Beef and Chorizo Chili

Extended Shelf Life for: Peppers, Jalapenos, Tomatoes

When it comes to chili, I lack an official recipe. I do however have a few tricks-of-the-trade or preferences and a new discovery (or two!)

To begin, I just got a cast iron kettle and it just makes chili seem that much more delicious, amazing and perfect for the cold winter night.

Next, let me tell you that doing a combo chili which is 50% Beef and 50% Chorizo is brilliant!

Now, on to some tricks-of-the-trade.

I've just recently learned this little gem of advice that comes from my good friend SJ's grandmother:

• When preparing ground meats, add enough water to cover the base of the kettle or skillet to the meat. As the meat cooks, the water will evaporate and you'll end up having a very uniformly ground meat to support your soup or go into your tacos. (Perhaps this isn't revolutionary to most folks, but there's just something about this perfectly ground meat that makes the chili that much more enjoyable.)

Another trick-of-the-trade, espeically for divers or gardeners:

• If you have an abundance of peppers, go ahead and roast the whole batch in the oven until they're fragrant, run them through a food processor or a juicer with mincing capabilities, throw them in an ice cube tray and then into the freezer for future use in soups, sauces and of course chili! 

One more thing I like to do for our chili, especially when we have an abundance of tomatoes: 

• Run fresh tomatoes through a mincing juicer or food processor rather than throwing in canned tomatoes, fresher and ultimately a bit healthier (tomatoes in cans can have dangerous interactions with the aluminum considering the acidity of tomatoes).

And finally, our personal preference when it comes to eating a bowl of chili is to add raw onions, cheese and corn chips.

Bulgogi Cheese-steak

In a dinner conversation with one of my husband’s co-worker’s and her family it occurred to me that Philly Cheese-steaks are delicious, and so is Bulgogi (Korean marinated beef). From there it wasn’t long until I was convinced a combination of the two would bring a little bit of culinary joy to these taste buds (and others).

On May 3 I finally had the chance to work my magic in these realms and the results were…divine.

Ingredients/Directions:

In a large skillet cook 2 cups of Bulgogi beef until cooked through. (If living in Korea: buy marinated at Home-plus or E-mart or purchase the meet and marinade separately at your local grocer. Others—try this out). In another skillet (or prior to sautéing the meat) sauté one green pepper, sliced; one red pepper, sliced; and one onion, sliced. Place meat and veggies on a hoagie roll or in a baguette, top with white cheese of choice and heat in the oven until cheese is melty. Enjoy with French fries or these Rosemary Potatoes.

Beef and Noodle Soup

Using Leftovers from: Slow-Cooker Guinness Beef and Mushroom Stew

Having the opportunity to play around with leftovers is one of my great joys. Having a few cups of the Guinness Stew leftover was a huge blessing. Into a stovetop pot I threw some water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, pepper and salt as well as 2 Potatoes, diced and half of a Carrot, diced - brought the whole thing to a boil, added the leftover Guinness Stew and some noodles, cooked the whole thing until the noodles were tender and once again we were eating a delcious and fabulous dinner!

Slow-Cooker Guinness Beef and Mushroom Stew

In typical Melissa fashion, I did not follow a recipe nor measure ingredients as I dumped them into the crock-pot. I did however, glean a lot of inspiration from already produced recipes such as this Beef in Guinnes with Fluffy Dumplings and this Beef, Guinness and Mushroom Pie. Taking a look at the ingredients and portions of these two dishes followed by a look at my refrigerator and energy, I whipped up the following for our St. Patrick's Day Iron Chef 'Competition' where each dish made was required to use Guinness as an ingredient.

Ingredients/Directions:

The heart of this soup is the broth, in order to make the soup land in14 bowls of hungry English teachers, I went heavy on broth: 2 bottles of Guinnes, 2 cups Chicken Broth, (can substitue beef broth) 1 cup Water, 1-2 Tbsp. Soy (can substitute Worcestershire) 1 Tbsp. Hot Sauce, Dash of Cinnamon, Salt, Pepper and Thyme. Add to the broth sauted Mushrooms and Onions (2-3 cups). Toss 1 or 2 lbs. of Beef in 1-2Tbsp. Flour, Dash of Salt and Pepper, sear in oiled fry pan. Add to broth. Cook in slow-cooker 8-10 hours on low and serve up alongside any number of dishes which include the magic ingredient of Guinness! Enjoy! (Additionally, small potatoes and carrots would make this a much heartier dish to serve up or adding more beef, I went extremely heavy on this broth - which was fabulous - but it would be stellar, for a smaller gathering, to add some veg and meat and thicken it up)

Sesame Leaf and Beef 'Sandwiches'

A few bites into this dish Mike commented: "I would eat these all day."

It's a reasonable statement, they are amazing! Unfortunately, they were not purely my creation...rather, they were the result of being given more sesame leaves than I'd originally planned on grabbing at the local market, a Google search and an instinct that this recipe would find rave reviews in '519' Wookyeongbil Kitchen.

I followed the recipe as is with only a few adjustments:
2 cloves Garlic
A Squirt of Red Chili Paste/Sauce
Mix meat and additions in a ziploc bag!

If you can find sesame leaves, this recipe is well worth a shot, although the leaves tend to be an acquired taste, so perhaps give them two or three shots before giving them a final judgement.