It's Cold Outside - Time for Chili!

I was trying to get rid of some of the things in my pantry and in my fridge today, so came across a chili recipe that sounded tasty. Unfortunately, I didn't have all of the ingredients it called for per se (I was missing some basic things like onion and garlic, for shame!), so I modified it a little bit. The original recipe I adapted this from is here (without the topping thingie). This turned out really tasty. This is how I made it:

Ingredients
~1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb ground chicken/turkey (I used Kosher turkey)
~1.5 tsp garlic powder (would have used chopped/minced garlic if I had any on hand)
~1.5 tsp onion powder
2 leeks, chopped (didn't have any onion, maybe 1 chopped?)
1 carrot, chopped (I used a bunch of baby carrots, chopped up)
~6 drops of Habanero pepper sauce (or use 1 jalapeno, with or without seeds, chopped)
salt & pepper
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
6 oz beer (I used Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre)
1/4 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce (I used Frank's)
15 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, with juices
15 oz. can tomato sauce
15 oz. can red kidney beans, drained
15 oz. can white kidney beans, drained

Directions
Heat a medium Dutch oven or large skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil and the butter and melt together. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking up the meat, for 6 minutes.
Add the garlic, leeks, carrot and hot sauce. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the beer and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan; reduce mixture over medium-ish heat for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, hot sauce, and the tomato sauce. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the chili for 20 minutes.

This recipe turned out quite spicy! To combat some of the spice, I shredded some Tillamook cheddar and topped the chili with it. I also made mashed potatoes on the side. I'm thinking of baking up some of the leftovers in a sort of "southwestern shepherd's pie" type creation. I also had some broccoli. I'm definitely going to be making this again. It was really yummy (and I have leftovers!).

Pumpkin Bread

I haven't posted in awhile, things have been very crazy between buying a house, moving, and having some crazy work stuff come up, so I figured today I'd post something simple: my recipe for pumpkin bread. It's really simple, notterribly unhealthy, and unbelievably tasty.

























Dry Ingredients
2.5 cup sugar
3.5 cup flour
1-2 tsp cinnamon (I use 2)
1 tsp nutmeg
1-2 tsp ground ginger (I use 2)
2 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients
4 beaten large eggs
0.5 cup oil (I use safflower oil)
2/3 cup water
2 cup pumpkin (I use one 15 oz. can of pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Grease 2 bread pans (I use glass).
In one bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients so they're well mixed.
In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (I do the eggs first, then add the rest).
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then mix together until everything is just mixed but not overmixed (I do not find it necessary to use a hand mixer, just a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon).
Pour the half the batter into one bread pan, the rest in the other.
Bake for 1 hour, or until the edges are pulling from the sides of the pan and a knife or toothpick in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Cool for about 15 minutes in the bread pans on a cooling rack, then remove the loaves from the bread pans and let them cool the rest of the way (if you can wait!).

This bread tastes pretty darn good fresh out of the oven but it's even better when it's fully cooled.