5 Alarm Chili

Okay, I am sorry that I have been MIA lately. Between a busy December and small vacation back home visiting with my family; I am now back in blog business. For this blog I have chosen a chili recipe that Josh and I made together. This is our take on 5 Alarm Chili. We got this recipe from a television program called Cook’s Country. Yet, we’ve made a few small changes to it to fit our palate.

The five alarms: Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder, Chipotle Peppers, Jalapenos, and Ancho Chilies

Personally, it is not that spicy. It has more heat to it than spiciness.

What You’ll Need:

28 ounce whole peeled tomatoes

3 ½ cups of water

3 cans of pinto beans (drained and rinsed)

1 ½ cups of beer

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons of chili powder

2 Spanish onions (chopped)

2 ounces of chipotle peppers

2 teaspoons of adobo sauce (in the chipotle pepper can)

2 teaspoons of sugar

2 jalapeños (minced, save seeds from one jalapeño)

6 cloves of garlic (minced)

3 dried ancho chilies

1 pound of ground beef

What You’ll Do:

·        First, you need rehydrate the ancho chilies. Place the whole chilies in a bowl with 1 ½ cups of water in the microwave. Heat until the peppers bend and become soft. Then cut off the tops and deseed. Cut the flesh into 1 inch pieces.

·        In a food processor or blender, add the tomatoes, 2 cups of water, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and ancho chilies. Blend until smooth and set aside.

·        Next, brown the ground beef in a pot with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper.

·        Once browned and cooked through, drain the fat from the meat and set aside.

·        Add the chopped onions and minced jalapenos (and seeds from one pepper) to the same pot with 2 more teaspoons of olive oil. Cook until the onions are very tender and translucent.

·        Once the onions are done, add in the minced garlic, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and sugar. When adding the seasonings make sure you are constantly stirring.

·        When all combined, add in the beer. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes. This will help cook out the alcohol taste.

·        Next, add the ground beef back and the pinto beans too.

·        Lastly, add the tomato chili sauce.

·        Let everything come to a boil and reduce the heat on low for 15 minutes.

This chili has tons of flavors layered within each bit and you will soon find out why it is called five alarm chili.

We ate ours with corn bread, crackers, and topped with cheese.

Enjoy

-SW

THANKSGIVING FEAST

Happy Thanksgiving!! Well, 6 days ago! I’m posting this later then what I wanted too but, none the less here it is!! This is the Thanksgiving feast that I cooked for Josh and I. A few years ago, when we were still dating, I started to cook “our” Thanksgiving dinner for the two of us a few days before Thanksgiving. So, for this year this is what I made. I hope you enjoy and I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as well!!

What I Made:

Cornish Hens

Mashed Potatoes

Whiskey Glazed Carrots

Sweet Potato Gratin

Cornish Hens

2 Cornish Hens

1 Onion

Salt

Pepper

Butter

Italian Dressing

I cooked the Cornish Hens in the oven for about an hour in a cast iron skillet. I put sliced onion on the bottom of the pan and put the hen on top. I rubbed the hen with butter; I even put some under its skin. I sprinkled salt and pepper and poured about ¼ cup of Italian dressing on each bird.

Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes

Milk

Butter

Salt

Pepper

I peeled, cubed, and boiled 4 potatoes. I blended them up with a half a stick of butter, ½ cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of salt, and a ½ teaspoon of pepper.

Whiskey Glazed Carrots

Baby Carrots

Whiskey

Brown Sugar

Butter

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

First, I tossed about a bag of baby carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I then roasted them in the oven until tender. I then added a ½ cup of whiskey to a hot pan. Let the alcohol cook out and add 3 tablespoons of butter. Once the butter is almost completely melted add ¼ cup of brown sugar. Add the carrots back in and coat.

Sweet Potato Gratin

Sweet Potatoes

Cream

Syrup

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Brown Sugar

Flower

Butter Pecans

Thinly slice 3 sweet potatoes and layer in a casserole pan. In a stock pot add in 1 cup of cream, 3 tablespoons of syrup, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then pour over sweet potatoes. In a bowl combine ½ stick of cold butter cubed, ½ cup of four, ¼ cup of brown sugar, and ½ cup of chopped pecans. Combine with hands until crumbly. Add over the sweet potatoes and cook of 375° for 30 minutes.

I hope you all enjoy this menu and try some of the recipes.

-SW 

Onion Rings

The best onion rings I have ever had are my homemade onions rings. I know that sounds conceded but, it is true. I think it is the way I layer the flavor throughout every step. Seriously, these are the best onion rings I have had. Plus, I make this delicious dip for them too. The dip was created this July with the help of my family. So let’s get down to business…

What You’ll Need for the Onion Rings:

Italian Bread Crumbs

Panko Bread Crumbs

Salt

Pepper

Eggs

Sweet Onion

Flour

What You’ll Need for the Onion Ring Dip:

¼ Cup Mayonnaise

¼ Cup Ketchup

2 Tablespoons of Sour Cram

1 Teaspoons of Tabasco Sauce

¼ Teaspoon of Salt

½ Teaspoon of Pepper

What You’ll Do for the Onion Rings:

Ø  First, slice the sweet onion into rings.

Ø  Then crack your eggs into a bowl. *I added a little water to mine*

Ø  Next, put your flour on a paper plate. Also, add about a teaspoon of salt and a ½ teaspoon of pepper.

Ø  On another paper plate add half Italian bread crumbs and Panko bread crumbs.

Ø  Set up your station so that your onions will be tossed in flour first, dipped in egg secondly, and tossed in bread crumbs last.

Ø  Repeat that until all of the onion rings have been coated.

Ø  Next, I deep dry my onion rings. You can pan fry if you do not have a deep fryer. *Fry until the bread crumbs are golden brown*

Ø  Put, oven on warm and keep your fried onion rings on a cookie sheet in a warm oven until all of the onion rings have been fried.

What You’ll Do for the Onion Ring Dip:

Ø  Mix together all of the ingredients into a bowl.

Ø  Make it as spicy and hot as you want with the Tabasco Sauce.

Like I said above, this onion ring recipe is layer upon layer of flavor and I think that is why it is so good. Plus the mix of Italian bread crumbs and Panko bread crumbs give them flavor as well as being super crunchy. Also, the cleanup is easy too because we used paper plates for the breading! I really hope you try this, they are soooooo good! 

Enjoy!

-SW

SUSHI

Hope everyone is staying warm! For this week’s Dinner at the Weavers, we’ve tried to broaden our horizon, we made homemade sushi! To be honest, it is pretty easy, but takes a lot of practice. From this experience, it definitely isn’t a meal I would make often but, something I would do to entertain guest.  

What You’ll Need:

Rice

Nori

Crab Meat

Green Pepper

Mushrooms

Spinach

Carrots

Celery

What You’ll Do:

v  Before you start anything, you need to cut your vegetables and cook your rice. The rice needs to be sticky, add a little more water than the package says. Also, your vegetables need to be very thin strips.

v  Getting the nori slightly wet, smoosh down about two tablespoons of rice. Make sure you leave about a half an inch at the end rice free.

v  Layer in the vegetables. If you do not like any of the vegetable I have chosen then use anything you would like. Below is a link for other sushi recipes.

v  Now roll the sushi up towards the end without rice.

v  With wet hands, make sure the end is combining to the roll and won’t unravel.

v  Net cut the sushi roll into bit size sections.

I know these directions are a bit vague but, here is some links that will help you more. I am no sushi master but it’s fun and inexpensive to make!

How to Make Sushi

Sushi Recipes

Hope you enjoyed this week’s attempt to broaden our horizon. J

-SW

Soft Taco Casserole

Happy Halloween!! Even though this post is a few days late due to Halloween festivities, I hope you still enjoy it! Josh and I had Soft Taco Casserole. Anything and everything that deals with tacos goes into this lovely dish J It is so good! If you love tacos you are in for a good treat and a change of the norm!!

What You’ll Need:

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 small can of green chilies

1 medium jar of salsa

1 can of refried beans

1 small container of sour cream

2 avocados

1 bag of cheese

1 bag of tortillas

What You’ll Do:

Ø  First, add you ground beef, chopped onion, and minced garlic to a skillet. Cook until the meat has no pink and the onions are translucent.

Ø  Next, add the taco seasoning mix with the amount of water that the back of the package says. Also, add in the green chilies at this time.  

Ø  Next, it is time to layer everything in a casserole dish. First, you will add a layer of tortillas and then a layer of refried beans.

Ø  Another layer of tortillas, layer of ground beef, tortillas, salsa, tortillas, sour cream, cubed avocado, tortilla, and cheese.

Ø  Lastly, I took my last tortilla and cut it in the shape of a pumpkin.

Ø  Bake at 375° for 20-30 minutes. You want the top to be bubbly and the top tortilla to be crispy.

I hope you all enjoy this Halloween inspired Dinner at the Weavers. Also, you can make this dish for any event or holiday. For Valentine’s Day you could do a heart instead of a pumpkin. Or a Christmas tree or cross for Holiday Parties. The creative possibilities are endless!!

Enjoy,

-SW

Creamy Crescent Chicken Ring

Hello Everyone! For this edition of Dinner at the Weavers, I have picked one of my mom’s go-to dinners. She got this recipe from a women’s world magazine, I’m pretty sure. But, it doesn’t matter because it is so good, ha. J Once Josh and I got married, I was searching for some new dinner options and this one came to mind. It is super easy and super yummy, just the thing for the Weavers.

What You’ll Need:

2 cans of Crescent Rolls

2 cans of Chicken, drained

1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 medium Red Pepper, chopped

2 stalks of Celery, chopped

1 cloves of Garlic, minced

2 cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Salt

Pepper

What You’ll Do:

• First, combine soup, chicken, onion, garlic, celery, red pepper, cheese, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
• Next, place the crescent rolls with the longest points facing out. 

• Then, spoon the chicken mixture onto the crescent rolls. Make sure you do not over pack.

• Now, take the longest points of the crescent rolls and tuck them over the chicken mixture; making a ring.

• Bake the ring according to the directions on the crescent roll's tube. It might take a couple minutes longer depending on your oven.

Yepp, that’s it. Just 5 steps and its done! This dish is the perfect meal to toss in the week to change things up. Like I mentioned above, it is so yummy! I normally serve this with a simple side salad J

Enjoy

-SW

Chicken Salad

Hello everyone, I am so sorry that I have not posted in a long time. I have been very busy these past few weeks. So, here it is chicken salad. Now, I am very weird when it comes to fruit and proteins mixing and I also don’t like fruit in a lettuce based salad. I just think it’s weird. So, in a million years I would never add grapes or apples to my chicken salad. But, when Arby’s came out with their chicken salad-that contained grapes and apples-I wanted to try to make it. Their commercials looked sooo good. I ended up going to Arby’s and tried it. It was so good-So why not make it….

What You’ll Need:

5 Cooked Chicken Breast

2 Apples-Peeled

1 Cup of Pecan-Chopped

2 Stalks of Celery-Chopped

½ Red Onion-Chopped

1 ½ Cups of Grapes-Halved

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

1 Cup of Mayo

Salt

Pepper

What You’ll Do:

Ø  First, cook the chicken in either the oven or on a skillet.

Ø  Meanwhile, chop the apples, grapes, nuts, celery, and red onion.

Ø  Ounce, the chicken is done cooking and has cooled down. Add everything to one bowl.

Ø  Add in the lemon juice, mayo, and salt and pepper to taste.

Ø  You can either it right away or refrigerate and eat when chilled.

Ø  Lastly, enjoy!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe. Also, I hope you don’t have a problem with mixing proteins with fruit and vegetables. I know, I’m weird!

--SW