Tag Archives: Simple

Jan 04 2014
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LIFE + FOOD, RECIPE

Hot Eats with Smooth Beats

kitchenI have been absent for a spell … again.  But I have an excuse!  I recently bought a house!  I’ve been working on it for the past two months getting it into shape and making it a home, and I finally feel that I can call my new house my new home.  The predominant reason this is so is because I can now enjoyably use the kitchen and it feels like mine.  It’s clean, it’s large enough to move around in, and everything has a home when I’m done with it.  It’s marvelous!

CookinPeppersAs I was cooking my dinner this evening, I thought about you all, and how I haven’t given you anything for a long while.  What better opportunity to remedy that than the maiden voyage of a newly put together kitchen!  There are several things I’d like to tell you about this evening’s culinary escapades.  First, if you you like music (everyone likes music), I would recommend investing in an HMDX Jam wireless bluetooth speaker.  A friend of mine introduced me to this wonderful gizmo, and it’s changed the entirety of my cooking experience.  I just turn on one of my favorite playlists on Spotify, link up to the speaker, and start cookin’.  Have you ever danced with a spatula & frying pan?  I recommend it…

This evenings fare is chicken & rice.  It’s a very simple dish.  Seasoned chicken, blackened bell peppers, and brown rice.  It’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s relatively quick, what more could you ask for?  Plus, if you do it right, your whole house will smell of deliciousness when you’re done.

If you’d like to try this simple, yet satisfying selection, you can find a recipe in the recipes section of the blog.

Chicken & Rice

Oh, and by the way, this is an excellent base to start with to create your own masterpiece.  If you want something a little more gooey and savory, you might add some cream of (whatever) soup and some cheese.  Or if you’re feeling a little more exotic, you can spice it up with some mango, pineapple, and a hot pepper or two.  You could turn this into a chili or a soup.  The possibilities are endless!

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Oct 26 2013
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FOOD, RECIPE

The Art of Chili

First let me acknowledge that it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and for that, I apologize. I’ve had more life and less food happening lately. But it’s good. Lessons have been learned, growth has been achieved. What’s life without a few bumps right?

Anyhow, it’s been getting cooler around here lately, and so the other day, I decided to make a batch of chili. Truly one of the simplest meals to make, chili is an art form. Often times the best chili is impossible to reproduce, making every great chili one of a kind.

All one needs to make a memorable chili is a crockpot, some cumin, and enough ingredients to fill in the rest. Like I said, it’s not hard, and if you’re creative, you can make some interesting flavors, as you can make chili out of just about anything! I’ve been known at my company’s annual chili cook-off to make some of the tastiest chili in the line up.

I remember one year I made what I called White Fire Chili. It was a white chicken chili with plenty of jalapeños and black pepper. That was my first foray into the chili arena. Another year I made a Black Mango Chipotle Chili, for which I “roasted” my own peppers and garlic on a charcoal grill. I say “roasted” because I left them on for a bit to long, and my peppers were a more blackened than I had intended intended. But they still had plenty of heat! Combined with a couple mangos, it made for a delicious sweet and savory spice. Another year I made a Buffalo Chicken Chili. That was a good one! I even made my own Buffalo sauce. Fact: Buffalo sauce is almost half butter. A year later, I made a Spicy Chipotle Chili. I think that was by far the hottest chili I’ve made to date. I decided to outsource my chipotle peppers after my last attempt at roasting peppers, and with two cans of roasted chipotle peppers, a few habaneros, and plenty of garlic & cumin, it had a hefty kick, but it was so tasty the pain was well worth it!

sChiliThis time, the decision to make chili was a last minute one, and so I just used what I had on hand (with a little help from friend). I was making it for my church small group, so I couldn’t give it too much of a kick. It wasn’t my best chili, but it was still pretty good. It was simple enough that it may be reproducible. A simple tomato based chili with ground turkey, beans, and a few hot peppers to give it some tingle, it’s a lean but delicious concoction. I’ll drop a recipe in the recipes section of the blog. You can try it for yourself, or you can use my recipe as a launch pad to prefect your own one or a kind creation!

What is the best chili you’ve ever made or tasted? Drop a note in the comments below!

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