Harvest Chipotle Chili - Emphasis on Chipotle

So I decided to make some chili for dinner tonight and I remembered a recipe I had seen in Midwest Living for "Harvest Chipotle Chili" that looked really good.  So I found the recipe and made a list of all the ingredients I needed for it and ran to the store real quick.  I was pretty hungry so I got to making it pretty quickly when I got home. 

After I had it simmering for about a half hour I decided to give it a taste to see if I needed to adjust my seasonings and BAM!  It had a pretty darn good kick and the taste about choked me as it was going down.  So I decided it needed more salt and maybe a touch of honey to balance out the other flavors.  A few minutes later I had another taste and it still about knocked me on my butt.  So I took a look at the recipe and specifically the chipotle peppers that are called for in the recipe thinking that maybe I grabbed the wrong size that was called for. 

The recipe says "2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce."  All of a sudden it hit me!  Not 2 cans of chipotle peppers but just two individual chipotle peppers from a can.  Whoopsies!  Well, Chris and I ended up having a bowl for dinner.  While it was still tasty I struggled to handle the heat from the chipotle peppers.  Chris is much tougher than I am when it comes to spicy food and I'm just a big 'ol wuss. 

This is a recipe I will definitely be making again but will make sure I add the appropriate amount of chipotle peppers.  One thing I added to the chili that isn't in the recipe...surprise, surprise...bacon!  The sweet potatoes and apples balance out the smokiness of the chipotle peppers.   Even though the apples may seem weird don't omit them.  Their tartness mellows with the cooking and are a great flavor contrast.

Fall Feast = Family and Lots of Food

My family loves to eat and will make up about any excuse for a get together.  My family is definitely where my love of food and cooking came from.  Not just any food though but good food that's been prepared with love.

This last weekend we had a fall feast at my parents house where we all brought seasonal fall dishes and were supposed to carve pumpkins.  Never got around to carving pumpkins though because we all jumped into the food first and kept eating.  =)

Mom made chili (my fave chili ever) and beef stew as well as apple crisp and brownies for dessert.  Deb (Jessica's MIL) brought garden fresh green beans with bacon and pearl onions.  Dad made some kind of sauerkraut dish with potatoes and sausages and not sure what else.  I didn't indulge since I'm not a fan of kraut but everyone who did like kraut and ate it seemed to enjoy it.  I contributed butternut squash soup, a fall salad, and pumpkin muffins.

 Food keeping warm on the stove: butternut squash soup, chili, which people have already been enjoying from the looks of it, and beef stew.

The butternut squash soup recipe is super simple and pretty darn tasty.  I've made it several times for different get togethers and have always had rave reviews.  You can easily halve the recipe if you aren't making it for a large crowd and I would pass on the hazelnuts.  I used them once and didn't add that much to the soup in my opinion.  I also like to add a little half-n-half or heavy cream at the end but that isn't necessary.  Make sure you thoroughly roast the squash and  use a high quality stock/broth.  I've found out they both make a difference when it comes to flavor.

 The butternut squashes after roasting

 The soup ready to dig in to

For the salad I used mixed greens, a thinly sliced apple, craisins, toasted walnuts, and feta.  You could easily substitute a pear or crumbled blue cheese or add some red onion.  It is definitely a nice change of pace when it comes to salads for this time of year.  Ryan then made me a homemade salad dressing with maple syrup and reduced apple cider.

I'm not much of a baker (but my sister is!) but during the fall and winter I do enjoy some baking and pumpkin bread/muffins are one of my fave things to make.  The pumpkin muffins I made are gluten free so you do have to have a couple of special ingredients, coconut flour and 100% maple syrup.  I also like to add golden raisins and walnuts to pumpkin bread/muffins.

Overall it was a pretty great day spent with family even if we didn't get to the pumpkins.  I was stuffed as I tried a little bit of everything (except the kraut...blech!).  The Cowboys and Chiefs also won that day so it was a happy household!  Here are a few more pics from the day.

Carnitas - Porky Yumminess

Carnitas are super yummy and super simple to make.  This dish is one of my family's favorite get together meals.  Pretty much just throw a pork shoulder in the slow cooker all day and then chop a few things and voila! 

The pork after it's been taken out of the crock pot.

First off, I lined the bottom of the crock pot with aromatics to add more flavor: a couple of quartered onions (red or white or both), a few smashed garlic cloves, a quartered orange, a couple halved limes, and a few halved jalapenos.  Then I took my pork shoulder (can be bone in or out) and seasoned the crap out of it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and cumin and then I set the pork shoulder on top of the aromatics.  I did all of this the night before so I let it set in the fridge all night to get happy and then the next morning all I had to do was set it and forget it!  It was probably about 4 lbs so I set it on low but if it were larger I would probably set it on high.

When I got home from work I tested to see if it was done by sticking a fork in it and twisting. If the pork easily came apart then it is done.  I took the pork out and set it on a plate to rest (see above) before shredding.  After letting the pork cooled, I shredded it by using a couple of forks and discarded the fat.

  Then I cut up some cilantro, onion, and lime.

Here are the carnitas plated up on Chris' plate. That's right, no sour cream or cheese.  Neither are very traditional additions with this dish.  Though my dad refuses to eat any sort of Mexican without sour cream.  We add guac or avocado and salsa to the carnitas. You can eat the carnitas on tortillas (corn is traditionally used but I find them to be a pain in the butt), use lettuce as a wrap if you are cutting out grains, or just mound the pork and yumminess on a plate like I did for leftovers (see photo below). On a side note, I highly suggest taking two extra minutes to grill your tortillas, either on a gas stove or grill, and it will add a ton of flavor.

Chris overstuffed his tortilla like usual

 Not too shabby for leftovers at work

It probably took me 15-20 minutes the night before to prep everything and then another 15 minutes before dinner to shred the pork and chop everything.  If you know you are going to have a late night at work and won't have time to prepare a meal this is perfect and it's also great as leftovers!

Bacon is rad. Gluten is bad.

That is all.  Happy Friday!!!

Bacon, Its What's For Breakfast!

I figured I better have my first real post about the name of my blog....bacon!  I have bacon (or sausage) almost every morning for breakfast.  What's not to love?  It is super-tasty, filling, and can be taken with you on your drive to work.  Normally, I'll have it with a side of eggs, whether in the scrambled, fried, or omelet form.  If you don't think you have time to cook some up in the morning, fry it the night before and take 10 seconds to reheat in the microwave before you head out the door.

Some people are probably saying to themselves, "good luck not having a heart attack by the time you're 40."  When in fact, I believe bacon gets a bad rap.  It's the toast that is going to kill you, not the bacon.  But that is for another post some other day.  And please don't try to fool yourself with turkey bacon...blech!

Preferably, I enjoy the thick cut bacon or as I like to call it, bacon steaks.  Currently, Chris and I have been noshing on some bacon from a pig that Chris' nephew raised (pictured above).  If I buy from the grocery store, I go with Fanestil.

Happy frying!

On the Blog Bandwagon

So I've decided to hop on the blog bandwagon.  That's right, I've got a blog and I can say whatever I want.  The title of this blog is named after a beloved food of mine, bacon, but that doesn't mean all the posts will be about bacon.  Most posts will probably be a lot about food in general, with some nutrition and fitness thrown in, or whatever random topic suits my fancy for the day.  My blog just might be like a box of bacon wrapped chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

It is a little ironic that I've decided to create a blog.  For one, I've always voiced my displeasure about writing.  So much, I still have about half of my thank you's to write from the wedding over three months ago.  So if you are waiting on your thank you, I haven't forgotten about you, just putting you off!  =)  Maybe, however, that I'm just big-headed enough I think people might actually want to read what I have to say, or of the food I take pictures of.  I have posted pictures on Facebook of food I've made so figured I would transfer it over to a blog and talk a little bit about it.  Hopefully, I don't bore anybody too much.

Also, please don't mind me continuously changing the design and background.  It is definitely not my forte but I'm working on it!