Kevin's All Day Chili

Recipe Review: This traditional chili is great for a cold day or watching football.

Last week was a perfect fall Sunday. Kevin and I just finished a morning run and it started to rain. I have come to love rainy days in California. It gives you the perfect excuse to stay inside, wear comfy clothes, and be a little lazy. One of the great things about being home all day is slow cooked food. Kevin decided to make his dads chili, (which he refers to as his "famous" chili) which takes a good 6 hours to cook. Its a simple recipe with only a few basic ingredients, its the long cook time that really makes it special.

Kevin's Famous 6 hour chili
yield: 5-6 servings

2 white onions, diced

2 green peppers, diced

1 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs ground beef

2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 Tbsp chili powder

3 Bay Leaves

2 8oz cans kidney beans

Saute peppers and onions in olive oil until onions become translucent and peppers are soft. Brown meat and drain fat. Combine with peppers and onions in a large pot. Crush tomatoes by pressing over a strainer. Add tomatoes, 12oz of liquid and sauce. Reserve any additional liquid. Cooked covered on medium low for 1 hour.

Add chili powder and bay leaves, continue to cook uncovered an additional 2 hours.

Rinse beans and add to chili, cook 1 hour. If at this point chili is too thick add some of the reserved tomato juice to thin. Chili is best reheated on day two.


Whole Wheat Cornbread
makes one 9x9 pan
adapted from allrecipies.com

1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
5 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2-3 diced jalapeno peppers
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9"x9" baking pan.

In a medium sized bowl combine dry ingredients and jalapenos (this keeps the jalapenos evenly distributed through the bread rather than having them fall to the bottom or rise to the top).

In a small bowl whisk together eggs, milk, and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Pour into pan.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, an the top lightly browned. Cut into squares and serve warm.


I couldn't really taste the jalapenos in the corn bread (which was both confusing and disappointing) but with that aside, the bread had great flavor and tasted delish crumbled over the chili.

Fennel & Rosemary Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

Recipe Review: comfort food all dressed up.

I had a really crappy day at work. I was tired, and crabby, and I had just about had it with people asking me how long the 2 hour harbor cruise lasts. I needed a cooking project to throw myself into. Something adventurous that would help me unwind and make me forget about work. I was looking something comforting, and I came across Beef Wellington. Which looked awesome- but oh crap that was a bit over my head and involved a full day (or even days) of prep. I liked the idea of beef though, so I came up with the idea of doing spinach instead of mushrooms, and stuffing the beef- then covering it in puff pastry. I had my mission and set out to the store- tenderloin was on sale- score!

Fennel & Rosemary Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

adapted from Fine Cooking & Cooking Light

yield: 4-5 servings

1 2lb beef tenderloin, trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 package frozen spinach

1/4 cup chopped shallots

1 tablespoon minced garlic

freshly ground salt & pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

3 sheets of puff pastry

Preheat oven to 350.

Defrost spinach and drain well. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots and sauté 4 minutes.  Add spinach and garlic to shallots and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon each fresh ground salt & pepper. Place spinach mixture into a colander and press with the back of a spoon to drain any excess liquid. 

Use a knife to poke a hole through the middle of the tenderloin, and the handle of a wooden spoon to increase the diameter to approximately 2 inches. Stuff with the spinach mixture.

In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, rosemary, fennel, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to make a paste. Rub the paste all over the outside of the tenderloin. 

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a large pan. Gently sear tenderloin for 1 one minute on each side.

Lay out 3 pieces of puff pastry, brushing each lightly with butter before layering on next piece. Gently wrap the paper around the beef, sealing edges with butter. Bake for 35- 40 minutes, until internal meat temperature reaches 120°F for rare, 125° to 130°F for medium rare, or 135°F for medium. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Nutrition Information: Calories 577, Fat 31.3g, Sat. Fat 12.6g Cholesterol 188mg, Sodium 406mg, Carbohydrates 16.4g, Fiber 2.2g, Protein 56.3g

printable recipe

I could tell right away from how this smelled that it was going to taste good- but it was far better than just good. It was rich beef with a savory crust and tender spinach. Things just rolled together to make an excellent meal. I love when trying something new and experimenting yields great results. The combination of the fennel and rosemary was a perfect mix of flavors, and very fragrant while cooking. The original recipe said to tie the tenderloin with butchers twine, but since I wrapped the roast with the puff pastry sheets I skipped that step. Honestly most of the pastry fell off while carving the meat so I'm not sure how necessary this step was. I served this with baby carrots and a mixed mash from three potatoes. I used one russet potato, one sweet potato, and one yam. It was a nice change up from regular mashed potatoes and a little sweet but not too much. This was a little labor intensive- but totally worth it. I would absolutely make it again for a special dinner. Making the rub for the outside of the meat was very easy however. If you skip the stuffing and wrapping in puff pastry this could be a quick weeknight meal.

***Side Note: Blogging has won me something!! I entered a cookbook giveaway from Galexi Cupcakes... and I won!! I can't wait to get my new dessert cookbook in the mail :-)

Weeknight Steak

Don't get me wrong, I love a good cooking adventure, but sometimes you just wanna eat dinner- right now! Just because its a weeknight doesn't mean you should have to eat something boring though. After a run Kevin and I threw together a quick dinner that took less then 30 minutes and after we ate I sat there thinking- "Hey even though this isn't fancy its really good! There's no reason I shouldn't write a blog about it"

Three Bean Pasta Fagioli Soup

Recipe Review: Hearty Italian Soup that's filling but not heavy

I'm feeling crappy and sick. So that means that I make soup. I usually don't have much of an appetite when I'm not feeling well, and like to stick to soups and hot tea. I had planned on making this before I started feeling bad, so only needed to grab a few things. I took a slew of cold medicine, washed it down with some green tea, waited 20 minutes for it all to kick in and got to chopping (side note: Kevin got me an amazing set of knives for Christmas I got to use it for the first time to chop up the veggies in this soup).  I adapted the soup from this crock pot recipe, but changed up the beans and the ingredient ratio a bit.

Sweet Potato Pot Roast

Quick Review: The pot roast turned out incredibly tender, and I really liked using a crock pot for easy prep. I used a little too much wine so cut that down a little when I wrote up the recipie and next time will put the veggies in half way though cooking

Its fall and much cooler in the evenings in San Diego. Whenever this happens it makes me crave hearty comfort food. Kevin must have been on the same page as me when he brought up that he loves pot roast and brisket. I have never made a pot roast (it's actually quite possible that I've never even eaten it) and then didn't even know what a brisket was. (Turns out its a cut of meat, usually cooked slowly at a low temperature) After much googling I decided that I wanted to make the pot roast in my crock pot. I had used the crock pot to make pulled pork this summer (it was soooo yummy. I should make that again soon) but never done a whole dish, with meat and veggies in the crock pot.





Beef Ragu (aka Meat Sauce)

It was cool and rainy here for a change and I had the day off from work so I decided to make homemade meat sauce. (I fancied up the name to beef ragu for the title) 

Side note- yes it gets cold and cloudy and rainy here in San Diego. I know the California tourism ad's would lead you to think differently but its not true. When you live in a place for long enough your body adjusts to its climate (This is scientifically documented) So yes when the temperature is below 65 degrees it feels cold to me!

The recipe needs to simmer for 3 hours minimum, but it occurred to me that you could probably cook it in a slow cooker if you weren't able to wait around while it cooks down.