Kwahite!! Ahm huntin' Wabbits- & Chili makes it out of the house!!

I've been promising the Millwrights at work a sample of my Cincinnati Chili recipe  for months now.  I'd set a few dates that I'd bring it in, but was kept from my obligations by the installation of a new roof and emergency surgery on our dog Buddy.  I finally made some for them Monday night.   This time I was able to follow my own directions- not a soupy version this time 'round.  I bought a ton of cheese, brought in a bottle of Frank's Hot Sauce (I know I've espoused using Crystal, but I had it in the kitchen waiting to be used for buffalo wings and didn't want to let it sit forever.  Ever seen really old hot sauce?  It turns brown and really gross).   I made a shit-ton of spaghetti (I still have enough for lunch that day and then some).  At the store I could not find oyster crackers.  Oh well- can't replicate the entire experience.   I did make a mistake that I won't make again- I used 20% fat ground beef. Eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwww.  I pulled my hand out of the pot after breaking up the meat in the broth and water to find it covered in fat.   That was really nasty.  It might have been the store using a fattier cut than advertised, but I'm not taking that chance again- 15 or 7% from now on.   I ended up sopping up fat from the top of the chili a few hours after I moved it to Tupperware for transport that morning.  Most importantly, none of my test subjects tossed their cookies, complained of stomach cramps, ran to the John with diarrhea, or refused to touch the stuff.  Everyone ate at least one full plate.  Now, nobody came up to me and exclaimed, "Where has this stuff been all my life?  I've been wasting my stomach capacity on this crappy Hormel for way too long!!".   Depending upon the griping of one of the guys I may make it at least one more time (he was on vacation).  

Last night I tried making Russian Tea Biscuits.  There is a link to the recipe I used in an earlier posting (Nov. 30th).   I did not use the fruit pie filling suggested.  I left the insides dry- cinnamon, sugar, raisins, and I used chopped pecans instead of walnuts.  The pecans were left over from Heavenly Hash (see later this post).  It turned out pretty well.  The dough is really nice, but could be a little more dry.  Perhaps a few more minutes in the oven.  I would like to try to replicate the treats I've come to love from Davis Bakery in Cleveland.  The filling was close- it seems they may have some butter or something to keep the filling more moist.  My wife had a great suggestion- icing.  Icing like that found on cinnamon rolls.  That could be good.   Of course- all washed down with a tall ice cold glass of milk, 

Heavenly Hash  is a candy treat that pops up around Louisiana and other parts during the Lenten Season.  It is ridiculously simple, and ridiculously good. Melt chocolate.  Pour half the chocolate on a baking sheet covered with wax paper.  Dump chopped pecans and mini marshmallows onto the chocolate.  Cover with the remaining chocolate.  Allow to cool.  Cut into two-bite sized pieces. Eat.  The good folks at Elmer's Candy  out of Ponchatoula Louisiana distribute a commercial

version of the stuff.  

The continuing quest to satisfy my craving

Only after the second batch do I think I have a respectable recipe. I modified the last recipe after reading a blog authored by "Grumpy Beer Geek". In his notes on the 13th batch he mentions a note from a Mr. X. who talks about the importance of Swanson's Beef Broth instead of much of the water he'd been using and cider vinegar to replace white vinegar. Mr. X talks about simmering for 12 hours and adding torula yeast. I looked into torula yeast. Apparently it is used as a flavorant in human and pet foods. The stuff is made as a byproduct of paper production. I dunno about you, but I'm not too keen to eat that. I have to admit that I did deviate from the idea of the second recipe whilst I made it. I managed to leave the water and beef broth on the stove as I went to the store. That was a nasty mess. With only a can of broth left I turned to a beef bullion cube. I'll have to prove out the beef broth without the bullion the next time round. My wife also mentioned that she believed that this recipe was a little spicier than the last time. Perhaps I'll cut back on the red pepper as well. Another thing I learned was that lean ground beef is easier to work with. The first recipe required the chili to be refrigerated overnight so that fat could be skimmed off the top. Using 10 percent or leaner ground beef eliminates this step and leaves the tongue cleaner. This last time I skimped and used 80/20. I was disappointed with the fat and was unable to remove it from the chili even after chilling overnight. I still recommend chilling overnight to allow the flavors to better meld- just as you would with regular chilis or stews. You just can't beat anything like this the second night. Here is the recipe I plan to follow:

1 qt. water
2 cups Swanson's Beef Broth
2 lbs. ground beef- 90% lean or more.
2 med. onions, finely chopped
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
5 whole allspice or 1/2 tsp. ground
5 whole cloves
1 tsp. red pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
3.5 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. Cider Vinegar
1 whole bay leaf
1.5 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Add ground beef to water. Stir until beef separates to a fine texture (Update- mash it by hand until it breaks up into fine bits- it's not for the feint of heart or those who do not like squishy textures, but it guarantees that the beef is properly broken up) and simmer for 30 minutes. Add all other ingredients. Stir to blend and simmer uncovered for about 3 hours. Pot may be covered the last hour after desired consistency is reached. Chill overnight.

www.beergeek.com/2004/10/07/cincinnati-chili-batch-13-planning/#more-49

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torula

Well pickled, well seasoned, not as well cooked. Chili and Steak.

My wife was enjoying a ladies weekend out with a friend as a sort of bachelorette party. I was left to rule the roost. I am so saturated by football and beer now that I'm good for another few weekends at least. Beer has always been a favorite topic of mine. I love beer. Hooray Beer. Friday evening I went to the closest local market and spent the obligatory 5 minutes contemplating my choices from the beer cooler. I can't just pick one before hand- you never know what strange and wondrous beverage they have in stock that you've never seen before. That night it was clear- a standard Budweiser and new to the market Budweiser Lager. I'd never seen the lager before (Sunday afternoon during the Saints game I did see a first commercial for the stuff) and I had to try it. Nice, reminded me of Killian's. Before I go much further I have to thank Joe P. for corrupting another young incorrigible mind before the date he became of legal drinking age. Joe introduced me to Guinness, Harp, Murphy's Pub on Clifton Avenue (I really miss being able to walk to a nice Irish pub for a pint- two of my apartments in college were strategically placed in relation to Murphy's), Patsy Cline, Bootsy Collins (J Erik Landrum may have had a hand in that as well) and steak rub. A fairly substantial bit of manhood there if you ask me. Beer in hand I proceeded to walk past the beef. I found a pair of lovely steaks, already seasoned (the steaks, not me), calling out to me. I posted earlier that I wanted to find thicker steaks for grilling, I found 2" thick steaks. Just right. I was set.

Saturday was spent watching Big 10 and SEC football. I found myself with a craving about midday. I was jonesing for Skyline Chili. Cincinnati style chili is like no other. This is not a Texas chili. It is not anywhere near the beans or no beans debate. Cincy Chili should technically be called a sauce. It is a topping for spaghetti or used on coneys. Originally created by Greek immigrants, the stuff has caught on in such a way that if one were to perform impromptu surgery upon anyone of means or sense living in the vicinity of the Queen City, one would find traces of chocolate, cinnamon, and oyster crackers in the subject's blood stream. No lie. I needed to fix my fix. To Google. To Cooks.com. A recipe that sounded close enough. Clove? Allspice? I knew about the other odd flavorants, but not these. Could it be? To SuperTarget. I needed pet food too. No jonesing there- my boys were low on kibble. Once back at the house I began. 1 quart of water and 2 lbs of beef. The texture made sense. Remember- sauce. The beef isn't browned first, it's boiled. If you have qualms about this- look away. Don't click on the link below. Scroll on to the next entry. Too bad. I love it. My wife even loves it- do you think I'd marry someone who didn't? Heckie Naw. The recipe calls out for a half hour of boiling. O.K. The recipe then calls out for the rest of the ingredients and 3 hours of boiling. Huh? Wha? Not nearly enough liquid to handle that. The bottom of the pot began to burn my precious Cincy Chili Crack. I added 12 ounces more- beer bottle's worth. I added another 12 ounces. I turned down the heat. Nomenclature and specificity folks are the issues here. The recipe calls out for 4 cloves of garlic. Fine- how do you want that prepared? I lopped them in half and let them cook down- don't do that- mince finely. Drop in 5 whole cloves, 5 whole allspice? Don't. Get one of those fancy cloth baggies to hold those whole spices along with the bay leaf for easier retrieval. You don't want your guests choking on a whole clove later on. Bad form. 8 ounce cans of tomato paste? Never seen them. How about 6 ounce cans? Whats four ounces between friends? The Missus and I gave it a shot Sunday evening for dinner. The recipe calls out for chilling overnight to make it easier to skim off fat. Besides chili is always better left for a day so the flavors have time to meld properly. I used 7% fat ground beef so that wasn't an issue. If you are completely unfamiliar with Cincinnati Style Chili please look at Skyline's website for serving suggestions. Use an incredibly generous portion of freshly shredded Cheddar cheese (don't use store bought pre-shredded- the texture is all wrong thanks to the anti-caking agents) Do use finely minced onion between the chili and cheese- do use drained beans. DO NOT USE Tabasco. This is one of only two times you'll see me insist that you don't. Use Frank's or Crystal, they are the closest I've found to what is served in any of the finer chili parlors. Franks, by the way, is also key to good chicken wings. There are other chili parlors out there that are just a nice but perhaps not as well known as Skyline. You'll find good chili at Gold Star, Empress Chili Parlor (the disputed origin), the classic Camp Washington Chili, Chili Time, and others. According to another Blogspot blog Cincinnati has more chili parlors per capita than any other city in the U.S. The final verdict: Close but not quite. It seems too thick somehow, perhaps too much chocolate. I've heard that cocoa powder is the way to go. I'm not throwing it away, in fact I plan on bringing it to lunch tomorrow. The recipe needs tweaking. I'll keep you posted as to my progress on this very important culinary front.

The steaks: Pre-seasoned. I know sacrilege. Consider though, that steaks I purchased from the previous tenant of the market were seasoned and cooked quite well. I grilled them over direct heat on both sides to sear. I placed them off to the side for medium heat to cook through. In the final stages I used a thermometer to check temps. I cooked to well done. Argh. I forgot what temperature medium rare is (140 F and I cooked to 160- way past done). They were still tasty and delicious. I enjoyed every freakin bite. Next time I will have my perfect steak. Potato- Waved a medium potato for a few minutes (don't forget to stab with a fork to help release steam). Buttered and seasoned with steak rub. Wrapped with foil and grilled. Can't beat that. Didn't even need sour cream or chives. Perhaps I was pickled enough that it didn't matter...

A helluva weekend. Beat that!


http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2008/01/cincinnati-chili.html oddball recipe. not tried. let me know what you think.
http://www.skylinechili.com/
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1926,158181-246204,00.html recipe I tried. Needs work, but a good start.