At Marie's Table: Beef and Pork Red Bean Chili

At Marie's Table: Beef and Pork Red Bean Chili: History of the Chili The origin of chili is the stuff of legend. Some say the concoction of stewed meat and chili peppers was first deve...

Beef and Pork Red Bean Chili

History of the Chili

The origin of chili is the stuff of legend.  Some say the concoction of stewed meat and chili peppers was first developed by pre-Colombian natives of Meso-America and the Southwest centuries before the arrival of conquistadors.  While there is no proof that pre-Colombian tribes cooked chili, one may infer they did since we know all the key ingredients of chili were an integral part of their diet. 

We know chili was prepared by chuck wagon cooks on the long cattle drives from South Texas to Kansas railheads following the Civil War.  The main sources of nourishment on the trail were beans, salted meats and jerky.  For culinary variety, the cook would slaughter wild game, or a troublesome member of the herd.  Of course, there was no way to preserve fresh meat on the trail, so copious amounts of chili peppers and other easily stored seasonings would be added to a stew to hide the rancid flavor of spoiling meat.  Many believe the presence of chili on the cattle drives is the impetus that spread the dish from its border origins northward into the Midwest and points beyond. 

By the late nineteenth century, San Antonio had become famous throughout the Southwest for its chili.  Women known as “the chili queens” set up open air stalls all over town to sell their homemade product.  There was even a San Antonio Chili Stand at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.  Some believe this was chili’s first big introduction to the world outside the American West.

 

Chili is now found throughout the United States, and regional varieties of the dish have appeared during the past hundred years or so.  Now we have Cincinnati-style chili, for instance, which resembles spaghetti as much as it does the original chili of the range.  Most chili uses a tomato base, while that prepared from far West Texas to Southern California tends to eschew that ingredient.  In some places, vegetarian varieties have become popular, something the ranch hands and cowboys of the plains would never have even considered possible just a few generations ago.

 

Marie's Beef and Pork Red Bean Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pounds ground Beef
• 1 pound smoke Pork butt, cooked and chooped
• 1  large Onion, chopped
• 1-2 Hot Pepper, green or red, seeded and chopped
• 1 Teaspoon ground Black Pepper
• Kosher Salt to taste
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 Tablespoons dark unsweetened Coco
• 1/2 Tablespoon dried Oregano Leaves
• 8 Garlic Cloves, chopped
• 4 cups Beef Stock
• 8  Ancho Chili
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 1 Tablespoons Creole Season Blend
• 2 (15 ounce) can light red Kidney Beans or 1 bag dry
• 1 (15 ounce) can dark red Kidney Beans or 1/2 bag dry
• 3 Tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced Tomatoes
• 1(6 ounce) can Tomato Paste

 Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion, garlic, and hot pepper and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add beef stock and seeded ancho chili cook until tender. Remove 2 cups of stock add to blender with ancho chili and blend.













2. To the ground beef add black pepper, salt, diced tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, creole season blend, oregano, pork, bay leaf, coco, ancho chili  /stock, 2 cups stock, red wine and kidney beans. Mix well,  bring to an boil add tomato paste and reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.  Serve over rice and topped with cheese.
3. For all of your catering needs visit Mj. Creations Sweets and Treats @ http://www.richmondvacaterer.com/  Email: sweetsbymj@aol.com  or Call: 804-422-6313

At Marie's Table: Classic Meatloaf

At Marie's Table: Classic Meatloaf: History of Meatloaf: MODERN AMERICAN MEATLOAF The raw, ground meat commonly used to make today's American meat loaf has a humbler heritage...

Classic Meatloaf

History of Meatloaf:
MODERN AMERICAN MEATLOAF  The raw, ground meat commonly used to make today's American meat loaf has a humbler heritage. In the 19th century, we know the Industrial Revolution made it possible for ground meat be manufactured and sold to the public at a very low cost. At first, many Americans were slow to purchase raw ground meat products and generally regarded them with suspicion. Lack of reliable home refrigeration may have played into this decision. Cooks continued to mince their meat (often already cooked, as was the practice for centuries) by hand. Companies selling meat grinders to home consumers at the turn of the century endeavored to change this practice by provided recipe books to promote their products. Some of these recipes were simple, others quite creative. A late 19th century recipe for meat porcupine instructs the cook to press her ground meat into an animal-type shape mold and decorate it with pieces of bacon to achieve the desired effect. Eventually, the American public began incorporating ground meat into family meals. 
Since that time, meat loaf variations have been introduced and promoted by women's magazines, cookbooks, fairs, food manufacturers, diners and family-style restaurants. Meat loaf & gravy [often paired with mashed potatoes and canned green beans ] was very popular in the 1950s. This meal is still considered by some to be the penultimate comfort food. Did you know that "frosted meatloaf" is ground beef covered with mashed potatoes? Perhaps this recipe is a distant relative of shepherd's pie. 
Was meat loaf too homely a recipe to make American cookbooks published in the nineteenth century or earlier?...I find no meat loaves in American cookbooks before the 1880s; these were primarily veal loaves (a more economical meat early on than beef) and altogether different from the meal loaves so familiar today...Sarah Tyson Rorer offers a slightly more elaborate veal loaf in Mrs. Rorer's Philadelphia Cook Book [1886] along with something called "Cannelon," which is clearly the precursor of meat loaf as we know it today...Cannelons appear in cookbooks right into the 1920s, although by this time meat loaves were outnumbering them. Were meat loaves slow to come because of the lack of meat grinders? Or was it because of unreliable refrigeration (ground raw meat is extremely perishable)? Possibly a bit of both, but I can't say for sure... Though simple loaves of chopped meat may have been made during America's infancy and adolescence, only in the twentieth century did meat loaves truly arrive. And, yes, many of them did come out of big food company test kitchens. Like it or not."

Marie's Meatloaf
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground Beef 
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry Onion Soup mix
• 1/2 cup Katsup
• 1 1/2 cups Italian-style dried Bread Crumbs
• 2 Celery stalk,  cook and chopped
• 1/3 cup Green Bell Pepper, cook and chopped
• 1 small Onion, cook and chopped * option
• 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
• 1/2 Teaspoon dried Thyme 
• Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste
• 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

• Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Using small frying pan add oil and cook celery, bell pepper and onion until tender; about 4 minutes - let cool.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, sour cream, garlic, celery, thyme, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Mix in soup mix, and bread crumbs. Form mixture into a loaf, spoon katsup on top of the meatloaf and place in a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover with foil.
  3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving for easier slicing.  *Be sure to set aside some of the dripping to make an gravy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4. Remember Mj. Creations Sweets & Treats is here for all your holiday needs call 804- 422-6313, email sweetsbymj@aol.com or web site http://www.richmondvacaterer.com/.  Great gift idea; Personal Chef $40.00 in home or delivery meal view menu on web site.   

At Marie's Table: Pumpkin Soup with Bacon

At Marie's Table: Pumpkin Soup with Bacon: History of Pumpkins: The word pumpkin originated from the Greek word Pepõn which means large melon. The word gradually morphed by the Frenc...

Pumpkin Soup with Bacon

History of Pumpkins:
The word pumpkin originated from the Greek word Pepõn which means large melon. The word gradually morphed by the French, English and then Americans into the word "pumpkin." Pumpkins and squash are believed to have originated in the ancient Americas. These early pumpkins were not the traditional round orange upright Jack-O-Lantern fruit we think of today when you hear the word pumpkin. They were a crooked neck variety which stored well. Archeologists have determined that variations of squash and pumpkins were cultivated along river and creek banks along with sunflowers and beans. This took place long before the emergence of maize (corn). After maize was introduced, ancient farmers learned to grow squash with maize and beans using the "Three Sisters" tradition
The early Native American farmers were practicing an early form of sustainable agriculture. How cool is that?!? We can learn many lessons today from them.
These early Native Americans roasted pumpkin strips over campfires and used them as a food source, long before the arrival of European explorers. Pumpkins helped The Native Americans make it through long cold winters. They used the sweet flesh in numerous ways: roasted, baked, parched, boiled and dried. They ate pumpkin seeds and also used them as a medicine. The blossoms were added to stews. Dried pumpkin could be stored and ground into flour.
They dried the shells and used them as bowls and containers to store grain, beans and seeds. I have read where they pounded and dried the pumpkin flesh into strips, and wove the strips into mats which they used for trading purposes.
It is said that Columbus carried pumpkin seeds back with him to Europe. There they were used to feed pigs, but not as a human food source.

One variety of squash we grow on our farm is named a Lakota. It was originally cultivated by the Sioux tribe and was long lost. A re-creation of them was developed. They are pear shaped with bright red, orange and green patterns reminiscent of a woven Indian blanket. Indians introduced pumpkins and squashes to the Pilgrims. Pumpkins were an important food source for the pilgrims, as they stored well, which meant they would have a nutritious food source during the winter months. It is documented that pumpkins were served at the second Thanksgiving celebration.

The Three Sisters are squash, corn and beans which grow and thrive together. Corn serves as the natural trellis for the beans to grow on. The beans roots set nitrogen in the soil to nourish the corn. The bean vines help to stabilize the corn stalks on windy days. The squash plants shelter the shallow roots of the corn and shade the ground to discourage weeds and preserve moisture. Truly a symbiotic relationship. I have read where it was a common practice to bury a small fish alongside the seeds at planting to nourish the "Three Sisters."

Ingredients

• 6 cups Chicken Stock
•  Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste
• 4 cups Pumpkin, roasted 
• 1 Teaspoon chopped fresh Parsley
• 1 Onion, roasted
• 1/2 Teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 3 clove Garlic Cloves, roasted
• 3 Carrots, roasted
• 1/2 cup heavy Whipping Cream
• pinch, Cayenne Pepper
• 2 Bacon, strips cooked and diced
• 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 400, on a baking sheet add olive oil, onion, carrots, pumpkin (seeded and cut into same size for even cooking), garlic, salt, black pepper and toss. You will need to bake for 25 minutes be careful not to burn. Bring  stock to a boil, then add all vegetables. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes last 10 minutes add thyme uncovered.
2. Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.
3. Return to pan, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir in heavy cream. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley and bacon.













4. For all of your holiday party needs give Mj Creations Sweets and Treats a call: 804-422-6313, Email sweetsbymj@aol.com or visit our web site http://www.richmondvacaterer.com/  Please don't forget while you are there, check out our Cheese Cake Link or In Home Cooking Class which will make great gift idea!