I made my first chili yesterday

Yummmm!!!

For the first time ever, I made chili. It needs to be tweaked a little, so for those of you who cook - what do you put in to add a little spice and heat, but without making it inedible?

I *think* this is what I put in (I tend to just keep throwing things in, even when I'm working off of a recipe, so it's not exact)

2 lbs ground sirloin
1 large onion
2 red peppers
1 large can diced tomato
1 small can of tomoto paste
3 medium hot chili peppers (I can't remember what I used - 1 red 2 green)
chili powder (don't ask how much, just kept adding until the taste was close)
ground cumin (again, until the taste was close)

I'm thinking that a touch of ground cinnamon might help to bring out the heat. Any other ideas?

Recipe of the Week

My husband, hence forth known as "The Baron" , is 3/4 Polish 1/4 Irish. Cabbage and cured meat runs in his blood. Polish food is something that he grew up with at the nightly dinner table. He grew up in the heart of central CT, in neighborhoods that still have all the shop signs in both English and Polish. Coleslaw is present at every holiday. His Mom makes Golabki every New Year's Eve. Easter brings the joy of two kinds of kielbasa from Martin Rosol's - fresh and cured. And yet... I'm the one who LOVES Polish food. It's smoky, exotic, salty, tangy, and I put on 3-5 lbs every time I sit at the holiday table. The Baron could take it or leave it. I beg to go to Staropolska at least once a month, but he just doesn't get that excited about it.

To put it in perspective for you - while his family is primarily Polish, mine is... well, American. Homogenized. Typical melting pot. I'm Scottish, English, Irish, Welsh, French, Portugese and French Canadian. I have no idea how many generations back my family has lived here in New England. There was the great migration down from Maine and Massachusetts, and for the last few generations we've been in CT. No one is fresh off the boat - I think the closest thing I had to a relative that was 1st generation was my great-grandfather, but he moved from New Brunswick to Maine - not really a tumultuous trip to Ellis Island. We don't really have any traditions that go back to the Old Country. We don't have an Old Country. We had potato farmers and a few odd Portugese traditions (I'll save the one tradition that I know is Portugese for Easter - but it involves hard boiled eggs, and an unhealthy sense of competition - somebody please remind me to blog about it in the spring!)

Old World, traditional meals intrigue me, and I crave the strong, earthy smells and tastes when the weather turns cold.

This week's experiment is another one for the crockpot. It is NOT Weight Watchers friendly. In fact, it's going to require a very light lunch and some serious time on the elliptical machine, but I'm betting that it's going to be worth it. I give you... Bigos (also known as Hunter's Stew or Poland's National Dish). I can't wait to get home tomorrow night for dinner, I think I just gained 2 lbs typing this post!

Bigos
1 onion -- chopped
1 clove garlic -- minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound cabbage
1 quart sauerkraut -- rinsed and drained
1/2 pound mushrooms -- sliced
1 pound boneless pork butt -- cut in 1" cubes
1 pound boneless veal -- cut in 1" cubes
1/2 pound Polish sausage -- sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 cup beef stock
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2 tart apples -- diced
1/2 cup pitted prunes
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup red wine

Brown all the meat. Layer sauerkraut, fruits and veggies, meat. Layer again. Pour in beef stock wine, spices. Cook for 8-10 hours on low. Can absolutely be frozen, everything I've read says the taste is actually better after a few days.

Decent Crockpot Recipes? Anyone? Anyone?

I'm back to cooking again. 8 days away from home left me with a complete craving for real, homemade food, and a desire to join Weight Watchers again... what can I say, I'm a woman full of dichotomies. In order to not put too great a strain on my marriage, I've agreed to experiment only once a week and stick by the tried and true recipes the rest of the week. This week's experiment, Chicken Paprikash. It sucked *ss. Tastes like mush with a kick. Blech. Can't wait to see what S* thinks of it. The good news is... I made the entire bag of egg noodles so we can have noodles and butter after he tastes it :)

Anyone have a favorite crockpot recipe they'd like to share? 'Cuz this one wasn't it.


Chicken Paprikash

Serve this dish with egg noodles, orzo, rice, or mashed potatoes. Use preshredded carrots to speed up preparation.
Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch strips
* 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
* 1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
* 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
* 1/2 cup shredded carrot
* 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
* 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
* 1 1/4 cups reduced-fat sour cream

Preparation

Combine flour and chicken in a medium bowl; toss well. Add chicken mixture, chopped onion, and the next 8 ingredients (through mushrooms) to an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Stir in sour cream.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
316 (25% from fat)
Fat:
8.8g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.1g)
Protein:
40.6g
Carbohydrate:
17.3g
Fiber:
3g
Cholesterol:
114mg
Iron:
2.3mg
Sodium:
627mg
Calcium:
123mg