Thursday, January 30, 2014

Mr. Hawthorne Makes Clam Chowder.

On a day like today,
what could be better than a bowl of Clam Chowder?
Mr. Hawthorne whipped this up in under thirty minutes.

First he fried up some bacon pieces.

While the bacon was happily sizzling away,
Mr. H. chopped a carrot, a celery stalk, a potato, and ...

... half a large onion.

Add vegetables to pot
and stir occasionally until potatoes get slightly tender.

He has 46-ounce cans of clam juice and chopped clams.
 
Mr. H. rinsed and drained the clams
and poured remaining juice through cheesecloth
to filter any bits that might be in with the clams.

Add in the clam juice.

A cup of frozen peas.

About 2/3 cup of cream.
Bring to a bare simmer.

Mr. Hawthorne wanted to thicken it a bit
so he made a buerre maniƩ.
Mix equal amounts of unsalted butter and flour,
kneading them together to evenly distribute the flour.
(2 TB each in this case.)
Add pinches at a time, stirring.

Add in clams.
Heat through.
Taste test and season, if needed.

A little freshly cracked pepper is all i need.


You know what I forgot?

 
 Oyster crackers!
Must have another bowl
and correct this oversight.






 Now, again, I ask you,
what can be better on a day like this than clam chowder?


 That would be snow cream!

 8 cups of snow
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cream
2 tsp vanilla

 Whup it.


Don't forget homemade chocolate sauce!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Rosie Makes Pimiento Cornbread Muffins And A Pot O' Chili .

With temperatures in the 20s lately,
I'm turning to more hearty fare.
Today, I'm make pimiento cornbread muffins
and a rib-sticking chili.
A perfect meal for a snowy stay-home kind of day!

I like taking a few hours to make a chili or a stew,

and letting it cook down

 so that the flavors develop and intensify.

The house smells so good - like home.
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
1 little pepper I'd saved from the garden
3 garlic cloves


Choppie-choppie.
Mincie-mincie.

I had a little over a pound of ground beef and ...
... a few pieces of sirloin.


Brown the meat, drain the grease,
and set ground beef aside.


Slice sirloin pieces across the grain.
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Tamari or soy sauce
Toss with the sirloin.


Toss by hand.

Heat a tablespoon each of peanut oil and unsalted butter
(In the pan you used to cook the hamburger meat.)
over medium high heat and drop in sirloin pieces.


Sear.
The reason I add the sugar is to help in the caramelization.

Add in a 13.7 ounce carton of beef broth
and scrape up the goody bits in the bottom of the pan.

Add in the ground beef.

Add in a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes and ...

... a 28-ounce can of tomato juice.
Reduce heat to a bare simmer.

In a separate pan,
I sweated the onions, peppers, and garlic.

Add to the pot.


Here are my chili seasonings:
Hungarian paprika
Cumin
Oregano
Chili con carne seasoning
Hot chili powder

The chili con carne seasoning has
chili pepper, tomato powder, cumin,
Mexican oregano, coriander, bell peppers,
celery flakes, arrowroot, allspice, and cloves.

I started simmering at 11:00.
Come in and stir every now and then.
After simmering for an hour
I added in a tablespoon each of cumin, oregano, 
paprika, and chili con carne seasoning.

After the second hour of simmering,
I again added a tablespoon each of the cumin,
oregano, paprika, and chili con carne seasoning.
Notice how the mixture has reduced.

After the third hour, 
I added in 1 tablespoon of the hot chili powder.
Thirty minutes later,
I added in another tablespoon of the chili powder.

The mixture has reduced by half.

Next I took a tablespoon of corn flour.


Mix with a little water.


Pour into the chili and stir.
After four hours, my chili is ready.

In the meantime,
I made a batch of pimiento cornbread muffins.
Pimiento Cornbread Muffins
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
plus additional butter to butter muffin tins
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1/3 cup drained pimientos, patted dry and finely chopped

Heat oven to 425°.
Whisk dry ingredients together -
cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Whisk wet ingredients -
eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter.
Stir wet mixture into flour mixture along with pimientos
until just combined.
Divide batter among 12 buttered muffin tins.
Bake 10-12 minutes,until toothpick comes out clean.
Turn onto rack to cool.




Yes, Rosie is messy.


Hot buttered corn muffins!

Oh yum.
Look at that crumb.


I am not a chili purist.
I like beans in my chili,
so I cooked up a pot of black beans.
Topped the chili with beans,
chopped red onion, and chopped avocado.

Pretty linen from Daughter Hawthorne.