Overnight Oatmeal Muffins

Sometimes it takes me many times to find a recipe that works well with gluten-free flour. And sometimes when I try something, it turns out well the first time. Today was one of those wonderful moments when something turned out great the first time I tried to make it.

In my quest to make different breakfast foods using oats, I decided that I would like to try oatmeal muffins. After searching a while on the internet, I found the following recipe, which I adapted to make gluten-free. After mixing the ingredients and waiting the fifteen minutes while the muffins baked, I hesitantly tried one. It was wonderful! Next time perhaps I'll experiment by adding some raisins or blueberries. I already want to make the muffins again because they made the kitchen smell so good.

Overnight Oatmeal Muffins
makes 6 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (if making for Michael, use uncontaminated oats that are certified gluten-free)
  
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or Lactaid milk if making the muffins for Michael)
  
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup brown sugar. Try to find brown sugar that does not contain added molasses.
  
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
  
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/4 tsp. and 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Instructions:

The night before, heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm. Mix the milk and oats in a small bowl, cover with a plate or plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature overnight.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 6 cups in a regular-size muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or shortening. In a medium-size bowl, whisk the egg. Add the mixture of oats and milk, the brown sugar, the lemon juice, and the oil. Stir until combined. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, sea salt, and cinnamon. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring only enough to combine them and until you see no traces of flour.

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full of batter. Bake the muffins for 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of one of the muffins.

Chips and Homemade Salsa

Do you ever have leftover cilantro that you don't know what to do with? I used to feel bad when some of the fresh cilantro that I had bought at the grocery store went to waste. But I just discovered the perfect solution. From now on I will use the cilantro to make homemade salsa.

I don't know why I had thought that making salsa was difficult. Perhaps it's because Michael and I have been searching for years to find a store-bought jar of salsa that we really liked. The difficulty, I'm realizing, is that we're rather picky when it comes to salsa. We don't like big chunks of tomato, we like lots of cilantro, and we don't want any distilled vinegar that could come from corn. Fortunately, I found this recipe for restaurant-style salsa. It was so easy, and we could make the salsa just the way we wanted it. You can follow the recipe exactly, or you can follow my modifications, which are based on what we had in the kitchen at the time.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes. Try to find a can that has just tomatoes without any added citric acid or salt.
• 1 4.5-ounce can of chopped green chilies
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. white sugar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice

Instructions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a food chopper, food processor, or blender, and pulse until the salsa is the consistency that you prefer. The salsa tastes best if you refrigerate it for a while before serving, but we couldn't resist eating some of it right away and it still tasted great. Serve with potato chips that do not contain any corn oil.

Mashed Potatoes

Some foods go so well with mashed potatoes that I knew I needed to come up with a recipe that would work for all of us, including those who are lactose-intolerant. To complicate matters, through trial and error I've come to realize that dairy-free mashed potatoes just aren't a possibility. You see, Naomi is allergic to soy milk, and Michael is allergic to the corn in almond milk and dairy-free creamer. We could use rice milk, but I think it's a bit too sweet and doesn't have the right effect. Once I tried to make garlic and olive oil mashed potatoes, which are dairy-free, but they didn't taste the way I expected and wanted mashed potatoes to taste. So, for the once in a while that we make mashed potatoes, the best option I've come up with is to make them lactose-free by using Lactaid milk and clarified butter.

Here is the original recipe with which I started; however, I modified it to make it lactose-free and to feed a large group of people. If you would like to serve just four people but still make the potatoes lactose-free, then use 1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, 2 Tbsp. clarified butter or Canoleo margarine, 5 Tbsp. Lactaid milk, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.

Mashed Potatoes
serves 12 adults

Ingredients:

• 5 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups Lactaid milk
• about 2 tsp. kosher salt
• about 1 tsp. ground black pepper

Instructions:

Wash the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Put the potato quarters in a large pot and add water until the water just covers the potatoes. Sprinkle in some salt and then bring the water to a boil over high heat. When the water starts boiling, turn the heat down so that the water simmers, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, until they can be poked easily with a fork.

While the potatoes are simmering, clarify the butter to get rid of the milk solids. I find Alton Brown's instructions on clarifying butter easy to follow. Heat the milk in the microwave so that it is warm.

When the potatoes are ready, drain them in a colander and then put them in a pot or large bowl to mash. Add the clarified butter and use a potato masher to mash them so that the butter mixes in with the potatoes. Then pour in 1 cup of the milk, the salt, and the pepper and continue mashing. Pour in the rest of the milk -- or as much as you would like -- and mash or stir until the potatoes reach the desired consistency.

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes

The girls and I have been eating oatmeal every day for breakfast for at least the past year. I might vary the toppings I put on it or the amount of cinnamon I sprinkle on top (sometimes I go a bit crazy with the cinnamon), but it's still basically the same oatmeal. I like oatmeal, otherwise I wouldn't eat it every morning, but recently I've been wanting to have something else, something different. However, I didn't want to turn away from oats themselves -- what breakfast food could be more filling, inexpensive, and good for you? So I've been trying out other ways of serving oats for breakfast besides just cooking them in a pot on the stove. After several attempts, I am finally ready to reveal my first success: oatmeal applesauce pancakes. If a pancake can be good for you and taste good, too, then this is it.

These pancakes are also easy to make, which is a requirement for me in the mornings since I'm not a morning person. At first I didn't want to try making pancakes because I wasn't sure if I could manage flipping the pancakes over in the pan without destroying the pancakes and making a complete mess. I'm not all that coordinated, and especially not in the morning. When we have pancakes for dinner, Michael handles the pancake flipping, but he's definitely not up and interested in cooking when the rest of us want to eat breakfast. Fortunately, these pancakes are thick enough and sturdy enough for me to flip, as long as I remember to let them cook long enough on the first side. Sabrina likes the pancakes so much that she could eat them every morning -- maybe when she's older and can make them herself. In the mean time, they are a special treat that we've been eating about once a week.

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes
serves 2 adults, or 1 adult and 2 small children

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
  
• 1 Tbsp. water

Note: If you want to make these for Michael, you need to use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats (or another brand of oats that are certified gluten-free), and Lactaid milk instead of almond milk.

Instructions:

The night before you want to make the pancakes, heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm. In a small bowl mix together the milk and oats. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature.

In the morning, set your blender on the counter and make sure that the bottom of the glass jar is screwed on tight. Then pour into the blender jar the oat and milk mixture, egg, flour, applesauce, canola oil, sugar, baking soda, salt, and water. Blend on high until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined and you don't see anymore bits of dry flour. Let the batter sit in the blender for 5 minutes.

While the batter is resting, place a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat to let the pan heat up. Then, using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour 1/4 cup of batter into the frying pan. (I always do just one pancake first, to test whether the pan is hot enough.) Let the pancake cook on the first side for 3 minutes. Then flip the pancake and let it cook on the other side for 3 minutes. The pancake should be golden brown on both sides. If it isn't, cook it a little longer. Then repeat with the rest of the batter.

Serve with maple syrup, or a mixture of 1 cup of heated blueberries and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. The recipe makes 5 pancakes. If I did my calculations correctly, each pancake is only 105 calories.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I was in the mood again for a chocolate dessert, but I didn't have enough flour to make a cake or brownies. After surfing on the internet for a while, I came across the following recipe, for which I had all of the necessary ingredients. Perfect! An hour later I was sitting down with a slice of warm flourless chocolate cake on my plate.

The cake tasted rich and chocolatey, and was great by itself, especially when it was still warm. The texture was creamy, almost the consistency of a New York style cheesecake. Yet unlike many flourless chocolate cakes, this one didn't have a stick or two of butter or a cup of heavy cream. And you wouldn't believe what the magic ingredient was. Chickpeas. An entire can of chickpeas goes into this cake, but you would never be able to tell when eating it. Trust me.

Here is the original recipe. I found two other recipes that are similar to this one except that they call for 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 3/4 cup granulated white sugar instead of the 7 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and the turbinado and brown sugars. The next time I'm in the mood for chocolate and am out of flour, I think I'll try that version so that I can compare. And if I'm planning ahead, a garnish of fresh raspberries and some homemade whipped cream would make it just amazing.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
makes a 9-inch round cake

Ingredients:

• 7 ounces, by weight, of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. I used Trader Joe's Pound Plus 72% dark chocolate, imported from Belgium, but any brand of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate without milkfat would be fine.
• 4 large eggs
• 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. Look for a can that contains only chickpeas, salt, and water.
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn.
• 1 cup raw cane (i.e. turbinado) sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly grease a 9-inch baking pan and dust with flour.

Break or chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently so that the chocolate does not burn. When the chocolate is melted, remove the pan from the heat.

Put the eggs and vanilla extract in a blender. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and then pour them into the blender. Blend the ingredients until the chickpeas are pulverized and the mixture is smooth. In a small bowl mix together the turbinado sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Pour the dry ingredients into the blender and blend again until fully combined. Then pour the melted chocolate into the blender and blend again to combine.

Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then invert the cake pan onto a plate to get the cake out of the pan, and then carefully flip the cake back onto whatever dish you want to use to serve the cake on.

Baked Creamed Spinach

Ever since Laurie made a delicious creamed spinach dish for our small group a few weeks ago, I've been wanting to have creamed spinach again. Since I often am cooking something in the oven, I thought I would experiment with a recipe for baked creamed spinach. It's not exactly the same as creamed spinach cooked on the stove, but it's still very tasty.

The recipe below makes enough for just two adults, but if you would like to make enough for a crowd, then go to the link to the original recipe.

Baked Creamed Spinach
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/3 tsp. sea salt
• dash of ground black pepper
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of paprika
• 1/2 cup Lactaid milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Immediately pour 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil in a small 15-ounce baking dish (about half the size of an 8"x8" pan), and put the dish in the oven while the oven heats.

Heat a 10-inch, medium size frying pan over medium-low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat until shimmering. Dice the onion and saute until softened. While the onion is sauteing, defrost the spinach in the microwave. Place the defrosted spinach in a colander with small holes and press on the spinach to get rid of the excess water.

When the onion is soft, add the flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and paprika to the onion and stir until combined. Then slowly more in the milk and stir constantly until the sauce has thickened. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and then slowly pour the egg into the sauce, whisking the sauce very quickly so that the egg does not form lumps. (You might want to take the pan off of the heat for this step to help prevent lumps from forming.) When the sauce has thickened, add the spinach and stir until combined.

Take the baking dish out of the oven and transfer the spinach mixture to the dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. If you double the recipe, use an 8"x 8" baking pan and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.

Chocolate Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

It's been gray and rainy here for the past couple of days, which made me to want to turn on the oven and bake something chocolately. We had a very ripe banana, so I thought I would try a chocolate banana cake. When Michael tried it, he said it tasted like a chocolate-covered banana. So if you like chocolate and bananas, then this is the cake for you.

To make the cake I adapted the following recipe for chocolate banana cake. I used a chocolate sour cream frosting because I wanted one with a bit of a tang to it; however, you could also use the chocolate ganache frosting described in the original recipe.

Chocolate Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
makes an 8"x8" cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 3/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder. I use Ghirardelli natural unsweetened cocoa.
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium banana)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup Lactaid milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn.
• 1 cup chocolate chips. The two kinds I have found that do not contain milkfat are Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche. Do not use a low-fat sour cream, and check the sour cream to make sure it does not contain dextrose, other corn products, or additives.
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8"x 8" baking pan. In a large bowl stir together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, mashed banana, warm water, milk, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Pour the batter into the baking pan and put in the oven to bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack.

When the cake is cool, melt the chocolate chips in a small sauce pan over low heat. Stir frequently so that the chocolate does not burn. When the chips have melted, remove the pot from the stove and stir in the sour cream. Spread the frosting on the cake immediately.

German Baked Pancake with Blueberry Syrup

When my sister-in-law Suzanne told me recently that she had made German baked pancakes, I knew I had to try them as well. A pancake that you can bake in the oven instead of having to cook on the stove -- what could be better? In addition, the pancake needs to bake for only 20 minutes, so the girls and I don't get too hungry in the morning before it's ready. If you want to serve four people, you can double the recipe (including the oil for the pan) and use a 9"x13" baking pan.

German Baked Pancake with Blueberry Syrup
serves 2 adults, or 1 adults and 2 small children

Ingredients:

• canola oil
  
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup almond milk if you are making it for just the girls and me. For us you can also use Lactaid milk. If you are making the pancake for Michael, only use Lactaid milk, not almond milk, which may contain corn products.
  
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries or fresh blueberries
  
• 1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Immediately get out an 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking pan. Grease the sides of the pan generously with canola oil. Then pour 1 tablespoon of canola oil into the bottom of the pan and swirl it around so that the entire bottom is covered. Place the pan in the oven that is preheating. Then heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm, but not hot.

Note: if you do not use enough oil in the pan, if the oil is not hot when you pour the batter into the pan, or if the milk is too cold, then the pancake tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. I have learned this from experience. Picture pancake stuck like cement to the bottom of my Pyrex pan.

Put the warmed milk, eggs, flour, and salt in a blender, or in the bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, and blend or whisk until the batter is mixed thoroughly without any lumps. When the oven is preheated, take the baking pan out of the oven, pour the batter into the pan, and return the pan to the oven. Bake the pancake for 20 minutes. The pancake will puff up quite a lot while in the oven.

While the pancake is baking, heat the blueberries in the oven until they are hot and release some of their juices. Stir in the maple syrup.

When the pancake is done baking, serve immediately with the blueberry maple syrup. It is normal for the pancake to deflate rather quickly after it is removed from the oven.

Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

I don't know if I ever could get tired of spinach salad with honey balsamic vinaigrette. The vinaigrette tastes so good and allows for so many variations of salad greens and toppings. You can use baby spinach or a mix of baby spinach and other salad greens. Top the greens with the fruit of your choosing or whatever is in season. Add some toasted nuts, or some sunflower seeds or toasted pumpkin seeds if you can't have nuts. And if you are feeling decadent, add some crumbled goat cheese or blue cheese as well.

If you would like to make the salad for a large group of people, you can go to the following link for mixed green salad with pecans, goat cheese, and honey mustard vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is similar to the one I make, except that it doesn't include any honey. The measurements in that recipe make enough for at least 10 people, and if you want to include honey, use 2 tablespoons.

Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 tsp. honey mustard. I use Annie's Naturals Organic honey mustard, which is gluten-free and contains no corn, since it uses cider vinegar instead of distilled vinegar. However, most brands of honey mustard are probably okay. If you don't have honey mustard, just add an additional 1/2 tsp. honey.
  
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/8 tsp. minced garlic
  
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• baby spinach or mixed salad greens. We really like Trader Joe's "Sorrento" mix of baby arugula, baby spinach, and baby lettuces.
• goat cheese or blue cheese. If cooking for us, leave these on the side because Michael doesn't prefer goat cheese and he sometimes reacts to blue cheese.
  
• sunflower seeds, toasted pecans, toasted almond slivers, or toasted pumpkin seeds
  
• dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, fresh pear slices, or dried apple slices

Instructions:

Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, and honey mustard. Slowly pour in the olive oil while continually whisking very quickly so that the liquid emulsifies. Then add the minced garlic and the salt and pepper to taste. I usually leave the vinaigrette in a bowl to the side of the spinach and greens so that people can drizzle on as much as they would like.

If serving with fresh strawberries or pears, wash and slice the fruit. You can add the fruit to the greens or place on top of each person's individual plate of greens. I like to arrange each plate with greens and then the toppings because otherwise all of the good stuff tends to get lost at the bottom of the large serving bowl of greens.

Oven Baked Risotto

I really like risotto -- I even have a risotto cookbook, devoted entirely to recipes for making risotto. Michael and I used to make risotto from scratch on a regular basis, but since having kids it just hasn't been practical. You see, making risotto on the stove requires stirring it pretty much constantly for at least half an hour. However, recently I read several recipes for risotto that looked so good that they made me want to try it again. The clincher was the recipe for oven baked risotto that I found in the latest issue of Southern Living magazine. Baking the risotto means that you don't have to stand at the stove for 30 minutes, so you get yummy risotto without nearly as much work.

Because we're trying to limit our intake of dairy products, I've modified the recipe a bit. Here is the original recipe for oven chicken risotto, in case you'd like to try it. In addition, this recipe for baked risotto with asparagus and spinach looks tasty as well. I included turkey in our risotto to make it a main dish, but you could leave out the turkey and serve the risotto as a side dish instead. I didn't add peas but think they would be a nice addition, so I've included peas in the recipe.

Oven Baked Risotto
serves 3 or 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth. Use either Imagine Organic Free Range chicken broth, Trader Joe's Organic Free Range chicken broth, or a homemade chicken broth.
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
  
• 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 pound (or 2 cups) cooked turkey or chicken, chopped into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes. I used Jennie-O Turkey Store All Natural Golden Roast Premium Turkey Breast, which contains turkey breast, turkey broth, sugar, and salt. Rotisserie chicken usually contains corn, but you could use leftover chicken from a homemade roast chicken.
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
• 1 bundle of asparagus, cut into 1-inch long pieces
• 2 Tbsp. white wine or white wine vinegar
  
• Parmesan cheese as a garnish. Use either a block of Parmesan that you grate yourself, or 4C Imported Parmesan All Natural grated cheese.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small frying pan heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium-low heat until the oil shimmers. Dice the onion and transfer it to the pan. Saute the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 to 10 minutes. When the onion is soft, add the Arborio rice to the pan. Stir the rice into the onion so that the rice is coated with oil. Remove the frying pan from the stove.

While the onion is sauteing, pour 1 Tbsp. of olive oil into a 9"x13" baking dish or a Dutch oven. Spread the oil around so that it coats the bottom of the pan or Dutch oven. Add 2 cups of the chicken broth, the white wine, salt, and pepper to the pan. Add the onion and rice and stir everything to combine.

Cover the 9"x13" pan tightly with aluminum foil, or place the lid tightly on the Dutch oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked and the liquid is entirely absorbed. While the rice is baking, chop the pre-cooked turkey or chicken and thaw the peas. Rinse the asparagus, snap off the ends, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Steam the asparagus for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender crisp. Drain the water, return the asparagus to the pot in which it was steamed, and toss with 1 to 2 Tbsp. white wine or white wine vinegar. Cover the pot with the asparagus to keep it hot.

When the timer beeps for the rice, remove from the oven and add the chopped turkey or chicken, the peas, and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Stir, cover the baking pan, and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. Then remove from the oven, toss in the asparagus, and serve. Provide grated Parmesan for people to sprinkle on their risotto.

Beef Chili

For our church small group this week I made baked potatoes topped with beef chili, sour cream, and shredded Cheddar cheese. Since I read that chili tastes best the day after you make it, I decided to prepare it on Tuesday afternoon, the day before our small group met for dinner. All afternoon the chili smelled so good that it made the girls and me quite hungry. I kept wishing that I could eat it that night instead of eating the meal that I had planned. Fortunately, there was still some chili leftover after small group, so we got to enjoy it two nights in a row after all.

This recipe is adapted from the Cook's Illustrated, March & April 2003, recipe for Simple Beef Chili with Kidney Beans. You can go to www.cooksillustrated.com for their version of the recipe.

Beef Chili
serves 8 to 10 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 pounds 85% lean ground beef
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) of dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed. Use cans that contain only kidney beans, water, and salt.
• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes. Use a can that contains only tomatoes, tomato juice, and salt.
• 1 can (28 ounces) tomato puree. Use a can that contains only tomatoes.
• sea salt

Instructions:

In a large 6-quart pot, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Then add the chopped onion and saute, stirring occasionally. After five minutes, add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne. Saute for about 5 more minutes until the onions are softened.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add half of the ground beef. Break the beef up with a spoon and stir to combine with the onion and spices until the beef is no longer pink and is beginning to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the other half of the beef. Break it up with a spoon and stir frequently until it is no longer pink, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir to combine. Bring everything to a boil. Then lower the heat so that the chili is just simmering. Cover the pot and let the chili simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and let the chili simmer uncovered for 1 more hour, stirring occasionally. If the chili begins to stick to the bottom of the pot or gets too thick, add 1/2 cup of water.