Chipotle, chocolate, and porter chili

I made steak last night and wasn’t terribly thrilled with it. It was a large package from Winco and I had quite a bit left over this morning. Henry suggested tacos, but I kind of wanted to completely repurpose the steak because I wasn’t in love with the marinade I made. I figured the spices would make it palatable. To my surprise, this chili is the best I’ve made. Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 poblano pepper, chopped
• 2 cans of beans (I used kidney and black)
• 1 large (28 ounces, I think) can of Muir Glen (crushed, fire roasted) tomatoes
• 1 box of (low sodium) chicken stock (32 ounces)
• 1 pound of hamburger
• some leftover, medium rare cooked steak from last night, chopped
• small handful of semi sweet chocolate chips
• a few glugs of chipotle hot sauce
• “some” chili powder
• “some” Mexican Oregano
• “some” cumin
• “some” salt and pepper
• 12 ounces or so of Porter

Chop, mince, open cans, pour, brown, drain, sweat, combine, and simmer for hours. Hours.

Amazing. I’ve never put chocolate in chili before. Try it. Please.

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Mexican Steak Sandwiches

• 1 steak
• half of an onion, sliced
• 1 Roma tomato, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• cumin (some)
• mexican oregano (enough…don’t you love how exact I am?)
• juice of half a lime, juiced
• one chipotle, minced and deseeded
• s and p
• baguette
• pepper jack cheese
• beer (some Widmer Dark Saison Brewmasters’ Release)
• garlic, minced

Marinate the steak in the lime juice, salt and pepper, cumin, and Mexican oregano.

While it’s doing it’s thing, saute the onions, garlic, and red pepper.  Add the chipotle pepper, minced, but make sure to scrape out the inner seeds and membrane so your final dish isn’t ridiculously spicy.

After the veggies are nice and caramelized, take them out of the pan and set them aside in a bowl.

Fry the steak in some butter in the pan you sauteed the veggies in.

When the steak is done, let it rest.

Add the peppers and such back to the pan and pour in some beer. Throw in a sliced Roma tomato. Let it simmer and reduce.

Slice the steak.

Cut the bagette in half and open it up. Butter both sides and broil it, cut side up.  Add the cheese slices to the bread after a minute or so. Watch it carefully–broilers can take some from toasty to charred beyond recognition in seconds.

Assemble the sandwiches once the bread is ready to come out. Layer the peppers and onions with the steak.

Delicious sandwiches. Would be good with chicken, shrimp–any protein, really. That marinade lends itself well to whatever you slather it on. If you decide to try it, you may want to marinate your meat longer than the 45 minutes I did. Overall, I’m really pleased with how the meal turned out. Perfect for a night watching Battlestar Galatica, curled up on the couch.

Dinner Tonight: A Husband’s Dinner

Spicy Bratwurst and Potato Soup

• 2 bratwurst, sliced
• 1/2 of a pasilla pepper (what I had in the fridge), chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 6 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 amber ale–minus three or four drinks
• Some vegetable or chicken stock, nearly a can
• several glugs of milk
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• a cup (?) of shredded chipotle cheddar cheese

Saute vegetables–brown sausage.  When the vegetables are soft and the sausage is browned, make a roux in the same pan (Butter, flour. Makes a paste. Slightly caramelizes.  Absorbs liquids.  Thickens.). Add liquids.  Slowly, until each small addition absorbs into the flour. Add just enough milk, stock, and beer.  The soup could be made with just beer and milk, but I decided to add stock as well.  Add potatoes.  S & p to taste.  Simmer, just under a boil, until the potatoes are tender.   Add cheese.  It will gently melt.  Ladle into bowls.  Watch husband grin.

Oh, Sunday…

Here I am: 1:30 pm.  Buried under piles of lesson planning materials.  Fretting over administering state testing over the next several weeks.   Just the thought of reading hundreds of pages of training materials and manuals makes me heart beat fast–panic is setting in.  Not enough time to get done everything I need to get done.  Such is a teacher’s life.

On a more positive note…

Yesterday, the husband and I took a much needed break from responsibilities and went the KLCC Brewfest with friends.  The same friends also cooked us dinner:  a ridiculously good pizza, topped with ricotta, pear, broccoli, artichokes…

Pear?  Yes, pear.  It was phenomenal.  The beer at the event was phenomenal as well.  Highlights?  Block 15’s Love Potion Number 9 and Steelhead’s Barley Wine. Lowlights?  Just one:  Gilgamesh’s Mambo–tasted like tangerine perfume.

Trying to shake off the stress of work, and inspired by our friends’ company and the KLCC event last night, I think I will head into the kitchen and get to cooking.

Today’s menu:

Acorn Squash with Chili Lime Vinaigrette

Spicy Citrusy Black Beans

Pearl Couscous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes

Interesting Food News and Recipes of the Day

1. Homemade Twix Bars
2. The Worst Beers in the WORLD
3. Live Crabs Sold in Vending Machines
4. Fancy Fast Food: Chicken Pizza Masala