until thoroughly blended and add salt to season.  Lightly oil the skillet (once around) on high heat.  Place the pepper puree in the skillet (it will splatter a bit) and simmer until slightly reduced, approximately 5 minutes.  Add pepper puree, chili seasoning, beans, and tomatoes to the meat over medium heat and simmer for about 15 minutes (the longer you simmer the more favorable it will be, but halftime only lasts so long).  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add garlic, onion, paprika or more chili powder as necessary.

Serve with a healthy dollop of sour cream, the cheese, and green onions.

HOUSEPITALITIES WHITE CHICKEN (No awards necessary) CHILI

• 3 large chicken breasts, baked or pan fried OR the dark and white meat from a whole chicken
• 2 medium white onions, rough chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 cans northern white beans
• 1 can cannellini beans
• 1 can white hominy
• 2 can chopped green chiles (usually with the taco ingredients- really tiny cans)
• 1 can corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 box chicken broth
• 1 lemon
• 5 teaspoons cumin
• 2-3 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• Salt & Pepper

-Season and cook the chicken, let rest and cube
-Sweat the onions with salt and olive oil in a big soup pot
-Add the chili's and grate, YES, grate the garlic into the pot.  It's my sauce/soup secret :)
-Add the canned goods
-Add the chicken broth and use one of the cans from the beans and add a cup of water.
-Add the chicken
-Add the juice of 1 lemon
-5 teaspoons of ground cumin
-1-3 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (depending on how much spice you like)
-Salt and pepper to taste

-Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, and then turn to low and let simmer for 4 hours or more. 

YUUUUMMM!

We served it with diced/seeded jalapenos, diced red onion, sour cream, shredded pepper jack cheese, corn bread muffins and/or tortilla chips.  OH ya, and Dos Equis with lime :) 

  

Hope you enjoy it....