Food

Simple and Satisfying Chili from Scratch

NOTE: An updated version of this recipe appears in my cookbook, The Ancestral Table.

Editor’s Note: this recipe is from before I switched to the Paleo Diet, but all you need to do to make this dish Paleo-friendly is omit the beans.

Ah, chili. One of the most hotly-debated dishes a person can serve in America, perhaps second only to BBQ ribs. And like many of my other recipes, I’m quick to concede that this recipe isn’t for everyone; this is a generally mild chili that goes well with chili dogs, chili burgers, or on top of a scoop of white rice.

For me, the most important aspect of chili is having it blend into one single element and texture – nothing bothers me more than a chili that just looks like a bunch of ingredients thrown together. Luckily, my handy Magic Bullet helps to puree most of the chunkier ingredients while still retaining its necessary taste. I also add a couple of seemingly odd ingredients, which play important roles: cocoa powder for richness and complexity, and mayonnaise for smoothness and just a touch of creaminess.

This dish takes a little over three hours to make: one hour to prep and soften the tomatoes and two hours to cook the chili itself.

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Easiest Roast Chicken Ever

NOTE: Here is an updated version of this recipe.

Many people are intimidated by the idea of roasting a whole bird – this kind of practice is often only reserved for a Thanksgiving turkey, and tragically so. I like to consider the whole roasting and carving of a chicken as practice for a perfect holiday meal. There are dozens of ways to roast a chicken, and many more ingredients you can use to add complexity, but I feel that they are ultimately unnecessary. Mine is a two-part process, which includes initially cooking the chicken breast-side down to prevent them from drying out.

I roast my chicken in a Le Creuset french oven, and although it is one of my favorite all-around cooking dishes, it would probably roast better in a braiser. A braiser’s lower edges would allow more of the bird to openly roast and crisp more evenly. Either way, the french oven still does the trick just fine, so let’s get down to business:

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How to Grill Clams – The Basics

I’ve found that people are quick to throw meat onto a grill, but tend to shy away from seafood, especially shellfish. It’s a shame, because grilling clams is probably the easiest grilled dish on the planet. I like grilling the big ones because they’re cheaper than the smaller steamer clams (I bought four big clams for $2 the other day) and they’re a nice change of pace from the regular grilling fare. Here is the easiest, simplest way to grill clams. I’ll do some later posts that add a few more ingredients to the mix; but for now, let’s perfect the basics.

The only preparation needed is to clean the clams – place them in a bucket or pot with cold tap water, and add 1/2 cup of corn meal. Let them sit like this for four hours. This allows the clams to filter out sand so you don’t get any crunchy surprises during your meal.

To grill the clams, simply put them on a grill at a med/med-high temperature and let them cook for about 10 minutes. You’ll know they’re ready when they pop open. Serve with garlic butter.

Chesapeake Blue Crab

This is a great time of the year (and the perfect location for us) for Maryland blue crab. If you live near the Chesapeake Bay and you have a hankering for some crab, you have three options: you can go to a nice seafood restaurant and pay a premium, you can go to a dodgy restaurant and get something for a little cheaper, or you can buy some crabs and enjoy them in the comfort of your home. For the most part, we go with option number three. Here’s a quick and easy way to steam Chesapeake/Atlantic blue crab.

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Learn How To Carve A Chicken In Under 3 Minutes

We roast a chicken fairly often at the house, and I have the art of carving down to a science. Many people are intimidated by slicing the breast meat on the carcass, including myself; in my version of carving, I remove the breast and cut it on the cutting board. This is also how I carve turkeys.