The Home Stretch

This concoction is 100% from The Hubs.  He made the chili that goes on it, and he’s the one who was inspired to replicate “The Stretch”, an infamous dish from the Broadway Diner in Colombia, MO.  And the name…well, that just seemed appropriate, since we quite literally MADE it at home, but it feels somewhat connotative as well, since we’re in the “home stretch” of getting out of crummy, cold, wet, yucky weather, and since we’re only about a week away from one of my favorite times of the year—baseball season!!!!

So what is a Stretch?  Well, it’s sorta what you’d expect from an infamous diner dish.  You start with crispy hash browns, topped with an over-easy fried egg, topped with chili, topped with cheese, and then finished off with a smattering of onion & green pepper (and perhaps served with a side of Tums).  I can only imagine the bell pepper is there to add some color and make you feel like at least one of the ingredients was healthy.  It’s a perfect combination of textures: crispiness from the hash browns and fresh onion/pepper, gooeyness from the egg yolk & cheese, and heartiness from the chili.
There’s also a wide variety of additional toppings you could go for—jalapeno slices, bacon, try some different cheeses (I’m thinking smoked gouda would be killer here).  From what I hear, some diners order their Stretch topped with sausage sawmill gravy.  THHAAAAAT’S a bit much for me.

This is the initial batch—photo sent to me by The Hubs while I was out of town:

(Such a tease…)

Now, it would feel like a bit of a cop-out to just feature the Stretch as my entire blog post, since I essentially just gave the “recipe” for it in the preceding paragraphs, so instead, I’ll share the recipe for my husband’s chili, since it was one of the best batches he’s made to date (which likely means it will be tough for us to ever replicate again, but we’ll try!)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 8 servings)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp each of black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder
• 2 cans pre-seasoned mild chili beans, undrained
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 4oz can tomato sauce
• 1 Williams Original Chili seasoning packet (1oz)
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/8 cup of our home-blend chili seasoning (I use this recipe to make my blend)
• cayenne pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot over Medium heat, combine the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chili seasonings and stir well.  When it starts to bubble, reduce to a simmer.
Meanwhile, on another burner, brown your ground beef and season it with the black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Once fully cooked, drain off the fat and add the meat to the pot.
Once combined, simmer for 15-30 minutes, or longer if you like (the flavors will only improve with time), stirring periodically. 

NutriFacts: (chili only, about 1.5 cups per serving)
Calories 361.3
  Total Fat 14.0 g
  Saturated Fat 5.3 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 5.2 g
  Cholesterol 42.5 mg
  Sodium 929.9 mg
  Potassium 512.5 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 38.7 g
  Dietary Fiber 10.8 g
  Sugars 2.0 g
  Protein 21.2 g
NOTE: To make The Stretch, you’ll only use about half a serving of chili.  Calories for The Stretch will vary depending on how many hash browns/cheese you use & if you add additional toppings, but my best guesstimate is about 500 calories, 35g of fat, 26g of carbs, 659mg of sodium, and 20g of protein.

First Day Post-Daniel Fast: Chili Cookoffs & Toilet Seats

Well, I’m posting, which means we did NOT fall into a meat-sugar-caffeine induced coma.  Though…we tried.  Really.

Breakfast:  I’ll just let the picture tell its thousand words.

That’s biscuits, sausage, coffee (decaf) w/caramel syrup & some almond milk, and yes….CUPCAKES.  Half of each of the cupcakes that I brought home & froze after Amy’s wedding shower.  Because…I mean…CUPCAKES.

Then we headed over to the Sertoma Chili Cookoff to sling some tasty steak & sausage chili!

(We end up next to the Toxic Chili guys like, every year.)

We never win, but it’s still fun, and for a good cause.  After our shift was up, we headed out and tasted some chili!

(Oh…and beer, of course.  PS—the first person to figure out the clothespin thing was BRILLIANT.)

After we’d filled out still shrunken bellies with chili (which only took about 15 booths, or about 2.5 total cups), we wandered about to check out all the booths:

(Elks Lodge is on the left—they place pretty high every year.  Good stuff.  Waffle House…ehh, I was too afraid it would be ACTUAL Waffle House chili to try it.)

Then we headed over to The Scoop to take advantage of the awesome weather and pick up some trash on our Adopt-A-Street stretch! With all the snow & cold weather, we haven’t been able to get out there in a few months, and it’s…well…always an interesting experience.  We tend to find a lot of the usual:  empty beer cans & 50 mL bottles, fountain soda cups, random junk mail & newspapers… and then there’s the just plain sad ‘n nasty: socks, a couple syringes (needles gone), a tampon applicator (*gags*  WHO does that on the side of the road???)…. and then there’s the “WTF?”

Half-full bottle of E&J, and a TOILET SEAT.  (We also found a full set of keys, but that doesn’t beat toilet seat.  PS—Jo… I’m sorry my hubs is not wearing gloves. I was, just FYI. But I PROMISE he washed his hands as soon as we got back to the shop.)

After the trash pickup, we headed home so I could pack, since I leave for Louisiana tomorrow:

And then…what to eat for dinner?  With so much chili in our bellies, we weren’t really that hungry, so we snacked a bit (I had a few sweet pickles), and…well… we just HAD to have some ice cream! *grins sheepishly*

Blue Bunny “Perfectly Peppermint” + hot fudge.

So..while we managed to eat pretty much EVERYTHING that was forboden on the Daniel Fast (white flour, meat, caffeine, dairy, sugar, alcohol), we actually still only took in about 1600 calories.  And with all the walking around and trash pickup, we burned off most of those.  Not too bad.  Just gotta remember—if you want to eat the garbage, gotta be willing to work it off.

How do I feel?  Well…like not getting up off the couch for a while.  But that’s partly because my calves are still burning from our trash pickup adventure (our stretch of road is about 1.8 miles round trip & has some steep slopes).

Tex-Mex Crockpot Chili

This recipe was inspired by a restaurant we saw on Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. I forget the restaurant, otherwise I’d look it up & post here.

I dunno about you, but typically when I make chili, I brown the meat first, and then add everything to it.  But on the show, the chef just added everything into a big pot—raw ground beef & all, and then cooked it low & slow all together.  Guy said that it really helped all the flavors to permeate into the ground meat.

And well, we had a chili cookoff coming up at work, so when better to test it out? And I will tell you—this recipe came in second. (To be fair, the one that took first place had steak & caramelized onions; even I loved it.)  And technically, it would have tied for first if a certain someone *cough*MyBoss*cough* hadn’t forgot to vote before we closed the polls.  But I’m not bitter, I just enjoy the fun of cooking & sharing my food with people.

Why a chili cookoff? Because every spring, our local Sertoma group organizes one of the largest Chili Cookoffs in the Midwest, and our internal cookoff is how we decide what chili our team will make at THAT cookoff.  Our Queen City Sertoma chapter primarily raises money for the Boys & Girls Club of America, so hey… cooking plus fundraising for kids?  I’m in.

Honestly, there were so many delicious chilis, I didn’t even vote for my own!

 

INREDIENTS:

1 bell pepper, diced

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

1 can black beans, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained (optional)

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes, diced

1 can sweet corn

1 tbsp minced garlic

3 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

2-3 tsp cumin

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 tsp ground chipotle chili

1.5 tsp salt

 

DIRECTIONS:

Um…pretty simple.  Dump everything in a 6 qt (or larger) Crockpot, stir, cover, & cook on High for about 3 hours.  Check periodically & stir more.  Then walk away and do other “important” things…like catch up on your DVR’d shows since you just got back from a week vacation. (No worries, I’ll post about that later.)

Once the meat is cooked (2-2.5 hrs in), start checking for taste & add more seasonings as needed. If it’s a little spicier than you prefer, you can add a little sugar to help balance it out….or just serve it with optional sour cream & cilantro. 

This is probably my new favorite chili recipe.  YUM!

 

NUTRIFACTS: (Makes 6 hearty servings…or about 30 tastings)

  Calories 317.9

  Total Fat 17.0 g

  Saturated Fat 6.5 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 7.1 g

  Cholesterol 56.7 mg

  Sodium 635.2 mg

  Potassium 663.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 23.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 6.7 g

  Sugars 2.7 g

  Protein 19.4 g

Kitchen Improv: Chicken Chili Bake

I was craving some Tex-Mex the other night so I threw this recipe together after work.  I originally wanted to make it with ground beef & a cornbread crust; however, I came home to discover that we had neither beef nor cornbread in our stockpile.  So…I improvised, and the result was this quick, delicious, and rather healthy two-pan dish:

Ingredients:

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 tablespoon cajun seasoning

1/2 tablespoon Pampered Chef Chipotle Rub

1/2 cup dark beer (for steaming)

(1) 8oz can Zesty Rotel Tomato Sauce

(1) 8oz can mushroom pieces, drained

(1) 14 oz can Mexican style chili beans

(1) 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes & onions, partially drained

(1) 14oz can creamed corn (you can use regular canned corn if you prefer or don’t have creamed corn)

1/2 tablespoon dried onions

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded & diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Seasonings to taste: chili powder, cayenne, cumin

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 package refrigerator biscuits

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

 

Directions:

Season the chicken with the cajun seasoning & chipotle rub, then place into a skillet over medium-high heat.  Once the chicken is browned on each side, cut a few slices into each breast, and then pour the beer into the skillet & cover with a lid, to allow the chicken to steam.  This will help the chicken to cook through thoroughly without drying out.  We used Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Ale:

            

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan & chop.  Add the canned ingredients, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic to the skillet.  Re-add the chicken & stir thoroughly.  Cover & simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

While that’s going, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Once your peppers start to soften, taste test the chili to determine if you need to add any additional seasonings.  Then transfer the mixture to a glass 9x13 baking dish.  Cover with the shredded cheese and drop the biscuits evenly across the top.  Bake for 10 minutes.

When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the top with cilantro and serve!

 

 

NutriFacts: (Makes about 8 servings)

Calories 453.8

  Total Fat 13.2 g

  Saturated Fat 4.3 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g

  Cholesterol 64.4 mg

  Sodium 1,535.4 mg

  Potassium 402.9 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 47.5 g

  Dietary Fiber 5.5 g

  Sugars 5.8 g

  Protein 35.4 g

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday and The Sweet Spot.

Recipe: Smoked Porter Chili

As I think I’ve mentioned here before, my husband & I are both fans of trying new microbrews & craft beers.  With our college days well behind us (when Keystone & Natty were not only acceptable, they were preferred), beer isn’t really associated with getting plastered (seriously, my liver can’t take that kind of tomfoolery anymore).  Rather, it’s more like trying a new dish at a restaurant—just something new and interesting…possibly good, possibly bad, but an experience nonetheless. 

So we periodically pick up mixed 6-packs from the local wine emporium (which also has a massive selection of micros & craft brews) of things we’ve never tried before and then we’ll share a bottle, so we both get the experience of trying something new (without the crazy-stupid hangover the next day). 

In our most recent mixed bag, we had a bottle of O’Fallon’s Smoked Porter:

O’Fallon Brewery is right here in Missouri and they make some of my favorites: Their seasonal pumpkin ale is by far the BEST pumpkin ale I’ve ever had.  And I was not disappointed at all by the porter.  Massively smoky and flavorful but completely smooth & easy to drink.

And it inspired me to make a batch of chili.  Because our Missouri weather is FINALLY behaving like Missouri weather should, and there was frost outside & you actually had to wear a coat.  Plus, chili is pretty well a superfood in my book.  There’s a negligible amount of fat, but tons of protein, fiber, vitamins, and flavor.  A 1-cup serving will fill you up & stick with you for hours.

Mind you—this is quick chili.  I have been known to make it from scratch, but it was about 7pm and the hubs & I were both starving.  So this was ready & thrown together in under 30 minutes.

 

Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef (or turkey if you prefer)

1/2 white onion, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded & diced

1/2 cup smoked porter beer (you can add more if you like, but I wanted to be able to drink some with my meal)

1 packet of your favorite chili seasoning (I love Williams, personally)

1 can black beans, drained

1 can preseasoned chili beans, not drained

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes w/green chiles, not drained

1 (9 oz) can Rotel

1 can sweet corn, drained

4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 /2 tsp cayenne

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

additional seasoning to taste (salt, pepper, cayenne, hot sauce, etc.)

 

Directions:

Brown your meat, jalapeno & onions…once the onions are translucent & meat is cooked through, add the beer & chili packet & stir well. (if you’re using lean enough meat, you shouldn’t need to drain it after cooking.)

Then add your canned goods.

 (As you can see, I have no brand loyalties.)

Stir well, then add your Worcestershire sauce & seasonings. 

(I love all the colors!) 

Cover & let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  Add additional seasoning to taste.

 

Serve with shredded cheese:

Or, if you’re so inclined, leftover cheese dip from your recent Superbowl party. (What?  Don’t judge.)

 

Nutrifacts: (makes about 6 servings)

Calories 365.4

  Total Fat 14.2 g

  Saturated Fat 5.5 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 5.7 g

  Cholesterol 52.2 mg

  Sodium 805.7 mg

  Potassium 466.7 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 36.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 8.6 g

  Sugars 4.5 g

  Protein 23.0 g