Cowboy Chili - Chunky Style

Nothing says party like a bowl of Cowboy Chili - Chunky Style. It's easy to make ahead for a crowd, but also makes a cozy solo bowl on a lap tray in front of your favorite movie. There are so many people, cities and states that claim to make the "Best Chili." For a brief time, a few years ago, I lived in Texas. I can tell you, Texas pride is alive and well. In fact, Texas is the only state that petitioned to have Chili be the state food, and won. There is a Terlingua song that includes the lyrics: If you know beans about chili, you know that chili has no beans. In Texas it's often called "A Bowl of Red".

However, I grew up in North Carolina where the best chili I ever had included many types of beans and three kinds of meat. Even the cut of the meat varied from city to city.Another style, called Cincinnati Chili, is mixed with warm spices including cloves and cocoa. It's often served over spaghetti or as a hotdog topping. When patrons order they say one of these:

Bowl: chili in a bowl
Two-way: Chili and spaghetti
Three-way: chili, spaghetti and cheese
Four-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese and onions
Five-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, onions, and beans

The origins of chili have just as many varied claims, but most credit the cowboys and pioneers of Texas. As the case for a lot of stews, it probably began as a poor man's way of making the most of the meats, spices, herbs and dried products available. The chili recipe I've been making for years is a combination of my favorite bowls of chili across the United States and a recipe from a paperback book called "Cookery for Entertaining" by Marlene Sorosky.

I was given that book in North Carolina when I was in college and by the time I was married and had my first baby girl I had made almost every recipe in the book. The other day I saw it was selling on Amazon for $200.00. My copy is in pieces, held together with tape, and some recipes only legible to me and my memory. I've tweaked it a bit to fit my taste and to add some of the warm spices I love, including a little beer sometimes to keep it interesting.I hope you'll try it, and I know you'll love it. This is one of my most requested party foods. I highly recommend a nice slab of skillet corn bread to sop up the bottom of the bowl.

[Today's chili is one of the recipes included in our Let's Lunch bunch (a group of bloggers all over the world having a virtual lunch together.) So, you are in luck -- click on these other sites to see a whole world of Chili recipes and ideas, too. The recipe for my Cowboy Chili-Chunky Style can be found at the bottom of the page~]

Let's Lunch on Chili:

Zest Bakery -Charissa‘s Clean Out Refrigerator Night Cassoulet

Cowgirl Chef - Chicken Tinga Chili

Dreaming of Pots and Pans -Dave's Chili

Burnt-Out Baker - Vegetarian Chili

HapaMama - Chinese New Year Chili

GeoFooding - Hawaiian Chili

Spicebox Travels - Vegan Vaquero Chili

A Cook And Her Books - Full of Beans Chili

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan - Keema Chili

RECIPE: Cowboy Chili - Chunky Style
(makes about 8 servings)

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
3 Garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs. Stew Beef, bite-size cubes
2 lbs. Sausage meat
1 can (28oz) Whole Tomatoes
1 can (6oz) Tomato paste
3 Tablespoons Chipotle Chili powder
2 Teaspoons Cumin
2 Teaspoons Dried Thyme
1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
*optional* 4 oz. Dark Beer or Ale
1 can (15oz) Organic Baked Beans
1 can (15oz) Kidney Beans
1 can (15oz) Pinto Beans

1) In a deep pot, heat the oil on Medium. Add the onions and garlic, cooking just until soft.

2) Add the beef and sausage and cook until all pink is gone. Stir and break up sausage to cook evenly.

3) Pour the whole tomatoes into a bowl and hand crush them, then add them to the meat in the pot, along with tomato paste, chipotle powder, cumin, thyme, cocoa, salt, sugar, baked beans and beer (if using.)

4) Stir, cover the pot, and simmer on low for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally and add a little water if needed.

5) Stir in the kidney beans and pinto beans and continue to cook for about another 30 minutes. The beef should be very tender.

This tastes even better the next day after the flavors have combined in the refrigerator. This also freezes really well and can be reheated til bubbly hot on the stove, or in the oven at 350F.

Salmon, Tomato and Feta Pie with Potato Crust

I love fixing brunch. Maybe it's because if we're having brunch I probably had the chance to sleep in (and it was too embarrassing to call it breakfast.) This "Salmon, Tomato and Feta Pie with Potato Crust" makes it easy to whip up brunch, because you can do most of the work ahead of time, even the night before.

Salmon, Tomato and Feta Pie with Potato Crust

I'm thinking this is a great idea for Father's Day this weekend. I can make everything on Saturday. Then while my deserving husband lounges in his pajamas and sets up the television, radio and computer for his full media coverage of a White Sox game (it's a sight you'd have to see to believe), I can casually throw together this full flavored dish in a few minutes. I'll employ the kids to set the table and toast some bread, throw together a salad and I'll be out of the kitchen so fast my coffee will still be hot.

I've served this before at a Luncheon and my favorite thing is how I can serve an elegant looking and tasting dish without missing out on the fun at the table. It's also an easy crowd pleaser or can be served in small sizes as a starter. Oh, I could go on and on, but you can probably think of some good ideas for this too, right? RECIPE: Salmon, Tomato & Feta Pie with Potato Crust

4 eggs
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Dill Weed
1/2 tsp Celery Salt
pinch Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tomato (chopped)
2 cups Caramelized Potatoes and Onions (recipe below)
1 Seared Salmon Fillet (recipe below)
6-8 oz. Crumbled Feta Cheese
salt/pepper

1) In a bowl, whisk the egg, milk, dill weed, celery salt & red pepper flakes together. Then add the chopped tomato.2) Butter or oil the bottom of a Medium (about 6x9") baking dish, then fill the bottom with cooked potatoes & onions. Press slightly to seal the bottom.3) Flake the seared salmon fillet and sprinkle it evenly over the potatoes. Then pour in the egg mixture. Lastly, sprinkle over the Feta Cheese and salt/pepper to taste.4) Place in a preheated 375F oven for about 25 minutes, or until set as you like it. This can be served warm or chilled.


RECIPE: Caramelized Potatoes and Onions

2 Potatoes (peeled and sliced thin)
1/2 Onion (sliced thin)
salt/pepper
2 Tbls. butter (plus more as needed)
2 Tbls. Olive Oil (plus more as needed)

1) In a skillet on low/med heat, cook the onions (seasoned with salt & pepper) in the butter and oil until they are slightly caramel colored (about 10-15 minutes).

2) Add the potatoes and increase the heat to Med/High. Cook, flipping the potatoes over, until they are tender (about 15 minutes.) Cool and hold til needed or eat and enjoy.

RECIPE: Skillet Seared Salmon Fillet

1 Fresh Boneless Salmon Fillet
1 Tbls. Butter
2 Tbls. Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper

1) Season the fillet on both sides.
2) Heat a skillet with the butter and olive oil over Med/High heat until the fats are hot.
3) Place the salmon, skin side down, into the hot skillet and let sear on one side for about 3-5 minutes. Turn over and sear the other side for about 2-3 minutes.
4) Reduce the heat to Low/Med and continue to cook the Salmon til done (about 2-3 more minutes.) Cool and hold in Refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to use in another dish, or eat and enjoy.

Brunswick Stew

My "Farming" grandma made a thick southern soup called "Brunswick Stew" in a giant cast iron belly pot on an open flame in the side yard. The side yard was next to the Salt House, across from the "lit'l hay loft" and near the Well-House where she also stored about 2 years worth of grown-and-canned green beans, corn, tomatoes, squash and who knows what else. Historically, Brunswick Stew contained squirrel, and rabbit and many fresh vegetables. Mine has one of those three: fresh vegetables.

Brunswick Stew
(w/gribenes garnish)
The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

As many times as I have eaten this stew, topped biscuits with this stew, and helped stir this stew - I had never made this stew myself. I was more than thrilled to have it as a Daring Cooks challenge recipe for this month. I made enough to feed a Southern Baptist Homecoming, but it freezes really well and may even taste better for the time to marinade. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients, but you can take a short cut if you use frozen fresh already cut veggies. Don't use packaged meats, though. The deep complex flavors that come from browning your meats and building on the tasty bits they create are very important. I'm one of my biggest fans of my own cooking (yeah, I'll say it), but I'd still pass up my own stew for a little restaurant in Durham, NC that I've been going to since I was "this high to a grasshopper".

Bullocks Barbecue and Brunswick Stew


Tommy Bullock and his whole family have been serving folks since his dad opened this restaurant in 1952. I think some of the staff have been there since then, too. When I visit home, I NEVER miss having my bowl of Brunswick Stew with Cole Slaw and multiple baskets of the best Cornbread Hushpuppies ever created. This is a place where Iced Tea means sweetened Iced Tea and you'd have to tell them if ya want it any other way. The waitresses and waiters are not folks passing through on their way to an acting career, this IS their career and they serve you proudly. Along the walls are pictures of many "celebrity types" who have enjoyed the food at Bullocks during various functions, charity events and filming. When I was a teenager I dreamed of having my acting photo up on that wall, too.

The food and the authentic people are why they come, and why they return over and over. The Barbecue is cooked long and slow outside and you can order it sliced or pulled. Bullocks opens at lunch and closes by 8pm and never opens on Sunday or Monday. When you're good, you can call it the way it works for you and your family. They're almost European in that way, but it stops there. This is Southern America down the line: casual, excellent quality, inexpensive, family friendly, cash only, mints and toothpicks on the counter when you pay out. There is always a line, but I've never felt rushed once I sat down. If you're ever near it, try it; You will love it. Until then, making your own will give you an amazing feeling of creating something healthy and rich with history.

RECIPE: From “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Serves about 12

1/4 lb slab bacon, rough diced
2 Serrano chiles, stems trimmed, sliced, seeded, flattened
1lb pork butt, cut into large chunks (original recipe called for rabbit)
3 lbs chicken thighs cut in half,skinned, and most of the fat removed (original recipe called for whole chicken cut up)
1 Tablespoon sea salt for seasoning, plus extra to taste
3 quarts Chicken Stock
2 Bay leaves
2 large celery stalks
2lbs potatoes peeled, rough diced
1 ½ cups carrots (about 5 small carrots), chopped
3 ½ cups onion (about 4 medium onions) chopped
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob (about 4 ears)
3 cups lima beans, preferably fresh (1 ¼ lbs) or defrosted frozen
1 35oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, drained
¼ cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 2 lemons
Tabasco sauce to taste

1-In the largest stockpot you have, preferably a 10-12 qt or even a Dutch Oven if you’re lucky enough to have one, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until it just starts to crisp. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside. Reserve most of the bacon fat in your pan, and with the pan on the burner, add in the chiles. Toast the chiles until they just start to smell good, or make your nose tingle, about a minute tops. Remove to bowl with the bacon.

2- Season liberally both sides of the rabbit (pork) and chicken pieces with sea salt and pepper. Place the rabbit pieces in the pot and sear off all sides possible. You just want to brown them, not cook them completely. Remove to bowl with bacon and chiles, add more bacon fat if needed, or olive oil, or other oil of your choice, then add in chicken pieces, again, browning all sides nicely. Remember not to crowd your pieces, especially if you have a narrow bottomed pot. Put the chicken in the bowl with the bacon, chiles and rabbit. Set it aside.

3- Add 2 cups of your chicken broth or stock, if you prefer, to the pan and basically deglaze the4 pan, making sure to get all the goodness cooked onto the bottom. The stock will become a nice rich dark color and start smelling good. Bring it up to a boil and let it boil away until reduced by at least half. Add your remaining stock, the bay leaves, celery, potatoes, chicken, rabbit, bacon, chiles and any liquid that may have gathered at the bottom of the bowl they were resting in. Bring the pot back up to a low boil/high simmer, over medium/high heat. Reduce heat to low and cover, remember to stir every 15 minutes, give or take, to thoroughly meld the flavors. Simmer, on low, for approximately 1 ½ hours. The stock may become a yellow tinge with pieces of chicken or rabbit floating up, the celery will be very limp, as will the chiles. Taste the stock, according to the recipe, it “should taste like the best chicken soup you’ve ever had”.

4- With a pair of tongs, remove the chicken and rabbit pieces to a colander over the bowl you used earlier. Be careful, as by this time, the meats will be very tender and may start falling apart. Remove the bay leaf, celery, chiles, bacon and discard. After you’ve allowed the meat to cool enough to handle, carefully remove all the meat from the bones, shredding it as you go. Return the meat to the pot, throwing away the bones. Add in your carrots, and stir gently, allowing it to come back to a slow simmer. Simmer gently, uncovered, for at least 25 minutes, or until the carrots have started to soften.

5- Add in your onion, butterbeans, corn and tomatoes. Crush the tomato, then add them to the pot. Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring every so often until the stew has reduced slightly, and onions, corn and butterbeans are tender. Remove from heat and add in vinegar, lemon juice, stir to blend in well. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

6 You can either serve immediately or refrigerate for 24 hours, which makes the flavors meld more and makes the overall stew even better. Serve hot, either on its own, or with a side of corn bread, over steamed white rice, with any braised greens as a side.

*This also freezes well, just label and cook to boiling before serving.*

Gribenes (Chicken Skin; baked crisp)

Spread the chicken skins out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Salt, pepper and a dash of Chipotle powder. Bake at 250F for 2-3 hours until crispy.

Quote from Husband (who has eaten at Bullocks with me): "Yeah, uh huh, this is better than Bullocks." And that's why we're still married :D