Cincinnati Chili

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Serves about 12-16

Fuego and family lived in Ohio and Fuego grew up with Cincinnati Chili—it’s a childhood favorite!

The only problem with making it over the past many years is that none of the recipes online matched with her experience, and all of them are too spicy for her mom and her sister.

Last night was the most recent attempt. Since last time I made it, February of this year, it was still too spicy for them, this time I made my own chili powder recipe to bring the necessary flavors with none of the heat (this was for them… personally I like my chili to melt my face off).

The results last night brought back a lot of memories for everyone and it’s the recipe we’ll be using from now on!

So for anyone looking for an authentic experience of Ohio born Cincinnati Chili, I hope this brings you some memories as well :).

Chili ingredients:

26 oz homemade pasta sauce (see below for my pasta sauce recipe or use your own family recipe)

6 oz tomato paste

1T Onion Powder (Fuego doesn’t like the texture of onions, or this would be a grated/minced Maui onion)

2T chili powder (see chili powder recipe below for the no heat version I made for Fuego’s family)

2T cocoa powder

2T sugar

2T Worcestershire Sauce

1T white wine vinegar

2 1/4t salt 

1t ground cinnamon

1t ground cumin

3/4t garlic powder

1/2t ground allspice

1/4t ground black pepper

1/4t ground cloves

2 bay leaves

2 lbs ground turkey(or ground beef)

Other finishing ingredients: 

Fettuccini, 

Shredded Colby Jack or goat cheddar cheese, 

Sour cream (we use dairy free and it works great)

Instructions:

Combine all chili ingredients in stock pot (do not precook the ground meat—in this recipe it is essential for the texture that it be added to the other ingredients raw), add 2 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for two hours stirring occasionally (be careful not to break the bay leaves). At the end of two hours, gently use a fork to find and remove the bay leaves, then stir well (I use a whisk) before serving.

In a separate stock pot, cook as much fettuccini as needed for the number of people you’ll be serving. Time the pasta to finish when the chili is done.

Plate pasta, top with a generous portion of chili, shredded Colby Jack (or goat cheddar if you’re me), and sour cream.

Refrigerate or freeze left-over chili (if freezing, consider freezing individual portions since it should only be reheated once).

Pasta Sauce:

(For this recipe, store-bought canned tomato puree works perfectly well… The spice measurements are approximate as I don’t measure for my pasta sauce.)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Yield: 26 oz.

1-25 oz can tomato puree

1-2T olive oil

~4T balsamic vinegar

3/4-1t salt

1/4-1/2t black pepper

1/2-3/4t garlic powder

1/2-3/4t onion powder

3/4-1t dried oregano 

2-3t dried basil

Combine all ingredients in a chef’s pan (I use a whisk) and simmer for ~10 minutes, stirring frequently.

“Gutless” Chili Powder

Prep time: 5 mins

Yield: about 1/4 cup (- 1/2t)

2T +1/2t paprika

1 1/2t garlic powder

1 1/2t onion powder

1t dried oregano

1t cumin

Salsa Fresca

Prep time 5 minutes

Makes ~1.5-2cups

This was a quick attempt when we ran out of salsa, and it turned into something beautiful!  It makes about 1 1/2C, so roughly what you get when you buy salsa.

Since Fuego can’t eat onions (texture issue), I used onion powder, but most of the rest was fresh!

1 medium-to-large jalapeño 

6 pearl tomatoes (about 1/2lb)

1t fresh cilantro

1 minced clove of fresh garlic

Juice of 1 lime

Two pinches (~1/8t) onion powder 

Pinch (~1/16t) chili powder

Pinch ground cumin

Pinch salt

Small pinch black pepper

Prep fresh veggies (wash and remove stems). In small insert-bowl of Cuisinart, using the small chopping blade, dice jalapeño.  Add remaining fresh ingredients and pulse until desired texture.

Pour into a bowl and add spices to desired proportions.  Stir with a fork, taste, and adjust as necessary.

Enjoy.

Coctel de Camerones

Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves 4 (or 2 for dinner)

Living in Fort Collins, Fuego and I LOVED going to the Caballero family's taqueria, Los Tarascos, and the restaurant their son, Hugo jr., opened himself, La Buena Vida.  In particular, their Caballero margaritas and their Coctel de Camerones (shrimp cocktail) were our favorites!  Leaving Fort Collins, we just haven't found another Coctel that measures up to the family recipe we enjoyed at our friend's restaurant!

I checked with a local friend who lived in Oaxaca with his family for many years, and pieced together what we now enjoy almost as much as the Caballero family's Coctel de Camerones here at home (thanks, Jaybe).  As reported by Jaybe, the missing ingredient was Maggi, what he calls "secret Mexico sauce," which, of course, contains wheat gluten, wheat flour, and wheat bran... so I had to seek out an alternative.  I was able to substitute Bragg's Liquid Aminos with excellent results (thanks, Google ;). 

As usual, I don't measure, so what follows is approximate and should be adjusted to personal taste.

Ingredients:

1lb cooked large prawns (deveined and tails removed)
1-2 medium-large avocados, diced
1-2 large jalapeños, diced
4 limes, juiced (about 2-4 ounces)
1 tub Casa Sanchez, Medium Fresh Roasted Salsa (or pick your favorite)
Bragg's Liquid Aminos to taste (about 1-2T)
2-4 stiff dashes of Cholula hot sauce
1T onion powder (unless your salsa has onion in it :)

Prep:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss until combined.  Spoon/ladle into sundae glasses and serve with tortilla chips (and a margarita!).

Curried Pumpkin Potato Soup

Prep Time:  as little as 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Dubbed “warm potato hummus” to avert Fuego’s gag reflex (15 1/2 years ago, she was the sickest she’s ever been and made the mistake of having carrot soup... She hasn’t been able to eat orange soup  since—until tonight’s “warm potato hummus”).

Ingredients:

15 ounces of pumpkin (I used organic canned—thus the 25 minutes ;)

15 ounces coconut milk 

4 potatoes in 1/2” cubes (also thus the 25 minutes)

4 pinches (~3/4t) salt

~3/4t red curry powder 

~1/2-3/4t onion powder

~1/2-3/4t garlic powder 

~1/8/-1/4t habanero powder 

~1/8t ground ginger

Prep:  

Combine pumpkin and coconut milk in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and add diced potatoes and spices.  Cover for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.  Serve hot with a sprinkle of sheredded goat cheddar.

Great over rice.  Apparently also good with toast as “hummus” ;)

Ketchup--30 minutes--Yields 2 Cups

Our garden turned into a jungle this summer, resulting in our three tomato plants reaching heights of about six feet and producing about a dozen tomatoes per day.  Now that they're ripening, we get about a dozen tomatoes per day for using in recipes, such as this one!  If you don't like it as zippy as this makes, you can cut out the cayenne and decrease the balsamic vinegar (increasing the white to compensate).  My family loved it, hope yours does too :).

12 medium size ripe tomatoes (makes about 3.5-4 C)
1/2 C Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 C White Vinegar
1/2 C Honey
1 1/2-2t fresh minced garlic
1 3/4t salt
1/8-1/4t ground black pepper
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground cayenne

Wash, de-stem, and puree tomatoes in blender or food processor.

In a medium sauce pan, boil tomato puree.  While boiling, add vinegar and honey and return to a low boil.  Add spices and whisk, boiling until reduced by half (about 10 minutes).

Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I don't know how long this will keep--we've never had it last longer than a week ;).

Thanksgiving Stuffing--30 min prep (add 2 hours if making croutons from scratch)--serves 8

Every Thanksgiving for the past five years since being diagnosed with Celiacs, I have tried a different variation of several stuffing recipes.  Last year I finally loved it!  So, barring any anomalous cause to the enjoyment of last year's recipe, here it is in the hopes that it will be just as satisfying this year (and thereby confirmed as a recipe that will stay on my blog ;).  (Stuffs a 16-18 pound turkey)
10C Croutons (I make 2 gluten free French loaves and then cube them --about 1/2" cubes-- toss with olive oil, and bake single-layer on a cookie sheet at 325 for 20 minutes, tossing once or twice to evenly brown)

1t salt

1t dried thyme

1/2t dried (powdered) sage

1T fresh rosemary

1/2t black pepper

1/8t cayenne

1/8t cinnamon

1/8t cloves

1/8t nutmeg

1/8t allspice

1 onion (1T powder)

4 cloves garlic (1/2t powder)

10T butter

1 1/4C turkey broth (boil the neck for 20 minutes)

Mix spices in a small bowl, 

Place 10c croutons in a large bowl

Boil turkey neck in 2-3c water for 20 minutes to make broth and measure 1C for the stuffing

Melt butter in a skillet over med-low heat

Pour butter over croutons and toss to coat thoroughly.

Sprinkle spices over croutons and toss to coat thoroughly.

Pour 1c of broth into croutons and fold by hand until mixture is coated thoroughly

Add remaining 1/4c of broth into croutons only if they are not moist enough.

** If you are not stuffing the turkey with the stuffing, add upto an extra 1/2c of broth to ensure it is moist enough to bake in a casserole dish (or get fancy and use a muffin tin for a shapely presentation at dinner!)

Tuna Cakes -- 15 mins -- serves 2

Description
This is a quick, easy, and delicious recipe for lunch or dinner - and it is a GREAT way to use up some left over mashed potatoes.  Easily adaptable depending on the quantity of potatoes you have on hand, and the number of people you want to serve.  This was another of those spontaneous creations that was worth repeating.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
2C left over garlic mashed potatoes 
2 eggs
3/4C shredded cheese
2 habaneros (minced)
1C pancake mix
1 5oz can tuna (Wild Planet's Skipjack is excellent - remember to keep to the smaller species to limit mercury)

Directions
Beat eggs.
Stir in the potatoes and pancake mix, then cheese, peppers, and tuna.

Make thin patties and fry like pancakes.