There is a time and a place for simplicity. Super fresh and perfectly ripe fruit, expensive cheddar and warm, crusty bread. Lush red wine and green olive oil. Then there are times that call only for overdoing it. A chef's salad with about fifty components. Risotto loaded with parmesan and pancetta. Chicken wings drenched in buttery hot sauce... and then dipped blue cheese dressing. And finally, chili. Recipes vary from region to region, but my favorite chili has it all and adds up to a hearty bowl that is best served alongside a football game- even if your team is really, really terrible. I found beef bacon at Soulard Market and it has set a new standard on chili around here. Because beef, beans and tomatoes aren't enough, I now need chewy pieces of bacon in every few spoonfuls. Here comes the longest ingredient list you will even find on this website, for a massive amount of chili:

4 slices beef bacon
2 pounds ground beef
2 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 hot peppers like jalapenos, habaneros or serranos depending on how spicy you like it, minced
2 bell peppers, diced
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons cumin
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
8-10 cups mixed cooked beans (I cooked kidney & pinto from dried but chili is a perfect place for canned beans)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 square unsweetened baking chocolate
salt to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's seasoning
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon hot mustard powder
dash of ground cloves
dash cinnamon
cayenne to taste
shredded cheese, to garnish
sour cream, to garnish
green onion, sliced, to garnish
corn chips, to garnish

1: Cook bacon slices in a very large pot over medium-low heat until the fat is rendered. Remove bacon and let cool before dicing.
2: Add two pounds ground beef and brown well over medium heat. Remove meat with a slotted spoon. Remove enough fat until 3 tablespoons remain in pot.
3: Saute onions with some salt in beef fat until soft and beginning to brown. Add garlic, hot peppers and bell peppers and saute until they are soft. Add chili powder and cumin and saute until all vegetables are coated with the spices for one minute.
4: Add remaining ingredients and add the meat back into the mixture. Simmer for at least an hour and check for seasonings. If it seems to lack something, salt, chili powder and cumin usually make it "right." Cayenne pepper will bring up the heat if your hot peppers were too weak.
5: While rationalizing that this has lots of vegetables, top with cheese, sour cream, green onion and corn chips. This recipe is not about restraint.

The Best "Hardly A Recipe" Recipe

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in a recipe that I forget exactly why I'm cooking it. My stomach always reminds me. I'm cooking because I'm hungry, because I need to eat dinner. If the recipe is one of those joyfully time-consuming, complicated ones, my stomach can kind of get in the way. "How can I survive another two hours while these short ribs braise?" it will demand. And rather than yield to a snack, which would only spoil my appetite and this meal I had spent all night constructing, I simply have to eat a different dinner.

Such was the case on Sunday night. After spending an absolutely beautiful day Tower Grove Park (Happy Birthday Henry!), I set my mind toward dinner that night. I made a decision, took a trip to the store and started making the sauce. About thirty minutes in, the onions were still caramelizing and I had miles to go before I ate. This was a problem. I decided to finish the sauce and make the dish the next day- a night in the fridge would make the homemade bbq sauce taste better anyway, I rationalized. I needed something quick and cast about the kitchen for ideas.

Pasta seemed like a natural choice for speed. No tomatoes were around, but a can of white beans was available. That seemed like a natural pairing for the kale I had just purchased, and some italian sausage would provide some Sunday-night-dinner heft. The dish came together easily, in almost one pan (two, if you count the pot I cooked the spaghetti in.) The method was simple and delicious, even with ordinary supermarket ingredients.

I started by browning the sausage (about half a pound) in a large nonstick pan. You could do this in a little bit of oil, but I don't see why extra fat is needed when sausage started in a cold pan and slowly warmed up renders plenty without burning. When the sausage was nearly cooked through, I added several handfuls of chopped kale and some chicken stock. At this point, I put in about three-fourths of a pound of spaghetti into some already-boiling water. The kale wilted quickly and I tasted the sauce... red pepper flakes, salt and pepper were up for consideration but the sausage had provided enough flavor and I didn't feel I needed to add anything. I threw a can of white beans into the mix, and drained the pasta just before al dente (save a little cooking water).

Cooking the pasta in the sauce for the last few minutes is standard procedure for me because it really seals the deal- the pasta absorbs the flavors of the sauce while it becomes tender. If it seems a little dry, add some of the reserved cooking water. I finished it off with a little bit of parmesan. We ate it all! I was planning on having leftovers, but Jamie had three bowls of it. That's how delicious this is. The beans added creaminess, while the kale provided a substantial flavor that I adore. And pork sausage is always delicious. Next time (and there will be a next time... possibly this week even), I would use a different shape of pasta. Orecchiette or bowtie... something that can pick up the chunky sausage bits and beans. Hardly a recipe, but the best one yet.

I'm back

Oh, hello. I know it's almost been six months, but I am back. Excuses are excuses, I know, but here are mine: In February I started another job running a salad station at lunch and was working from eight in the morning until late at night during the week, and usually an eight hour shift or two on the weekends. I was cooking at both jobs, so needless to say I almost never made anything at home. Why cook at home when delicious leftovers are free at work? When I did cook, blogging crossed my mind but I usually never followed through. After three months, I decided I had had enough, and quit my second job. Then, I moved. While I took many photos during my time "away," all my notes on the recipes I tried are scattered among boxes and trash cans. Now that our internet is up and working, and an "office" is in order, I will return, I swear. I've made several delicious dinner in my new house (with a yard! and nooks and crannies! But more on that later...) that I am eager to share.

Here is the new kitchen during dinner-making time. Much smaller, but I am coping well. It helps to have windows.




The recipe in question is Chicken in Chile Sauce from Gourmet's May issue. It was different- the chicken was coated in a velvety sauce of walnuts, milk, bread and cheese that had been whizzed in a food processor. The aji mirasol paste that provides the heat to the dish was a bit of trouble to find. I finally tracked it down at Global Foods, a store full of fascinating foodstuffs that I would visit once a day, if it wasn't on the other side of town.

I don't have a recipe for today, but I will share some photos of good food I have taken over the past few months. If the dish already has a recipe online, I linked the photo directly to it (and if the recipes are not out there yet, I will try to put them up soon). See you soon!