Category Archives: Chili Soup and Stew

Chili with Spaghetti

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If you’ve never had spaghetti topped with chili, you must try this! It will work with any chili, but I’ve included a quick recipe that’s a nice substitute for that canned garbage you’ve been eating.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (10 oz) can original Ro-Tel
22 oz water
2 teaspoons paprika
4 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 can refried beans

Spaghetti
Shredded cheddar-jack cheese
Diced red onions

Method:

Brown the beef and drain, then it it back in the pot. Add everything but the pasta, cheese and onions. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for 30 minutes.

While that’s simmering, cook the pasta (be sure to salt the water). Serve the chili over the spaghetti then top with cheese and onions.

Variation:

If you must, add 2 cans of pinto beans. Just don’t let a Texan catch you doing this!

Cioppino

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh parsley
3 large shallots, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried fennel seed
1 lb raw shrimp
1 lb seared scallps
Meat from 2 lbs crab legs

Method

Send tomatoes through a food processor and blend to desired consistency.

Cook shallots in olive oil until shallots are almost soft. Add garlic and parsley and cook another minute.

Add tomatoes, broth, wine, red peppers, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano and fennel. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 40 minutes.

Remove bay leaves.

Bring broth to a boil, then add the seafood simmer (covered) for 3-5 minutes.

Serve with warm sourdough bread.

* If you’re a purist, leave the crab un-cracked, and add some fish and shellfish (clams and mussels).

Italian Wedding Soup

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Meatball Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb ground beef
3/4 lb hot Italian sausage
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Soup Ingredients:

5 quarts chicken broth
2 cups orzo pasta
26 ounces spinach
2 small diced yellow onions
4 sliced carrots
3 stalks chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup white wine
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt

Method:

Combine all meatball ingredients, mix well, and let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Roll it into tiny balls (3/4” to 1”) and fry them up. This may have to do this in 2-3 batches.

In your stock pot, combine the onions, carrots and celery with the salt and olive oil, and cook until they are slightly soft. Add the garlic, and cook for another minute or two. While that’s going on, use some of the chicken broth to deglaze the meatball pan, and dump that yummy goodness into the stock pot.

Add the rest of the chicken broth, wine, black pepper, and dill weed. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the pasta, and continue simmering until it’s almost al dente. Add the spinach and meatballs, and cook for a few more minutes. Just long enough to re-heat the meatballs, which probably need it by now.

Serve with fresh grated parmesan.

Green Butt Chili

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This bowl of green is hotter than hell, but de-freakin’-licious!

Ingredients:

64 oz Sadie’s Salsa
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatos
6 (13 oz) tubs of thawed chopped green chilies
16 chicken bullion cubes
1 large white onion (diced)
4 fresh chopped jalapenos
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cans black beans
1.25 lbs (cooked weight) pulled pork (Boston Butt)

Method:

I didn’t have any leftover pulled pork, so I put one in the smoker last night. Here’s how it looked when it came out:

Foil that thing immediately. Get all your ingredients chopped/opened/blended while the butt rests.

Blend your green chilies up really well in a food processor or blender. The idea is to create a puree.

Add everything but the pork and black beans to a monsterous chili pot. Stir.

While that’s coming to a light boil, pull your pork.

Once your pork is ready, add it to the chili and stir it up.

Reduce to a simmer and let it sit for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Do a quick-drain of your black beans. Don’t bother rinsing or using a colander. Just turn ‘em upside down with the removed lid on.

Simmer for another 1/2 hour.

Serve!

Green Chili Sauce: Part 1

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This recipe is labed “Part 1″ because it is a work in progress. I have begun a quest to come up with a green chili sauce that is good enough to compete with those made by restaurants such as Alberto’s in Greeley, Colorado, and Santiago’s, which is scattered throughout Colorado. This recipe doesn’t even come close to matching what you’ll find there, but, for my first attempt, it was pretty stinkin’ good.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with green chili sauce, it’s a thin, gravy-like chili (made primarily from green chilies), which is typically served as the topping of a smothered burrito. These recipes usually contain pork, but for my first shot, I decided to keep it simple and go hippie with it.

Ingredients:

26 ounces roasted green chilies (diced, frozen okay)
1/3 cup minced white onion
1 clove minced garlic
3 tablespoons Sadie’s salsa
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 fresh diced jalapeno with the seeds removed
2 tablespoons bacon grease
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

Heat bacon grease to medium-low, and cook the onions, garlic and salt for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Puree your green chilies and the onion/garlic/salt/grease mixture. You want a really fine texture. To get the texture I wanted, I had to run it through the food processor, then the blender.

Once you’re done blending it up, put the puree, and everything else, back into the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, and let it simmer until it’s reduced until you’re left with a gravy-like constancy. Stir as needed throughout the cooking process to keep it from burning to the bottom of the pan.

Serve over a bean and cheese burrito. Or, our family’s favorite is to get a take-out taco pizza and smother it. We like it on Godfather’s Taco Pizza.

Kickass Chili

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Ready for an awesome bowl of red? Give this recipe a shot. You will not be disappointed. My apologies to any and all Texans out there, in advance. I know this is far from authentic, but it’s very good.

4 pounds ground beef
12 ounces bacon
4 cups diced yellow onions
4 (12-ounce) bottles dark beer
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 chopped fresh chipotles
4 (15-ounce) cans mixed beans, drained and rinsed

Flavor Wave 1

4 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon hickory smoked kosher salt
3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Emeril’s Southwest Essence
2 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
5 chicken bullion cubes
2 teaspoons Morton’s Hot Salt

Flavor Wave 2

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 ounce (1 square) unsweetened chocolate

Slice the bacon, fry it up in a big chili/stock pot, remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Brown the meat in the same pan, drain, and set aside. While that’s cooking, is a good time to get the rest of your ingredients ready.

Add your onions and Flavor Wave 1 to the pot. Cook until the onions start to become translucent. Then add the garlic and chipotles, and cook for a few more minutes.

Put the meat back in the pot, then add the beer. Bring to a mild boil, and cook until the foam subsides.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and Flavor Wave 2. Bring that to a boil, stirring as you go. You need to be careful not to let that chocolate square burn to the bottom of the pot.

Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer, and cook for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add your beans, and simmer for another 30 minutes. I like to mix up the beans. I usually go with black, pinto, white and red beans (one can of each).

Serve with grated cheese or a plunk of sour cream in the middle.

Variation: Mix up the meat! Many people prefer to forego the ground beef, and go with steak. Others like game meats, such as venison or bison. My personal favorite is 3 lbs of ground beef, and 1 lb of smoked pulled pork.