Showing posts with label dining guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dining guide. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Coca-Cola Chili Recipe


In the second installment of the dude dining guide, I am going to weigh in with my own recipe for chili. The sweetness of the coke contrasts very well with the smokiness of the dried ancho chilies.

In a crock pot set on low, add:

1 can Coke
1 can tomato paste
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
2 diced jalapeno peppers (change to habaneros or aji peppers if you like it more spicy)
3 medium tomatoes, sliced in large chunks
1 small sweet onion (vidalia), diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 T red pepper flakes
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin

fill small saucepan with 2.5 cups of water and 1 T olive oil and add:

3 large ancho chilies destemmed and de-seeded
1/2 clove of garlic

allow to boil for 10 minutes. Add contents of saucepan (including water) to food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add to crock pot.

After 4 hours or so cooking on low, add 1/4 bag of sweet white frozen corn and about 1 pound of cooked and diced sausage. Spicy chorizo sausages seem to give the best results, but hot italian style works also. cook on high for 30 minutes, then serve.

A good traditional side is cornbread. When I make it, I use 2 boxes of the Jiffy mix, add a little less milk than the recipe calls for, but add in a small can of creamed corn and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar, then just bake as directed.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Dude Dining


Time for a new segment on the ole blog: the Dude Weekend Dining Guide. Here we'll feature the latest cuisine of the various places we live and travel to. This first edition features China Star in Fairfax, VA, brought to us by Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide. Implicit in Cowen's blog is that the best ethic food in the National Capital area resides in the suburbs, where most of the area's ethnic communities live (notable exception: DC Ethiopian food is the tops).

I had the Szechuan chili chicken which was tasty but really, really hot. I'm talking Indian American Cafe (Harrisonburg, VA) no. 3 or 4 hot. Crystal shrimp was unique and enjoyable; curry chicken highlighted the freshness of the ingredients.

Conclusion: worth the drive if you have car access and like spicy food.

Next week: Stan checks in from the cafés half a world away...