Chili and the 2011 Chicago Blizzard...

Even though it's mid-April, I decided to post my go-to chili recipe because it's so freaking cold in Chicago today!  When I woke up this morning, there was actually a tiny bit of snow on the ground :(  WTF!  Why won't spring just come already?

Here's a look back at a few pictures I took around our condo during "The 2011 Chicago Blizzard."  I'm so glad that it's (hopefully) going to be warm soon!   Here's a picture of all of the snow accumulating on our deck mid-way through the blizzard:

It took a couple of days before the city even plowed our side street.....I was student teaching at the time (which I drove to in the suburbs), and I was so glad that school was cancelled for two days because there's no way I could have gotten my car out!  Luckily we have an enclosed garage spot, but there was no way I would have been able to get through our alley. 

The sidewalks were too deep to walk through at first, so we took Windy down the tire tracks in the middle of the street for her walks.

I had to take a picture of the car below because I couldn't believe how high the snow drift was!  I feel bad for whoever had to dig this car out....

There were gigantic piles of snow everywhere after our sidewalks got plowed.....

Windy's loving the snow :)

Anyway, back to the chili.....if it's cold where you are, and you want one last pot of chili before it gets warm for good, give this recipe a try.  This is my favorite basic chili recipe (with no beans, but you could certainly add some if you like that).  As always, make sure to taste while you cook and season with plenty of salt and pepper!  I love making this on a Sunday so that we can eat up leftovers during the week.  I have also frozen leftovers to eat later, and this freezes very well.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
1 T. dried Italian Seasoning
3 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 bottle or can of good beer (IPA's are my personal favorite for drinking and cooking)
salt and pepper, to taste
shredded sharp cheddar cheese, saltine crackers, and cilantro (for serving)

Directions:

1.  Drink half of your bottle of beer.....yummy....then set the other half aside.  Combine ground beef, onion, and garlic in large stockpot. Cook and stir over medium heat until beef is brown. Drain.

2.  Stir in chili powder,cumin, italian seasoning, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the remaining half of your bottle of beer; break up tomatoes while stirring. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste (sometimes I'll also add more chili powder and cumin if it needs it).  Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.  Taste again and re-season as needed.

3.  Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, saltine crackers, and cilantro.

Source:  Adapted from Allrecipes

Clam Chowder - Remembering Our Seattle Trip

Kevin and I visited Seattle earlier this summer, and while we were there we ate clam chowder at three different places.  One of the clam chowders was pretty bad, one was very good, and one was amazing (according to Kevin, it was the best clam chowder he has ever had).  The amazing clam chowder came from Pike Place Chowder which is located in the famous Pike Place Market, and I would definitely recommend trying it out if you visit Seattle!

While we were in Seattle, we hit up some of the usual tourist spots downtown, but we also spent a couple of days driving to some places outside of Seattle.  On one of the days, we drove up to Anacortes where we went on a whale watching tour through the San Juan Islands to see the orca whales.  We ended up seeing 7 or 8 different whales, and it was incredible watching them play and jump out of the water! 

On another day, we made the long drive (and ferry ride) over to the Olympic Penninsula to visit Olympic National Park, and I think we hiked about 10 miles that day!  Although we didn't quite make it to Forks, Washington, to see the Twilight sites (Kevin would have never gone for that!), we had an amazing experience at Rialto Beach seeing the Pacific Ocean and hiking to see the tide pools.  Afterwards, we went on a short hike to see a waterfall.  Our last stop before heading back to Seattle was to Hurricane Ridge to get a good view of the mountains.  Everything we saw was beautiful, and we had a great trip.  We will definitely be back sometime in the future!  Here are a couple pictures we got while visiting the Olympic Penninsula:

First up, a couple pictures that I took while exploring the tide pools at Rialto Beach....this beach was totally different than any beach I've ever visited before. 

Even though we didn't quite make it to Forks to see the Cullens, I saw these signs when we were around the outskirts of LaPush so I had to pull over and take a couple pictures (haha yes I know I am a dork)

We saw some wildlife on our hike up Hurricane Hill.

Here's a picture I took during our last hike of the day up Hurricane Hill.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy that day so we didn't get the million dollar view we were hoping for, but it was still an amazing experience.  The pictures just don't do it justice....it is truly beautiful.

Okay, now back to food!  I wanted to make some clam chowder to remind us of our trip to the Pacific Northwest.  I adapted this recipe from allrecipes, and I was very happy with how it turned out!  I asked the clam chowder expert (my husband, Kevin) what he thought, and he said it was better than the very good clam chowder that we had in Seattle, but not quite as good as the Pike Place Chowder that he thought was the best he's ever had.  I can live with that :)

Ingredients:

3 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3-4 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cups cubed potatoes (make sure they are bite-sized pieces - you don't want to leave them too big)
2 carrots, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
EVOO
1 jar clam juice
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste
Chopped Chives and saltine crackers (or oyster crackers), for serving
 
Directions:
 
Saute the onions, celery, carrots and garlic over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes in a large stockpot.  Add potatoes to the stockpot, and drain the juice from the minced clams over the onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, and carrots. Add the jar of clam juice plus just enough water to cover everything, and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
 
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Add this mixture to the stockpot with the vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.

Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.  Serve with chopped chives and saltine crackers.

Brocolli Cheddar Soup (Panera Copycat Recipe)

Whenever I eat at Panera, I always order the same thing - a "you pick two" with half of a frontega chicken panini and brocolli cheddar soup.  I really never get anything different because whenever I do, I'm always mad at myself afterwards for not getting my "usual." 

So needless to say, I love Panera's brocolli cheddar soup.  I actually worked at Panera for a summer when I was in high school and I could get all the brocolli cheddar soup I wanted for free!  When I saw a copycat recipe in the Food Network Magazine, I decided I would try to recreate one of my favorite soups at home.

This recipe was pretty easy to make with not too many ingredients, and it was really good.  It didn't quite have the same taste as Panera's brocolli cheddar soup, but it was similiar and very tasty.  This is definitely one that I will be making again.  It doesn't make a huge amount so if you want a big pot of soup you should double the recipe.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 7-inch sourdough bread boules (round loaves) - I just served these in a normal bowl w/ bread on the side
4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)
1 large carrot, diced
2 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bread bowls: Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the top of each loaf, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Remove the bread top, then hollow out the middle with a fork or your fingers, leaving a thick bread shell.

Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth; you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli. Return to the pot. (I pureed the soup in the pot with an immersion blender - be careful not to overdo it if you want any brocolli chunks)

Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Ladle into the bread bowls and garnish with cheese.

Potato Soup

Potato soup is definitely one of those comfort meals that I crave on a cold day.  Since I was able to buy a 10 pound bag of potatoes on sale today for $1.99 at my grocery store, I decided to make a big pot of potato soup.  This soup is so creamy and good, and now I have enough to freeze some for a later date and have some for lunch during this week.  I first started making this after I had some of my mom's so my version is almost the same as hers.  Just a word of warning, for some of the ingredients I add until it tastes right so I'll try to estimate my quantities, but it may not be exactly how much I use so I'll talk about that in the recipe.  The quantities in the recipe below are enough to make a big stockpot full so if you don't want that much you should cut in half.

Ingredients:

5-6 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bitesize pieces
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 stalks celery, chopped
4 tablespoons garlic
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 stick butter
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup heavy cream
milk (this is where I'm not exactly sure on the measurements because I just add a little at a time until the soup reaches the consistancy that I want, but I'm guessing I use around 4 cups or so)
salt, pepper, and garlic pepper to taste (again I don't know how much I use because I keep adding and tasting, but I use a lot for a big pot!)
2-3 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions:

1.  In a large stockpot, combine potatoes, onion, celery, and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add enough water to just cover the vegetables, and bring to a boil. 

2.  Boil until potatoes easily come apart when you try to cut with a fork (about 20-30 minutes).  Drain off a little water, but leave enough so that it comes midway up the potato mixture. 

3.  At this time use an immersion blender to blend everything all together until smooth (you could also do this in batches in a blender, but I love immersion blenders so I think it's a good appliance to invest in if you make creamy soups a lot).

4.  Stir in butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, and heavy cream.  Then start slowly adding milk and stirring together until everything is combined.  Add as much milk as you need to so that the soup is at the consistancy you want. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic pepper to taste (again the best way is to keep adding a little at a time and tasting until it tastes right)

5.  Stir in your chopped chives and serve.