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Food Thread: It's Chilly Outside, Time To Make Chili!

This is what winter is all about! What's not to love about crappy winter weather? it is an opportunity to stock the refrigerator and freezer with all sorts of stuff that requires a few hours on the stove or in the oven, and is deliciously warming and hearty.

Chili is particularly well suited for cooking on a cold and windy day, because it is easy, infinitely malleable no matter what your tastes are, and is a perfect way to use up those extra carrots and cans of beans!

Yeah...yeah... chili can be whatever you want it to be!

''When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.''

So the chili above has black beans and hominy, and a very pleasant hit of chipotle. The lead actor is of course beef, because I am not a savage, but pork would work in a pinch. And even chicken, though that changes things considerably. And I guess you could use lamb? Anyone ever make lamb chili?

One thing I do is saute the herbs and spices before I add the liquid. It seems to accentuate their flavors, and even if it doesn't, the house smells great!

Anyone have a particular trick they use to make their special, world-famous chili?

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That's "Stracotto," from the kitchen of lurker "LF." Sorry about the small size of the photo, but it looks delicious, so I couldn't resist. It's Italian pot roast, but Stracotto sounds much better!

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It's official: commenter "Lin-duh" makes the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. I make a solid one, and I have had the fancy versions from snooty bakeries, some of which were wildly overhyped...like Levain in NYC.

Lin-duh's are the perfect combination of buttery and cakey and chocolatey and, yes, salty! That is now a non-negotiable ingredient for me.

I first tasted them in October at the Texas Moron Meet-up; Lin-duh brought a huge box of them, and they were spectacular. I begged and pleaded for the recipe, and she was gracious enough to send it to me.

I won't link to it unless she approves, so be nice to her!

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What to make to go along with the chili way up top?

Well...cornbread of course, but I figured I could tune it up a bit with old reliable -- bacon! I had no idea how much to use, so I just winged it.

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And why not add some cheddar cheese? Is there a dish that is diminished by the addition of cheese? I think not!

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This is the end result, and it was...good. Not great. I used buttermilk instead of regular milk, because I thought the extra tartness would balance the richness of the bacon and cheese. But it overwhelmed the corn flavor, and while the bread was very moist, with a great texture, it was not what I had imagined.

But it looked good!

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This recipe is from an excellent website called Dad Cooks Dinner, to which I have linked many times. Actually, I am not too interested in Instant Pot Beef Ribs (Texas BBQ Style), because 1. I don't have an instant pot, and B) I will almost certainly never buy one. I do like beef ribs, and I really like the minimalist Texas style, which is pretty much just salt and pepper.

That's why I took a look. And he even adds one of my favorite chile powders: Ancho! But he has moved mostly into pressure cooking, and I just don't have much interest.

Anyone amongst the Horde cook with an instant pot/pressure cooker? I would love to hear your reasons!

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What the hell is that? It's a sourdough loaf I baked in a loaf pan instead of a Dutch Oven, and since it was experimentation day at Chez Dildo, I coated it liberally with "Everything Bagel" seasoning out of a bottle.

I forgot to cut the top, which is why it is a little squat, but it was mighty tasty, and the texture was excellent. It is also much easier than a traditional sourdough Boule, because the loaf pan supports the dough, so no need to worry so much about forming the dough and making it nice and tight.

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It's another four-panel cartoon, so it's impossible to see on the blog, but click it and you won't be disappointed!
Calvin And Hobbes
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A friend graciously gave me some genuine grown-in-the-USA garlic, and I tasted one clove and planted the rest, because my pathetic failure last year is an anomaly...right? I hope so, because it's in the ground (actually, a large pot), and it had better work this time!

Send all of your extra antelope to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

Rumor has it that the Bourbon Bubble is bursting. I have seen no evidence of decreasing prices, but maybe the bursting started somewhere else! I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.

The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!