Slow Simmered Beef Chili

Allow me to put this out to the public: I fucking love chili. I am a spice-a-holic and have been perfecting my chili recipe for quite some time now. I do have a vegetarian black bean chili posted earlier this year: http://foodwithatwiss.blogspot.ca/2013/01/vegetarian-black-bean-chili.html. The recipe is quite similar, only this one has beef in it because as we all know, meat is the most important food group. Also, if you have ever been to Texas, you would know they never add beans to their chili - it's meat and tomato-based sauce with seasonings and it's better that way. I do like to cram as many fresh veggies into every recipe as I can, so there will be some listed.

Slow Simmered Beef Chili:

Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb ground beef (I use 80% lean ground chuck for this recipe)
1 28oz can diced tomato
1 28oz can crushed tomato
1 6oz can tomato paste

1 large green pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic
2 C chopped crimini mushrooms
1 small zucchini, diced

1/3 C chili powder
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder - I will never make chili without this! it's my secret ingredient, be glad that I let you in on it *wink wink*
1 T paprika
2.5 T dried oregano
3 T cumin
3/4 t cayenne (add more or use less depending on your spice preference)

Directions:

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add green pepper and onion. Saute until tender-crisp and onion is translucent. Add garlic, mushrooms and zucchini, sweat veggies until everything is soft and fragrant. Transfer to a dish and set aside.

Break beef into small chunks and brown well. Drain fat from pot, but not all of it - the fat has so much flavor in it, you can't throw all of it away! Return the cooked veggies to the browned beef. Add seasoning and mix well for 2 minutes.

Add diced & crushed tomato and tomato paste to the beef mixture. Bring to a boil and mix thoroughly. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 2-2.5 hours, remove lid for the last hour of simmering. Taste your chili every half hour as the flavor from the spices will increase as it cooks.

Serve over rice, polenta, or "riced" cauliflower. (I like to serve mine over roast sweet potato).

*Optional: feel free to add other "typical" chili ingredients, such as; corn, kidney/black/navy beans, etc.

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps - TDF

I just spent 8 blissful days in the beautiful West side of Maui, HI. It was my first time going to Hawaii and it was better than I'd expected. We rented a condo and spent most nights cooking for ourselves. However, I did venture down to a little town called Lahaina for happy hour and had the most delicious Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps from a restaruant on the beach called Kimo's. They were divine. Simply assembled but full of flavor and very satiating, yet the lettuce aspect kept them from being too filling. Below is my version of the same meal!

Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps - To Die For

Yields: approx. 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 3lb pork butt roast, trimmed of excess fat
1.5-2 C your favorite BBQ sauce*

Butter lettuce
1/2 red onion, thickly diced
Pepper

Directions:

Place pork roast in a crockpot, pour BBQ sauce over the roast and cook on low 8-9 hours. Shred with forks and mix well with remaining sauce and liquid. *Alternatively, cook roast and sauce in a dutch oven at 350 degrees for 4-5 hours.

Lightly saute diced onion in olive oil for 3-5 minutes until soft but not brown. Dust with pepper.

Wash and dry butter lettuce, place pulled pork into the middle of the wrap, top with onions and a dollop of organic ketchup* and a few dashes of hot sauce.

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

*Paleo BBQ sauce recipe:

1 small can tomato paste
1 C natural apple juice
1 T chilli powder
1 T hickory smoke spice
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t cayenne - add more for spicier flavor

Simmer in small sauce pan for 20-30 minutes, add to glass jar and serve with anything you enjoy BBQ sauce with!

*Never buy ketchup with high-fructose cornsyrup! You can buy organic ketchup from the condiment section in your local grocery store. Organics and Heinz have great versions!

Fort Langley Cranberry Pie

I grew up in Fort Langley, British Columbia - the birthplace of British Columbia. It's beautiful! There are large cranberry fields in Fort Langley and every year they host the Cranberry Festival in the Fall. If you've ever been to Fort Langley, you would notice they also have a Hazelnut Grove where you can purchase fresh hazelnuts. These two elements gave me an idea to adapt a recipe my Mom used to make, called "Nantucket Cranberry Pie". Originally made with cranberries, plums and walnuts, I decided to tweak it and use fresh cranberries and hazelnuts. Cranberries may not be in season, but their tartness pairs well with the wholesome, sweet flavor of the hazelnuts.

PS. This recipe is so easy even a toddler could make it.

Fort Langley Cranberry Pie

Yields: 1 10" pie

Ingredients:

2 C chopped cranberries
1/2 C chopped hazelnuts
1/2 C sugar

2 eggs
3/4 C melted butter
1 C sugar
1 C flour
1 t almond extract

Directions:

Lightly grease a 10" springform or cake pan. Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl, mix together cranberries, hazelnuts and 1/2 C sugar. Form a layer in the bottom of the pan.

Using an electric mixer, combine eggs; melted butter; sugar; flour and almond extract. Mix until smooth. Pour over cranberry layer and bake 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool. Use a large plate and place it over the top of the pan. Turn over and carefully remove the pie from the pan, cranberry layer-side up.

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

*You could try a different mixture of nuts or a different flavor extract, orange would pair nicely with the cranberry.

Mousse Di Cioccolato

I have a major sweet tooth, I always have. I'm also a choco-holic. Now that The Whole 30 has been over for a while, I am now able to reconstruct recipes that follow the rules of Paleo-style eating. It's been quite easy to find replacement ingredients that follow the rules and it's a great way to be able to have a little treat, while being able to stay healthy.

This is the easiest recipe I've ever made, I'm not kidding. I shouldn't even be calling it a "recipe". There's only 3 ingredients and it's absolutely delicious!

Mousse Di Cioccolato (Chocolate Mousse)

Yields: 3 small servings

Ingredients:

1 T organic, unpasteurized honey
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2-3/4 C coconut cream

Directions:

Mix honey and cocoa powder together in a small bowl. Add coconut cream and mix thoroughly. Divide into individual ramekins and chill.

Serve on its own, or add fresh raspberries or pomegranate seeds for an extra treat!

*Chill in the freezer if you want to turn this into ice cream!

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

Sindhi Beef Curry

I love Indian food. Samosa, butter chicken, curry dishes, dahl.... I am definitely a fan. I have a recipe for delicious Sindhi Beef Curry and it is really nice. The beef is tender and the flavors are rich and delicious. It's also made in the crock pot so it's super easy!

Sindhi Beef Curry

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:

2lb stewing beef, cut into 1" cubes
2 T curry powder
1 T cardamom
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground clove
2 t garam masala
salt & pepper
1/2 C diced tomato
1 medium red onion, diced
2 T tomato paste

Directions:

In your crockpot, combine beef, curry powder, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, garam masala, salt & pepper.

Add remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 6-8.

Serve over cooked rice or roasted squash.

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Rasp-Blackberry Muffins

The Whole30 has come to an end... It was a wonderful experience for me. I did this 30 day challenge with my mother and we loved every minute of it! For us, we found it extremely easy to follow the guidelines and to stick to the rules. It's only 30 days of your life and the results have been astounding! We couldn't be happier with how we feel about our bodies, our energy levels and even our mental states. If you haven't tried The Whole30, you should! Even just to experiment. If you are already healthy and focused on eating well and exercising, this will be a breeze for you! If you are looking for another option to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle, you definitely should look into this program. For more information, check out their website: http://whole9life.com/

Part of the challenge of the Whole30, is that you cannot recreate junkfood to fit the rules of the diet plan. That meant I couldn't "Paleo-ify" baked goods, candies or treats during the Whole30... well now I can! I purchased 1lb of Coconut Flour from a local farmer's market on Commercial Drive. I couldn't wait to test it out and start baking some Paleo-style foods! There is a lot of truth in the fact that not every recipe can be recreated to suit a specific diet, for example: you could never bake a beautiful, fragrant loaf of Foccacia using gluten-free flour, it just wouldn't turn out the way it should. Some things need to be made exactly the way they were meant to. However, I made these Rasp-Blackberry Muffins last night and they are AMAZING! Even if you don't follow a specific diet plan, you should try them. They are dense and have a similar consistency to cornmeal muffins and guess what? They took 20 minutes to make, from prepping the ingredients to baking the damn things. Hallelujah!

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Rasp-Blackberry Muffins

Yields: 6 muffins

Ingredients:

1/4 C sifted Coconut Flour
1/2 t baking powder
3 T raw honey
3 T melted coconut oil*
3 large eggs
1/3 C fresh Raspberries
1/3 C fresh Blackberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tray with paper linings, or grease pan with coconut oil.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together coconut flour, baking powder, honey, coconut oil and eggs. Mix well with a hand mixer. Fold in fresh berries and pour evenly into muffin tin.

Bake 16 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy the hell out of these muffins!

*I used virgin coconut oil, feel free to use extra-virgin if you prefer a less pronounced coconut flavor.
*You must use fresh berries for this recipe, if you use frozen, they will turn to mush! Feel free to substitute blueberries, gooseberries, or whatever other berries you might want to try.
*My muffins turned super yellow because my egg yolks were bright yellow. Also, because the recipe calls for honey instead of sugar, the color will not change much after baking.

Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

All Day I Dream About Food

"Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be."

My New Year's resolution for 2013 was to take cooking a lot more seriously. I have been cooking for years, but it's only been in the past few that my passion has really flourished. I absolutely love cooking, I am constantly dreaming about food, researching recipes or reading cookbooks. When I'm in a kitchen I feel at home. I feel accomplished and I love every second of it. To be able to use creativity and experience to create food is a wonderful thing.

Everyone needs to eat and I don't know one single person that doesn't LOVE to eat. When you eat a homecooked meal, you feel satisfied, you feel comfortable and you feel happy. When you eat a meal that has been made with love and with the most positive intentions, you can feel it throughout your body. My favorite thing to do is to cook for other people. When I see the look on their faces or when they say to me, "Oh wow, that was so good", it's the best feeling in the world. Nothing makes me happier than feeding people I love.

This past weekend I was given the opportunity to cook for friends of mine who are expecting their second baby. It is a wonderful thing when a family can enjoy every minute of their time focused on their children, their friends, their families, and they don't have to worry about meal planning, grocery shopping or slaving away in a kitchen. All of those tasks require time and energy and it can take away from other experiences. To be able to have given the gift of time and energy is a remarkable experience. This family will be able to rest easier knowing that they have good, healthy, homecooked meals at their fingertips. No brainstorming involved, no tedius tasks like chopping, peeling, shredding, stirring... just pure enjoyment of the moment at hand.

When I was contacted by this family, I was ready to go. "Of course I will help you! Whatever you want, I will do it!" You need to be positive and you need to be able to give everything you can to create the best quality of your craft. No task is too difficult and absolutely no task is impossible. Everything can be done, anything can be worked out exactly the way you planned - the key is staying positive, organized and focused.

I was so excited to get the ball rolling and to plan everything out. I used inspiration from my own repertoire and selected recipes that my client had requested. Altogether, 13 different recipes were scheduled! First came the task of organizing the recipes by group, then planning the ingredients needed for each, then a shopping list had to be created, which included all the food storage supplies, along with accurate pricing information. That meant creating spreadsheets so I could see everything I needed at one time, actively going to the grocery store and reading the prices on everything, taking into account that these products don't necessarily come in specific quantities for a recipe. I also had to calculate the preparation and cooking times of each recipe and organize each one by difficulty/time. All of that work and I hadn't even bought the groceries or started cooking anything. You know what? I loved every waking minute I dedicated to this project. Just knowing that all my hard work was going toward the ultimate goal of helping this family is what motivated me to work hard.

I had to take a full-day class on Saturday, so that left me with one day to cook everything I had planned. I was determined! I was excited and there was no way anything was going to stop me. Could I actually prepare and cook 13 meals in only one day? There was no way I could predict the actual outcome, because anything can happen when you are cooking, but I DID IT! I never could have accomplished such a huge task without the endless help and support from my perfect mother, Sharon Twiss. Also, this never could have come to fruition without the opportunity given to me by Robyn and Sam Sajadi - thank you for putting your trust in me and for allowing me to help your beautiful family during this exciting time in your life. Endless thanks, gratitude and love to everyone involved. I cannot wait to do it again!!!

Here is what I managed to cook in just over 12 hours on Sunday:

3 soups: Carrot-Butternut Squash, Mediterranean Lentil, and Thai Coconut Chicken
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
Channa Gobi (Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry)
Beef Curry
Chorizo Sausage and Sweet Potato Melange
Shepherd's Pie x 2
Classic Lasagna x 4
Homestyle Chicken & Rice Casserole x 2
Moroccan Chicken Stew
Beef Meatballs x 35
Turkey Meatballs x 45

If you, or someone you know, may benefit from my services. Or if you would like recipe information, please contact me @ Lhamiltontwiss89@gmail.com