7 Pepper Birthday Chili

Whats your favourite Birthday meal ??   Mine is a nice juicy steak, with a jacket potato ... but this year for the first time in ages , birthday dinner with Mum ( We share the same Bday ) was a few days early ...  leaving me with a big question ... What to have on my Birthday !!   It didnt take long to realize Id been craving chili all month .. so Chili it was !!    Simple, Good Food !

Basic Ingredients ( I dont cook with a recipe , or even write anything down hahaha )

2 lbs of Ground Beef from local butcher
2 large mexican sausages from local butcher
1 lb of braising steak , Crossrib - Flour for dusting
4 tins of Beans ( Unico , 3 Red Kidney , 1 Romano ) - I prefer dried , but am using up old stock
2 large sweet red peppers
2 large chili peppers
2 cayenne chili peppers
6 long green chili peppers
3 small dried red chili peppers ( Very hot ! )
8 medium onions
1 head of garlic
1/2 tin of chipolte peppers
2 green bell peppers
1 pint of dark ale
1 pint roasted tomato sauce ( Homemade )
1 quart of stewed tomatoes ( homemade )

Chili Powder, L&P, Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Start by sauteing the onions ...  transfer to slow cooker when done 

Next step, the beef , best to add flavour here , chili powder, S&P, L&P, and half the can of beer 

 In the meantime,  I rinsed and boiled the tinned beans ... rinsed again and added to the slow cooker

While the beef is browning ... add in the beans, stewed tomatoes , and roasted tomato sauce 

Once the ground beef has finished, add the sausages , and cubed and flour dusted steak ..   just need to brown these , then add to the slow cooker 

Once done with frying ...  use the other half of the beer to deglaze the pan , add to the slow cooker, this is some amazing flavour here !  

Its starting to look like chili :))   Let simmer for 2 hours 

Once the base chili has simmered , its time to add the peppers in for the last 1 to 2 hours of cooking 

All sliced and diced, and ready for the pot!! 

Five hours after slicing the onions ...  CHILI!    Mmmm its time to eat ! 

The leftovers....  usually i portion this out and freeze it up for easy meals later , this time I decided to pressure can it ...   a future post maybe ??

MmmmMmmm  I do hope you enjoy my spicy chili , this one was quite the sweat inducing bowl of goodness !!  I wouldnt change a thing .. but if your not a big fan of spicy, i would cut back considerable of the hot peppers and add more sweet :)

Don;t forget , you can always follow the daily fun over at https://www.facebook.com/RichsGoodFood

Peace, Love and Good Food to everyone !
Rich

Simple and Easy Pulled Pork : Good Food , Cheap

Ive been meaning to get to this one for well over a month,  I must admit it slipped through the cracks lol .  A request from a friend reminded me that I never did actually finish this post , just got as far as uploading the photos.  Now , like making chili , or gumbo there are a million different ways to go about making a pot of pulled pork and I'm sure more than a few people have a very strong opinion on it :))  What I'm making here , is the simple and easy method.. just a few minutes prep and the slow cooker does the rest !!  

What you will need :  Makes approx 16 servings 

1 Large smoked pork shoulder -                $8.00 for 8lbs on sale 

--  Please note , when using a commercially smoked piece of pork DO NOT add any more salt.  I made that mistake once , and it was almost inedible.  

5 or 6 medium red or white onions             $3.00 for 10lbs = $ 0.60

2 large utility carrots                                    $ 3.00 for 10lbs = $ 0.25 

6 or 7 cloves of garlic                                   $ 3.00 for 3 heads = $ 0.50

3 hot dried chili ( You decide the heat here ... I should have used 6 !  )  

Chili Powder 

Black Pepper

Hot Sauce & Worcestershire Sauce 

1L of homemade Beef or chicken stock - prefer the beef  ( 4 cups ) - 

                                                   Total Cost $ Under $10.00  , or about 65 cents a serving 

Assemble your ingredients :)  Wash and peel the carrots 

I like to give the pork shoulder a good rinse first , to help remove any excess salt.  Then score the fat to the meat , using about 3/4 to 1" squares. 

IN a hot skillet, quickly give all the sides a little colour :)) 

Meanwhile , back at the slow cooker. I added the rough chopped carrots , beef stock , dried chili , Lea & Perrins, and some Bourbon Street Bad hot sauce for a southern kick :)   I set it to high for the first hour , then its slow and low the rest of the time!  Add a tablespoon or two of chili powder too 

Add the pork shoulder to the pot, lol and this is my BIG crock pot.  You my need to move things around a little :) 

IN the same pan I browned the pork in, give the onions and garlic a quick sizzle. Add them to the pot, and cover the lid.  Check back in a hour. 

IT should look something like this , and start to smell amazing . 

I ended up letting mine simmer for a good 8 hours,  you can get away with 4 or 6 .. but I like 8 .. makes it just fall  apart ! 

Remove the carrots , and get in there with a couple of serving forks.  Shred it well. 

Of course a sample is required to test the seasoning :)) 

Sampling the pulled pork ... plain so I can judge the flavours :))Mmmmm good!!  

Later I added some extras, a little red pepper, onion and mushrooms, on a toasted garlic ciabatta roll!!  

I also turned some into a loaded jacket potato :))
http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2011/01/creative-leftovers-pulled-pork-n-beans.html

That's it ,  Its only about twenty minutes worth of work , and the rest is just waiting :))  Sampling is allowed so its all good :)) So what do you think of my latest Good Food , Cheap post ?  Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated :)  Happy Cooking !

Spicy Salmon & Cucumber Appetizer #10w5 , 7 Good Food, Cheap

I grew up having these little salmon and cucumber sandwiches... which were always nice, tasty and delicate. I finally decided to try a version more to my liking. I was able to turn them into little appetizers, perfect for snack time on Sunday :))  Ive kept these to 5 ingredients for the challenge... simple , easy , good food , cheap!! 


Ingredients you will need : 

1 can 418G Wild Red Pacific Salmon ( Or whatever you have ) $4.00 ( On sale ) 

2 small/medium red onions $ 0.50 ( $2 for 5lbs ) 

1 English cucumber $ 0.75 

Renee's Mighty Caesar Salad Dressing ( If not using this one, Id add a clove or two of chopped garlic to the mix) $ 0.75 ( $6 for 750ml ) 

2 red chili peppers $ 0.10  ( $2.00 for a huge bagful ) 

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper 

Total Cost , Under $7.00 , easily makes enough snacks for 6 people.  

Alaska Wild Salmon, with red onion, cucumber, dried chili pepper, and in place of mayo is my favourite Caesar dressing 

Simply empty the tin into a mixing bowl,  slice & dice up the onions and half of the cucumber.  The other have , cut into slices . approx 1/4" thick.