Week night/date night meals: Chili

I had the entire day off yesterday, and since it's been nearly a month since J and I have seen each other during normal business hours, I decided to cook up a batch of hearty chili for a fun weeknight/datenight - but added a surprising ingredient (chocolate!) to create a sexy vibe to an otherwise comforting fall meal.

In a large pot, sauté a chopped medium-sized onion and a clove of garlic in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the onions are nicely browned, add your spices. This is where the chili becomes particular and distinct - personally, I opt for healthy dashes of salt, pepper, cinnamon, and cumin, a hearty amount of Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning, and a few pinches of a special spice blend gifted to me at a party that includes cayenne, coffee, coriander, fennel, ginger, juniper, paprika, and thyme (note to self: recreate this mix asap, as I am getting dangerously low). Let the spices really soak into the onion and garlic, smell-testing as you stir. Add 1 lb. of ground beef, and cook until brown. Stir in 6-8 oz. of tomato paste, 12-14 oz. of diced tomatoes (for an added kick, I chose a can of diced tomatoes with jalepeños added in), 2 cans of red kidney beans, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Let this mixture simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Add 2-3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce and (get ready) 2 tsps. of chili-flavored dark chocolate (Lindt makes a delicious version) - this will give your chili a sultry flavor you never knew you were missing in your cooking. Cover the pot and simmer for at least 15 minutes or longer (the longer you simmer, the stronger the flavors will get). Boil 12 oz. of elbow macaroni. When the pasta is fully cooked, remove the chili from the heat and stir in the macaroni. Serve in a bowl, adding shredded cheddar cheese if desired.

Slice of the Week - Frito Pie (and I'm back!)

I'm back!

I mean, I never actually vanished from all of life (that would have been odd), but I did have an extremely busy last couple of weeks in which I had to hunker down at my real job and focus and send emails and all those other things you do on a daily basis that seem really inconsequential but somehow take up ALL of your time and energy. Hey, a girl's gotta pay those bills somehow!

But, life has (sort of) stabilized. Or, at least it's calm enough for me to start writing again. In any case, you probably don't care all that much about my busy life. You want to read about pie. Well, I shall not disappoint (any more)!

Frito Pie

While on my southwestern road trip vacation last month (see some cool pics here), I ended up walking through the lovely town of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Amongst the pueblos, churches, and vendors hawking silver and turquoise, I happened upon the Five and Dime General Store.

Normally, I would have kept on walking. Other than being an awesome song from Reefer Madness,  five and dime's don't necessarily interest me.

But then I looked up and saw this:

Five and Dime General Store, Santa Fe, NM

And then I looked down and saw this:

More Five and Dime sinage

And then I stopped right in the middle of a busy sidewalk, gave a little scream, flailed my arms, caused some general mayhem and confusion amongst the other tourists, and stormed into the store.

For a moment, I thought the sign was just a cruel joke. The inside of this supposedly magical place was nothing more than an unorganized dollar store with terrible fluorescent lighting. There were rows of kitschy souvenirs next to steering wheel covers and mop heads, and things certainly cost more then mere nickles and dimes. Confused and not seeing where to get my pie, I continued to the back of the store where I was greeted with this:

It's like you're at an old movie theater. Without the movies.

Slightly more encouraged, I stepped up to the counter where I discovered they were indeed selling something called a Frito Pie. The sign priced it at almost $5.00. I actually had second thoughts about going forward with my culinary plans - not only did it seem pricy (and I wasn't even too sure what I was ordering - $5 for a slice of pie in the back of a convenience store just seems wrong), I had recently eaten breakfast and wasn't even that hungry.

But it's moments like these that I call to the ultimate inspiration and ask myself, What Would Anthony Bourdain Do? (WWABD, if you're into acronyms).

He'd order the damn pie, Mary! That's what he would do! C'mon....

So I ordered. I was able to watch the bored woman put together the pie (I will not elevate this pie's status by saying it was made. That would be giving it too much credit. It was put together.) and here's what I learned:

Makin' my pie

The Frito Pie begins with a small, snack-sized bag of Fritos. The bag of Fritos is opened. A scoop of chilli, made with ground beef and a few red kidney beans, is spooned on top of the corn chips.  A half an inch of re-fried pinto beans make up Layer #3. Shredded cheddar cheese tops off the concoction. The bag is then put in a special holder that keeps everything upright, but this is only so you can pay for the pie. You don't get to take the special holder with you to the table. A Toppings Bar, comprised of onions and Tabasco sauce, is pointed out. You are handed a plastic fork and a stack of napkins, and told to go find a seat.

Really - where can I get one of these holders?

Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive. I'm fairly brave when it comes to trying strange food (I willingly ordered sushi wrapped in trout skin just last week), and I realize that one of my first recipes for this blog was a Taco Pie that was loosely based on this very concept, but this just seemed...not glamorous. Where was the smoking campfire? Where were the sweeping southwestern vistas? Where have all the cowboys gone???

Ah well, such is life. So I dug in.

Into the depths of the Frito Pie

It was...not terrible. The chili was caliente Y picante, which made my mouth burn in two different ways. I'm not a fan of Fritos to begin with, but the salty-savory-cheesy combination was surprisingly delightful. If I was a starving frat boy, I would have devoured this in a second.

Luckily, I brought this guy along as my personal photographer

I can see the appeal of this pie, both as a tourist trap ("over 3,000 sold annually!" says the sign) and as a fun treat for kids or cowboys. The clean-up, provided you keep the bag upright, is almost non-existent. And it was overpriced, but there was a good amount of food in the bag, and hey, I'm on vacation.

Frito Pie - Santa Fe, NM

As I was finishing up, I overheard an older gentleman tell his wife, "oo! They're serving up some Walkin' Cowboys!"


So they are.

Superbowl Sunday Funday - Chili Pot Pie

Whether you're ecstatic that the Giants are playing, still crying about that devastating Packers loss two weeks ago, or one of those few who live hermetic lives and aren't really sure what this "big game" is all about, one thing is clear - you'll probably end up consuming some sort of chili this weekend.

Not being one to ever shy away from a national trend, I am here to add but one more recipe to the ridiculously-sized pile of "Super Bowl Sunday Chili Recipes" by giving you the Pies Etc. version - the Chili Pot Pie.

Disclaimer: I put together this recipe by pulling from a bunch of different sources - Guy Fieri's Dragon Breath Chili (he seems like a guy who knows his chili), the drunken frat-boy sounding Fritos Pie Remix (which I considered making, but then realized that I am not in college anymore and that some things just aren't appealing when you're not drinking entire fishbowls with names like "red" or "blue") and a recipe my mother sent me simply titled "Steve's Chili." I'm not too sure who this Steve is and why my mother is so devoted to his chili, but that's another story. 

Ingredients 
Chili
2 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 clove garlic, diced
1 lb. ground beef
8 oz. tomato sacue
8-10 oz. diced tomatoes - I used Del Monte with Zesty Jalapenos
8-10 oz. red kidney beans
6-8 oz. beer - I used Coor's Light. Because that's what was in the fridge. 
Spices to taste:
***There are millions of combinations one can use for chili; I threw in a few handfuls of each of these:
- Worcestershire sauce
- Paprika
- Crushed red pepper
- Mrs. Dash Fiesta seasoning
- Black pepper
- Cumin
8 oz. Elbow macaroni
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
Unbaked pie crust, enough for bottom and top of 5-in. oven-safe pot pie dish (see my recipe here!)

How to 
Heat butter in a large pot, add onions, garlic and green peppers until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add ground beef and fully cook until brown

Add the spices. This is where you get creative! My system consists of adding spices until I like the smell of what's cooking. Smarter, more well-trained chefs might not agree with this lax level of consistency, but so far it's suited me well.

Stir in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.

Carefully pour in the beer. Drink the rest of the can.

Add the beans, stir completely. Cover, simmer on low for approximately 90 minutes or until the dish is reduced to taste (it'll be pretty liquid-y at first.)

While the chili is simmering, cook the macaroni and prep the pie dough.

When the chili is reduced to your liking, remove from heat and add the cooked macaroni.
   ***Note of interest - I grew up in a household that put macaroni in our chili. I have since learned that this is an oddity amongst chili connoisseurs, but trust me - it's good.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the bottom crust in the oven-safe pie pan and pierce with a fork.

Add the macaroni/chili mix

Cover with shredded cheese

Top with remaining pie crust, seal edges of both crusts together. Use any leftover dough to cut out your team's logo to add as decoration. If you like, brush the top crust with an egg. For this particular experience, I brushed the top crust with a little juice from the remaining chili (I only made one pot pie and had quite a bit of extra meat).

Cook for about 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Please know that I am fully aware of the ridiculousness of this recipe. It's not healthy. It's like seven different dishes in one. I don't even want to think of the calorie count. However, sometimes it's fun to celebrate silly things like Super Bowl Sunday with new and delicious recipes, and this chili pot pie is pretty tasty.