Beef Chili, Pumpkin Quinoa Cornbread, and a Homemade Cinnamon "Latte"

 

(Cue the cattle drive music):  Howdy y'all!  This menu makes me feel like I'm in some kind of old western movie.  I'm playing the role of "Cookie", the crusty old cow hand, who slaves over a cast iron pot, cooking the beans to sustain the cowboys out on the range.  It's "Cookie" who rings the triangle-shaped dinner bell and hollers his one and only line in the entire film:  "Cooooooooome aaaaaaaaannnd get it"!  Well, actually the chili and corn bread part of the menu are pretty typical fare for old Cookie, but the cinnamon latte...not so much.  His coffee would probably resemble a cup full of chunky blackstrap molasses.

First the "latte".  Well this is so easy it's silly, but it tastes SO good.  It beats any $3.00 latte, hands down.  And I figure it only costs about .50 per cup, or less, depending on what kind of coffee you use.

Homemade Cinnamon "Latte"

• Dollop of REAL whipped cream (I used a pint of heavy cream, and 1 T. pure maple syrup to sweeten--beat with a mixer on medium to high speed until it forms whipped cream)
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• Drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Brew a cup of coffee, top with the above goodies.  Stir.  Then close your eyes and smell it, oh it's SO beautiful!  Now pretend you have nothing to do but put your little feet up and enjoy the sunrise; make believe you do not have to make breakfasts, lunches, and get everyone ready and hurried out the door...you may have to keep your eyes closed for this part...and enjoy that first sweet sip.  Now open your eyes. Sorry, back to reality...now get those lunches made!! :)

On to the cowboy meal.  Everyone and their grandma has their very own particular chili recipe.  Chili is such a personal thing.  But, I do have two recipes we like, so I'll go ahead and share them, but you know the drill: tweak it to your little heart's content.

Basic Chili with Beans (adapted from "Blue Ribbon Chili" from The Everything Freezer Meals cookbook.)  I see that the original recipe is online right HERE, but it's a big recipe for bulk freezer cooking that uses 5 lb of beef, and has no beans in it.  I have made it and like it a lot, but my family really prefers beans in their chili, so I added them this time.  I also noticed that you really need about 4 times more beef stock (or added water) than it calls for in the original recipe to get the chili to the right consistency.  I have adjusted for that already in my adapted version.  Here it is:

1/2 a yellow pepper, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 a yellow onion, chopped
1/2 a jalapeno, finely diced

I just have to insert a super-useful tip here:  when peppers and onions were abundant and cheap I sliced a whole bunch and froze them in these little fajita "kits".  I use them for everything, not just fajitas.  It's 1/2 an onion, some green pepper and some yellow pepper strips.  I also seeded and halved a TON of jalapenos and froze them in a big ziplock.  It's so easy to just pop one out to use, all washed and seeded.  And these frozen things are very easy to dice smaller, right out of the bag still frozen.  I do like to let them thaw, or thaw them in the microwave, because they do release a lot of moisture, and I don't like to risk shocking and cracking a hot dutch oven or pan by putting frozen food right into it.  Let them come to room temp before using in your recipes.

Heat a drizzle of oil (you can use a skillet for this part then transfer to a 6 qt pot later, or just use a 6 qt. pot or dutch oven for the whole process...).  Sauté the onion and peppers together until soft, and onion is translucent.  Then add in:

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, pressed--let it warm up for a minute on top of the veggies, then add:
1 lb ground beef

Brown the ground beef.  Remove the whole mixture to drain.

Into a dutch oven or stockpot add:

1 can diced tomatoes with chilis (I LOVE Muir Glenn organic)
Pre-cooked beans (optional), about 15 -20 oz.  (I used JYOTi Organics brand red kidney beans, in a pouch, but you can use canned beans, whatever kind you like...either way, be sure to rinse and drain them before adding to the pot)
1 T. Cumin
1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1 T. Chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 small can of tomato paste
1 T ketchup
1 tsp. sucanat (unrefined cane sugar), or coconut sugar, or maple or honey
2 cups beef broth

Add in your drained beef and veggie mixture, and bring to a boil.  Immediately lower the temp to low and simmer about an hour.

Here's the thickness of mine after simmering.  I covered it loosely while it simmered.  You can use more or less beef broth or water to get the consistency you want.

Another great recipe I have tried and love, comes from Sandra Lee.  It's an all-beef (no bean) chili, made from stew meat (I cut it up into smaller bite-sized pieces) in the crock pot.  HERE is that recipe for you.

Pumpkin Quinoa Cornbread

Here's a treat from one of my all-time FAVORITE cookbook authors, ever.  Ever.  Ali Segerston.  She, along with the very holistically trained nutritionist, Tom Malterre, has written two of the best cookbooks I own.  As in, if all my cookbooks were suddenly destroyed, these are the first two I would immediately purchase again.  Her books and website are gluten free, refined sugar free, and often dairy and egg free as well, but most importantly, DELICIOUS!  And extremely nourishing.  I've worn out the binding on my copy of her first book The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.  Both Ali and Tom were trained at Bastyr University in Bellingham, WA.  If I could go back and do it all again this would have been my choice too.  (My college degree from a million years ago is in English Literature.  Yes, it was fun, but not as tasty or useful as a degree in nutrition or the culinary arts!)

The recipe itself is right on target. (All of Ali's recipes are well tested, I've found that they are always spot on.)  I will say this in regards to the ingredients though:  I had to substitute for the sweet rice flour, because that's not something I stock around here.  I happened to have some Aarowhead Mills GF baking mix, so I used that.  And in regards to the corn meal, be SURE to use a finely ground cornmeal.  I used Bob's Red Mill medium grind the first time and I really did not like the coarse texture at all...it had hard little chunks of corn in the finished bread.  Otherwise it was still very good--great moisture, great flavor.   So, round 2:  I tried Bob's Red Mill corn flour because that's the only other corn product I had on hand.  That was an even bigger problem, because it was so fine that it absorbed a lot more moisture, and the bread came out dry as a bone.  Ultimately, we ended up eating the first attempt, the medium grind version, because it was moist and tender and delicious, although the texture of the cornmeal still bugged me.  The dry one was not wasted either...my hubby likes to crumble corn bread into milk and eat it that way.  But for future reference:  It's quite important that you get a nice, finely ground cornmeal.  And be sure that it is organic.  That is important with corn, because, unless it is specifically labeled organic, it is genetically modified. 

See?  If you look closely you can see those too-big, coarse chunks of cornmeal.  Repeat:  do not use Bob's Red Mill Medium Grind cornmeal for this recipe!

 

I think next time I make this I will try soaking the cornmeal overnight in water with a bit of apple cider vinegar in it, then drain it off in the morning before making the bread.  Grains are so much more digestible if you pre-soak them.

Aren't you guys glad that I'm around to "take one for the team" and test all these recipes for you?  I just saved you two corn bread attempts!  :) Man, I don't know if I will ever be able to quit blogging, because I just can't justify letting those mistakes go un-utilized.  Failures are SO valuable.  I'm not about to waste them!
 
The pumpkin really pumps up the nutrition and makes this an unusual cornbread; it adds great moisture, and a seasonal flair.  You could probably experiment with adding pumpkin to your own favorite cornbread recipe.  I'm guessing Cookie probably didn't make his cornbread with the pumpkin and quinoa.  Life's hard out on the range.

Here is your recipe.  Do not repeat my ingredient mistakes, and enjoy! http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/11/pumpkin-quinoa-cornbread-recipe.html.