Monday, October 6, 2008

Fall Into Flavor: Chili & Cornbread

I love this meme! Collecting seasonal recipes is one of my favorite things to do. Mr. Amazing loves simple, homestyle meals.

I asked him what meal I make that tastes like fall to him. He said my Chili & Cornbread. So here are the recipes. BTW, when I made them last week, I followed the meal with Lori's Pumpkin Cobbler. Oh my! It is wonderful!!

The chili recipe can be doubled for more guests or to freeze for a quick serve meal.






Quick Chili
Serves 4

1 pound lean ground beef chuck
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked pinto or kidney beans (one 15-oz. can, rinsed and drained)
2 10-oz. cans RO*TEL diced tomatoes and chilies, drained
1-2 cups frozen corn (optional)
1-2 tablespoons chili powder (to your own taste)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

Combine the ground meat, onion, and bell pepper in a medium saucepan. Stirring constantly, cook over medium-high heat until the meat is crumbly and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Continue to cook and stir until the chili is bubbly, about 4 minutes.

Notes:
>>You can use the equivalent of fresh chopped garden tomatoes and chilies for the RO*TEL--just make sure you peel and seed the tomatoes and let the sit on paper towels to absorb some of the moisture. Otherwise, you will have to cooked down the liquid in the pot of chili, which adds cooking time.
>>If you are serving the chili to kids who don't like beans and chopped veggies use this trick: take a portion of the veggies you will serve to them and grind them in your blender or food processor. Take a portion of the meat and put it in another pot then add the ground veggies. This works with getting kids to eat all kinds of things. I put a ketchup happy face on the chili in the kids' bowls-which makes it seem like fun to eat and tones down the spicy taste. The meal is so fast to put together that cooking separate pots isn't too much work.
>>Serve with sour cream to top and brown rice underneath to make a very hearty meal.

Whole Grain Cornbread
Serves about 9

1 cup yellow cornmeal (fresh ground if you have it)
1 cup whole wheat flour (also fresh ground)
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. (I grease an iron skillet and put it in the oven at this time.) In a large bowl, combine the corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, egg, and oil. Beat until fairly smooth, about one minute. Bake in greased or sprayed 8-inch square baking pan (or hot iron skillet) 20 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (I check it at 17 minutes when using the iron skillet.)

Note:
This cornbread is great as a side with beans, fresh corn, and sliced cucumbers. Just put a slice of fresh tomato in the center of the cornbread wedge. Ummmm! Now that's good southern eatin'!


****To join this meme, post your recipes then go to Linda's blog, 2nd Cup of Coffee, and link up on Mr. Linky.***

3 comments:

Skoots1moM said...

have never thought to add wheat flour to my cornbread...in these days of increasing fiber, i'm gonna do this...
thanks!

Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

...just printed this out and will attempt in the crockpot. DH out of town will get his at 1:00 a.m. --should be full of flavor by then.

Nice that the recipe already has whole wheat flour since this is all we ever use. -- AND I've never used an iron skillet -- will definitely try this since I finally got one in August when we went camping!

THANKS!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

You are obviously a true cook; I can tell that by how you worded your tips, etc. This sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing all of this with us!