Cold Weather Meal: Chili and Cornbread

Yes, I know. I haven't posted since sometime in November. No, I am not going to explain why. I just haven't is all. It's my blog and I'll post when I damn well feel like it!

Winter has *finally* descended upon us here in Georgia. With the temps down in the 30's and 40's (don't laugh, that absolutely qualifies as cold on the outskirts of "Hotlanta") we need something to help keep us warm and I know nothing better to do that than a nice big pot of chili accompanied by a slice of warm-from-the-oven cornbread and that's exactly what I've got simmering and baking right now.

According to my nephews and my husband I make the best chili around. Of course, as long as they like it, I honestly don't care if anyone else doesn't! Give it a try. Even if you don't think it's the best around, I expect you'll like it!


Even better, it's a quick and easy meal to whip up and easily feeds a crowd even when that crowd includes four hungry boys (and we all know how much they can eat!).

So, without further ado, here's how I make it:

Brown about 2-1/2 pounds of ground chili meat with 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

While meat is browning, add 3 cups chopped onion (or 2 cups chopped onion and 1 cup chopped celery) and about one rounded tablespoon of minced garlic (about 3 large cloves).

Drain the meat and add six 16 ounce cans of beans. I usually use half light red kidney and half dark red kidney beans, but today I decided to do two cans each of light red, dark red, and white kidney beans (white kidney beans are also known as cannellini beans). A mix of kidney beans and black beans and/or pinto beans is also tasty! I drain and rinse the beans before adding them, much to my mother's horror (she described the gooey stuff in the can with the beans as "good stuff;" to me, it's "bean snot."), but if you read the ingredients on the can, the bean snot is just salt and dextrose, neither of which is needed in our finished chili. A-a-nd now that I've called it "bean snot" twice, you'll be rinsing it off from now on, too. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! The first step in my plan for world domination is complete!

Errr....Um, where was I? Oh, yeah...chili.

Now for the spices and herbs: 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons chili powder (Alton Brown's recipe), 2 tablespoons dried parsley, 1 tablespoon dried cilantro, 1 teaspoon each sweet and smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon red pepper flake, 1/2 teaspoon ground Indian red pepper or cayenne pepper, and (now here's where I tell you to add things that will make you think I'm nuts, but do it anyway, trust me, it works!) 1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.

Stir to evenly distribute the spices. Then add 14.5 ounces of low-sodium beef broth, one 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (do not drain!), and one 28 ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir in about one tablespoon of Cholula sauce (I just eyeball this so it may actually end up being closer to two) and two bay leaves, then cover and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least thirty minutes before serving.

Serve with sour cream, shredded Cheddar or Colby-Jack cheese and a generous slice of cheesey chile cornbread (keep reading for the recipe).

While the chili is simmering, make a pan of this delicious cheesey chile cornbread! Preheat oven to 425° F (220° C) and spray a 8x8 Pyrex dish with cooking spray.

This is a dead-simple recipe. Seriously, it'll take longer to gather all the ingredients than it will to mix up!

In a bowl, combine 1 cup each all-purpose flour and corn meal, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten eggs, 1/4 cup corn/vegetable/canola oil, 1 cup whole milk, 1 drained 7 ounce can of corn with sweet peppers, 1 drained 4 ounce can of green chiles, and 2 cups shredded cheese (Cheddar, Colby-Jack, or "Mexican" shredded cheese mix).

Mix until all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Cover with a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

If desired, sprinkle another cup of cheese over the top of the corn bread and place the pan under the broiler for about a minute to melt the cheese (my husband likes to break the cornbread up into his chili, so I didn't do that for this pan).

Hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do. Of course, as with most things I make, there's enough here to feed a small army or a few teenage boys!

Promise's Chili

Makes about 12 servings
Ingredients

2-1/2 lbs of ground chili meat 

3 cups chopped onion OR 2 cups chopped onion plus 1 cup chopped celery
3 lg cloves garlic, minced (abt 1 rounded tbsp)
6 16 oz cans of beans (dark red/light red kidney, white kidney, black, pinto) drained and rinsed

1 14.5 oz can low-sodium beef broth

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 28 oz can plain tomato sauce

1 tbsp Cholula brand hot sauce

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c + 2 tbsp chili powder (Alton Brown's recipe)
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried cilantro
1 tsp each sweet and smoked paprika,
1 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 tsp ground Indian red pepper or cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 bay leaves

Directions

Brown meat with salt and pepper.
While meat is browning, add onion (or onion and celery) and garlic.
Drain the meat and add beans.
Add spices and herbs except bay leaves and stir to evenly distribute.
Then add beef broth, diced tomatoes (do not drain!), and plain tomato sauce.
Stir in Cholula sauce  and two bay leaves.
Cover and bring just to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for at least thirty minutes before serving.
Serve with sour cream, shredded Cheddar or Colby-Jack cheese and a generous slice of cheesey chile cornbread.

Cheesey Chile Cornbread

Ingredients
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c corn meal
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1/4 c corn/vegetable/canola oil
1 c whole milk
1 7 oz can of corn with sweet peppers, drained
1 4 oz can of green chiles, drained
2 c shredded cheese (Cheddar, Colby-Jack, or "Mexican" shredded cheese mix)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425° F (220° C) and spray a 8x8 Pyrex dish with cooking spray.
In a bowl, mix all ingredients with a spoon until all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Cover with a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.
If desired, sprinkle another cup of cheese over the top of the corn bread and place the pan under the broiler for about a minute to melt the cheese.

Bits 'n Bobs

First: An apology for the little hiatus. I have been suffering the adverse effects of having low hemoglobin. In other words, I didn't have enough iron in my blood. In other other words, I'm anemic. As a result, I've been fatigued, exhausted, dragging around barely functioning. Mostly I've been sleeping, like 16 or more hours a day. I'd think of things to write about here, but just not have the energy to get out my laptop and type it out. Extreme fatigue = no posts. I need to start writing ahead to prevent this problem in the future. And that leads me into....

Second: NaNoWriMo is fast approaching. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to try to write a novel (first draft) start to finish all during the month of November. For more information about NaNoWriMo itself, go to nanowrimo.org
Some of you may know that I've had an epic historical fantasy novel kicking around inside my head for the better part of 12 years now. I hope to one day actually write that beast, but 2015 is not the year for that. Rather, in the spirit of NaNoWriMo I am going to attempt to write and post a blog entry every day during the month of November, all 30 days. This will give me the opportunity to start writing about subjects (other than cancer) that are important to me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer or a subject you'd like to see me write about, please post it in the comments!

Third: Additional things people have said to me or about cancer that I find completely annoying and I would like it very much if people would stop.

• "You're going to be such an amazing nurse now." "This is going to make you a better nurse." And other variations on this theme.

Sadly, this one I hear more from other nurses than  from the general population. I get what they are trying to say (that I'll have a unique perspective from having been a patient, never mind the fact that this isn't my first rodeo: in my 38 years I've racked up 11 surgical procedures, I have plenty of experience being a patient, I really don't need more), but the way it is stated implies that I wasn't a good nurse before. I know that to not be true. Connecting with patients (and their families) is actually one of my strong suits. That element of caring can't be taught, but it's extremely important as it improves patient outcomes and patient compliance. It also simply makes things easier on you and the patient if you get along well. I get that the nurses are also trying to take a senseless situation and give it some meaning. Maybe some people find that comforting. I don't. I just think it's a silly thing to do. As I've said before, there is no greater meaning or purpose in me getting cancer. It's simply a nasty thing that some people get, just like with any other disease. There is no lesson to be learned, no information to be gleaned, it just is.

• "My mom died of cancer. With her lifestyle it wasn't a surprise at all." 
• "If your faith was stronger you'd never have gotten cancer/your cancer would be cured already."
• "If you'd just done X, Y, Z, you wouldn't have caught cancer." 

Yes, there are certain lifestyle and dietary choices that can increase or decrease your chances of getting certain cancers. That doesn't make the cancer the fault of the patient. This is especially true of women's gynecological cancers. Even with regular care via an OBGYN, few sexual partners, monogamous relationships, and no history of sexually transmitted infections, I developed ovarian cancer. There's nothing I could have done to prevent it and nothing I could do to cause a cure to spontaneously happen. Faith and prayer can help you get through the dark days of your cancer treatment, but to make the above statement to someone is beyond cruel. If you say that to someone, you are a bad, bad person. Oh, in case it isn't blatantly obvious, you can't "catch" cancer. It's not a virus or a bacteria spread from person to person.

• Coughing, continuously within a five food radius of me, without covering your mouth. And, especially, doing so when you know my white blood cell count is critically low.

I don't care if it's "just allergies," cover your damn mouth, you're spraying germs everywhere!


Fourth. I don't actually have a fourth. I just can't figure out a good outro for this entry. So I guess thi