Okay, Bean Lovers

[Pulsegleaner]

I also like chilidogs.

No, I have no experience with that dish. Wikipedia says, "... spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove ..."

I'm having trouble imagining !

Sounds like the faces of people when I try to explain my mom's shepherd's pie (which I am actually having for dinner tonight). They make those faces because it has only they most cursory resemblance to a "typical" shepherd's pie (or more accurately a cottager's pie, since it has cheese in it.) and only falls under the definition if you stretch it to cover ANY ground meat pie covered with potatoes.

 

[flowerbug]

Sounds like the faces of people when I try to explain my mom's shepherd's pie (which I am actually having for dinner tonight). They make those faces because it has only they most cursory resemblance to a "typical" shepherd's pie (or more accurately a cottager's pie, since it has cheese in it.) and only falls under the definition if you stretch it to cover ANY ground meat pie covered with potatoes.

i'd still like to hear it.

i get some strange reactions at times to our recipe for spaghetti sauce as some people have never heard of using nutmeg and cinnamon in that, but it is how Grandma had been doing it for eons and how she taught Mom to do it.

 

[flowerbug]

I also like chilidogs.

No, I have no experience with that dish. Wikipedia says, "... spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove ..."

I'm having trouble imagining !

i can't say i've had chili down that ways to know if what i've had otherwise was authentic or not. like many things i'm sure chili is regionally and also familialy different based upon where you are or what clan you are dining with.

still, i'd give it a shot. i like simple foods but i'm also quite happy with curries, blends, mixes, mutts, whatever you want to call them (glops in some cases )...

some places are into mole' s and are making a reputation for them, those can be complicated and layered in flavors.

but back to chili. what are you up to there? what have you done in the past? what might you be doing next? i'm hungry. curious.

 

[digitS']

For me, it's been very simple.

Dad, growing up in New Mexico with his father raising peppers as a cash crop, might have been a guide. He wasn't. I heard about alfalfa quite a bit. No --- not as a chili ingredient! Altho Dad said that they would collect the young shoots for eating in the spring.

I heard about biscuits in the morning and cornbread at night . Both sound good to me accompanying chili.

Mom was a baker. However, Sirloin Pillows were about as close as she came to Shepherd's Pie. I would like to be able to make a good and interesting Shepherd's Pie.

Steve
PS, I'll share Dad's recipe for enchilada . Cook corn tortillas in a little oil. Cover them with diced, raw onions and grated cheddar. Pour on hot tomato sauce and sprinkle with Tabasco. Layer tortillas etc. and set a fried egg on top .

 

[meadow]

Would you like to try the chili recipe I mentioned earlier? It was originally on the Omaha Steaks website many years ago (I think it placed in an annual chili competition) Here is the recipe.

Gordon Ramsay has a nice Classic Shepherd's Pie; I've linked the video below - it's only 2 minutes long. We do something similar, but use moussaka seasonings (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg) and frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, pea, green bean) + sliced carrots & sometimes sliced crimini mushrooms that have been browned. Here is his recipe:

 

[Pulsegleaner]

i'd still like to hear it.

i get some strange reactions at times to our recipe for spaghetti sauce as some people have never heard of using nutmeg and cinnamon in that, but it is how Grandma had been doing it for eons and how she taught Mom to do it.

I can't tell you fully, because I actually don't KNOW the whole recipe (I really should learn it, mom wont be around forever, and I'll eventually have to make it for myself.) I know it contains ground beef, gravy and onions. No other vegetables as far as I know (i.e. no peas or carrots, which are common in shepherd's pie recipes) the top is garlic masked potatoes, covered with shredded cheese (a Colby-Jack mix, I think). But as to the precise spices, I'm not sure. I know I add salt pepper and ancho powder when I eat it, but whether there is already some of those in there when it is cooked, I'm not sure.

Ad I can understand about the spaghetti sauce. We cook a LOT of things oddly (or why I have a whole list of "Foods you can eat at home, but should NEVER eat out".) We add cinnamon and cloves to lamb shanks in tomato sauce (it gives then a sort of Indian/Middle Eastern Flavor). We cook our brisket in WINE, not water. Our legs of lamb are done Greek style, our lambchops with soy and garlic.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

When I was a kid in Oklahoma DB and I went to a Catholic grade school and we would come home and tell Mom what we had for lunch and sometimes she would call and get the recipe. The chili was just very plain and probably to get kids to eat it, but over the years that is what I made and also DB. Now because I work until late, DS will start some of the meals without me and he has taken over making chili and he has it down where if we do not have it for a week or so, DB says isn't it about time for chili. I think because it is kind of bland. DS says I like bland food and I think I do. I found this recipe just looking for 1960s school lunch chili recipe. This is not the school I went to and the recipe might be a little different. DS does not like kidney beans so we use red beans and chili beans. We have cornbread with it. Sometimes no onion.

ST. ANTHONY'S CHILI SOUP
Makes 75 servings (8 ounces each)

10 pounds ground beef
2 cans (96 ounces each) kidney beans
2 cans (96 ounces each) tomato puree
1 (96 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 gallons water
1/4 cup salt

 

[flowerbug]

... DS does not like kidney beans so we use red beans and chili beans. We have cornbread with it. Sometimes no onion.

interesting comment there about beans as red beans and chili beans are just small kidney beans, but those are a different flavor and sometimes texture than the larger commonly used dark or light red kidney beans. i've always loved kidney beans for the unique flavor they do have, i almost think of it as more like a red pepper taste. does DS like red peppers at all? or hot peppers? it's a different taste for sure, but i love it. when i shell out freshly grown large kidney beans before they've dried down all the way that small is right there too and i really enjoy it.

the whole recipe reads ok to me, and i would enjoy eating it, but it is not what i would go out of my way to make. i don't want soup and i want a lot more chili flavor - a single cup of chili powder would be about 3-5 cups too little. i have to avoid black pepper. onions at least a dozen, green peppers or red peppers, celery, other spices too at times, i'm not set on any specific recipe for chili but it must have enough chili in it to begin with. water, absolutely not. that's what tomatoes are for and i'm not dilluting the umami flavors if i can help it. perhaps a dash of mushroom flavored soy sauce (very light with this until you know your preferences as some brands are very strong while others are much lighter), mushrooms (as many as you'd like). bean sprouts. water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, etc. all quite usable if you don't mind variations. i just always advise people to go light with new things until you know you like it or not as there's a big waste if you put something in and then end up ruining a whole pot that nobody will eat (i'm the family dog, i'll eat about anything - even mistakes).

it is ok to not like spicy foods are a lot of different spices, but then i'd call it something different. my brother makes something he calls campfire stew which is basically a can of vegetable soup and some fried hamburger. works for him. i'd eat it too. i like those things. just that when i want chili i do want spices and most importantly i want chili. it doesn't have to be super hot capsaicin wise. just a little heat is fine with me, but i'd rather have some than none.

haha, i'm running on here ain't i? haha... procrastination from doing something else. plus i do enjoy cooking and eating.

 

[flowerbug]

I can't tell you fully, because I actually don't KNOW the whole recipe (I really should learn it, mom wont be around forever, and I'll eventually have to make it for myself.) I know it contains ground beef, gravy and onions. No other vegetables as far as I know (i.e. no peas or carrots, which are common in shepherd's pie recipes) the top is garlic masked potatoes, covered with shredded cheese (a Colby-Jack mix, I think). But as to the precise spices, I'm not sure. I know I add salt pepper and ancho powder when I eat it, but whether there is already some of those in there when it is cooked, I'm not sure.

it all sound edible to me. i like many spice combinations from Med foods and also other areas of the world. it's always been easier for me to say things i don't like instead - plus i'm usually willing to take at least one bite of something if the people i'm with are also eating it (i will never take the first bite of anything - i don't care how rude i might seem, it's just too much of a common sense thing for me) - it might be a small bite if i smell something that might be trouble, but ...

if you make mashed potatoes of any kind for Mom she'll be your friend for life. if you can make a good mushroom gravy without using black (or any other kind of pepper or strange spices) you get double bonus points.

Ad I can understand about the spaghetti sauce. We cook a LOT of things oddly (or why I have a whole list of "Foods you can eat at home, but should NEVER eat out".) We add cinnamon and cloves to lamb shanks in tomato sauce (it gives then a sort of Indian/Middle Eastern Flavor). We cook our brisket in WINE, not water. Our legs of lamb are done Greek style, our lambchops with soy and garlic.

again, i'd try all of those without a struggle with the exception of lamb as sometimes it is too strong for me, i'm not a big venison eater either, i like it turned into sausage and the same for lamb, i like it spiced and turned into gyros. well trimmed lamb i have used for stews and that is often ok. i just have to be sure of it before i commit to making a whole pot.

our not eating things out is mostly to avoid Mom's mouth getting blisters in it from reactions to spices she can't tolerate any longer. almost every place or food vendor adds pepper.

 

[digitS']

Making 2 quiche this morning.

DW got up and asked for them and made two crusts. I know that she will be happy to eat a slice for her breakfast. Broccoli! She will have that at 9:30 and they are just out of the oven .

We two will have an easy time finishing one but 2 ... see how a ladle full of chili would be good on a leftover slice of quiche ?

@meadow , thank you for those recipes. It took me awhile to realize that a chili recipe was linked. TEG should have a brighter green to indicate a link. I'm a little ways onto the red-green color blind "spectrum." How is that for someone who worked for years with flowers ?

Cumin makes sense to me as a chili ingredient. Beer might be a good idea for my tastes. I'm not so sure about a hoppy flavor. It wouldn't be a Porter ...

One problem I suspect is that I don't grow paste tomatoes. Yes @Gardening with Rabbits , I've been using canned tomatoes from the store. I've just gotta add more "layers" of flavor, as @flowerbug says.

Steve