What I Ate Wednesday

Two weeks in a row! Just remember, I'm drinking water all day long.

Breakfast
nonfat triple latte (Starbucks)
blueberries
1/2 bagel with butter

Lunch
leftover grilled pork tenderloin
spinach salad
cherry cobbler yogurt
Diet Coke

Snack
giant, tasteless orange
Pink Grapefruit Perrier

Snack
chocolate brownie Clif Kids bar

Dinner
a couple of Miller Lites
wings + pizza

A pretty standard Wednesday for me with the post-run beers/wings/pizza.

What I Ate Wednesday... a day late

I'll bite, but I won't show pictures:

• Breakfast: chocolate Cream of Wheat, pink grapefruit Perrier (so fancy), a little coffee with half-and-half
• Snack: banana
• Lunch: leftover grilled pork tenderloin, salad, strawberries, yogurt, Diet Coke
• Snack: puppy chow
• Pre-Run Snack: chocolate brownie Clif Kids bar
• Dinner: two pieces of sausage-green peppers pizza, 3 or 4 wings, 3 Miller Lites

I think that covers the day! Pretty sugary.

Roundup

Let's do a quick weekend roundup before this week gets too out of hand.

Friday night: Aaron and I went to the gym after work. He lifted while I got my own fitness assessment and then walked a little on the treadmill. Secret: I am out of shape and the exercises to test my fitness ended up leaving me sore the next day. We stayed in Friday night because we had an early wakeup call on Saturday.

Saturday: We should have gotten up earlier, but we got up and were ready for our 11-mile run with just enough time before we had to meet someone. That was a fail -- the Towpath wasn't run-able so after 2.4 miles there, we went over to Sand Run for 6ish miles. 8.5 miles instead of 11. My pace was on target at least. We rushed home to get ready for the latest acquisition:

Yep, we bought another car -- a 2002 Jetta. It was a super deal and, obviously, Aaron knows these cars quite well. It's still shocking that we now have two German vehicles. Once Aaron gets it sorted out, it'll be nice to rack up fewer miles on the GTI.

As you can tell from the short sleeves, the weather was awesome on Saturday, so of course that meant for scooter riding! We pulled out the Sprint and the smallie for a quick jaunt to Kent. They're going to Durham this weekend, so it was nice to make sure that they were a-ok.

We couldn't stay too long (hello, Wild Earth Outfitters, where I have spent way too much money) because we had dinner plans with Aaron's dad at Bspot. I won't go into details about it because if you don't like Bspot, people think you're just being difficult. I think the restaurant is just being difficult and is overrated and overpriced. The food was decent (portion sizes were a little small for the cost), the beer list was good (nothing really unusual, but a nice mix... that was a little pricey, go figure) and the service was good (except for stupid rules like not being able to get anything as an appetizer). For my money, there are way better burgers (and I don't need a Michael Symon association to prove it). And the more I think about it, the less I like it. I can't imagine ever returning unless it's for the admittedly very good happy hour specials (that are over at 6 so obviously it's not likely that I'll ever check 'em out).

That reminds me, I should blog about the beer schools that The Rail does. (Their burgers are WAY better, btw.)

Afterward, Aaron and I caught the end of the Broncos-Ravens game <sad face> while having a microbrew at Cornerstone.

Sunday: There was talk of running, but the weather forecast said no. (We should have gone; the forecast was straight-up wrong.) Sleeping in was nice too. Then there was lunch at Earth Fare, followed by coffee, errands and whatnot. We ended the day with dinner at Baxter's (our third time there and it's getting better! AND, AND, AND! They have Hoppin' Frog's BORIS the Crusher ON TAP).

And then beer at Buffalo Wild Wings - Akron ($2 pints!).

Cincinnati-Style Chili

I like chili - all kinds. Pork, vegetarian, beef, etc. And occasionally I want Cincinnati-style chili. If you're unfamiliar, it's typically a thinner chili with a distinct cinnamon flavor, served over spaghetti (three-ways, four-ways, etc.) and on hot dogs (coneys). The chili was created by Greek descendants, which explains the unusual blend of spices. I usually go to Skyline, which satisfies any craving. I'm not from Cincinnati, so I'm not familiar with the nuances of the style.

That said, I wanted to make it, and the internet was both helpful and overwhelming - tons of recipes, theories and debates about what's right. And the grocery store was completely unhelpful! No spice packet so I could shortcut it, and no allspice.

I researched ingredients and methods. Some recipes are super-spicy (not hot spicy, just a more complex blend of spices like coriander, allspice and cloves). Some saute onions and garlic. Some saute the beef. Some use diced tomatoes. But Cincinnati-style chili is not hot; the cayenne is there to bring out the flavors and add some depth - not to make you sweat! It pained me not to add a jalapeno, but I was aiming for traditional here.

I took what seemed most traditional and went with it. My recipe turned out really tasty, so I thought I'd share it, along with what I'll do differently next time.

Cincinnati-Style Chili

1 pound-ish of ground beef - mine was 90% lean organic and I'd totally recommend it
½ can of tomato juice (the biggie - 1 quart, 14 ounces, I think)
2 cups of water (estimate - this will depend on how thin/thick you want your sauce)
½ can of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of cayenne

In a large pot, mix tomato juice, water and tomato paste. Heat and add the beef, breaking it up as much as possible. Braise the beef until it's cooked through. While it's cooking, put together your spice mixture. Add more water if necessary. Add Worcestershire sauce and the spice mixture. Simmer as long as possible. If you can serve it the next day, it'll be even better. And if you use less-lean meat, refrigerating overnight will make it easy to remove the extra fat. With 90% lean, though, I don't feel there's any need.

Mine simmered about 2.5 hours, and it was fine. I served it with drained and rinsed red kidney beans, diced onions (for Aaron; I think raw onion is gross) and shredded cheddar cheese. Oh, and oyster crackers! I don't know why, but they're traditionally served and I like the crunch. Don't forget the hot sauce. Typically a thinner hot sauce is served. I used Tapatio and Aaron used Sriracha (which I think is too thick for this application, but I'm also sure it was delicious).

So I ate a four-way with beans (spaghetti, sauce, cheese, beans), and Aaron ate a five-way (spaghetti, sauce, cheese, beans, onions).

I really think braising the beef instead of sauteing it is key - and doing it in a blend of tomato juice and water is really nice. I suppose you could use broth instead of water, but I don't think I will. For the traditional style, I'd also stick with powdered garlic and onion - it's supposed to be a meat sauce, and I wouldn't mess with that texture.

Next time I will definitely add a half of a teaspoon of allspice and a half of a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder - I think it'll make the flavor more complex and interesting. And maybe a touch more cinnamon, although mine is probably old, so if you're using newer cinnamon, a teaspoon is probably good. And I might shred my own cheese next time - a nice blend of sharp cheddar and colby would be tasty. Other than that, I think it's good!

Chorizo-Stuffed Peppers

What do you do when friends give you a bunch of peppers? You stuff 'em!

Ingredients:
5 links of locally produced turkey chorizo
4 Hungarian hot or sweet peppers (not sure)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
3 jalapenos
handful of parmesan
handful of bread crumbs
1 egg
black pepper (several grinds)
garlic (teaspoon or so, minced)

Directions:
Slice peppers in half, except for the jalapenos. Remove the seeds and the ribs. Hopefully the Hungarian peppers are not too curly. For the jalapenos, cut off the top and use a paring knife to remove the ribs and seeds from inside. (Afterthough: I could have added the seeds to the sausage mixture.)

Take the chorizo out of the casings. Add the parm, bread crumbs, egg, garlic and pepper; mix with your hands because it's stupid to use a spoon. Some fresh or dried herbs could be nice, but this chorizo is unknown to me so I didn't want to overseason.

(A smart cook would have taken a tiny bit of the chorizo and fried it up in the pan to test its seasonings. THEN that very smart cook would have make the stuffing and then tested it again. I am not smart, so I winged it.)

Get out a glass baking dish and lightly oil the bottom. Start stuffing the peppers. Make meatballs out of the leftover stuffing. I put plastic wrap over the dish and stored the peppers in the fridge for the next night's dinner.

When it's time to cook, preheat the over to 425 degrees. Then find yourself some tomato sauce (homemade is better, but not necessary; if I were making the sauce specifically for this dish, I would use a jalapeno in the sauce to make it spicy) and shredded cheese (a freshly shredded mix of mozz, provolone and parm/romano/asiago would be nice, but use whatever you have). Heat sauce in a pan (maybe add some crushed red pepper). Sprinkle cheese over peppers (a nice layer, like you would layer a pizza).

BTW, if I were doing this all in one night, I would add some sauce to the bottom of the baking dish, then layer the stuffed peppers, then add sauce on top, then the cheese, and then bake. But since I split this up, I would just bake them off with a spoonful of sauce on each pepper. I would serve a side of sauce at the table because a spoonful of sauce is never going to be enough for me! Also have extra sprinkle cheese and crushed red pepper.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes. You should be able to tell when it's about done. Remove foil and turn broiler for 5 or 10 minutes to brown the cheese. Mmmm... carmelized cheese.

Disclaimer: I am not a very good cook, and I just know what I like and what works for me. I take the easy way out A LOT. That said, I've seen recipes that call for cooking the sausage beforehand, but that's unnecessary (and results in overcooking the meat and/or undercooking the peppers). Copy recipe at your own risk!

And note to self: If I'm going to type up recipes, I should probably start measuring stuff.

Beef Burgundy

Last night, I was a cooking machine: beef burgundy (what I do isn't worthy of the name "beef bourguignon"), stuffed peppers, and banana bread. The banana bread was the only thing I used a recipe for, although I used butter instead of shortening and whole wheat flour instead of white all-purpose. I also used mini chocolate chips because that is the only size acceptable in bread. And the bread's good, so I declare that a winner.

But I have to say that the beef burgundy turned out well. I took a tip from Anne Burrell and marinated the beef (not as long as she suggests though; I am also sure her recipe results in a WAY better dish) and winged it from there:

Beef Burgundy

Step 1: Put a pound-ish (no clue how much was there) of stew meat into a bowl, add garlic, steak seasoning, extra black pepper, and cover with red wine (I used a shiraz that I opened recently to make pasta sauce). Let that hang out while you do other stuff around the house.

Step 2: Chop up some bacon and throw into a pot with black pepper. Cook until brown. Move to towel for draining.

Step 3: Take beef out of wine, reserve wine. Dry off beef with paper towels.

Step 4: Season about a cup of whole wheat flour with steak seasoning. Add beef.

Step 5: Heat up olive oil in the pot you cooked the bacon in. Brown beef in batches. This takes FOREVER, but is worth it to properly brown - and not steam by over-crowding the pot - the meat.

Step 6: Deglaze pan with reserved wine. Boil wine for a few minutes. Add more wine. Add a couple of glasses of water.

Step 7: Season wine/water mixture with a pinch of dried thyme, pinch of dried rosemary, a sprinkle of mesquite seasoning, more black pepper. Taste - it should be good. If it's a little too alcohol-y, add some more water.

Step 8: Add meat back to pan. Lower heat and allow it to thicken up.

Step 9: After it's pretty thick, remove meat and then strain the sauce. This is important - lots of flour ends up in the sauce and it's kind of icky. Put the beef, bacon and sauce back in the pot, along with a sprinkle of dried mustard (add some parsley while you're at it; I used the frozen cubes because that's what I had).

Step 10: Let beef burgundy (shiraz?) simmer while you boil up some egg noodles (al dente).

Serve beef over noods on a pretty plate if you're feeling fancy. I serve the sauce on the side. A sprinkle of fresh parsley would be great here, but I didn't have any. I served the dish with a size of roasted green beans tossed with olive oil and steak seasoning.

I should have taken a picture because it was actually picture-worthy. There weren't any leftovers because Aaron and I are piggies.