Comidas buenas

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, I present a rare "Cooking with ZenMom" post.

It's no secret that the ZenHusband is the cook of the family, but I do have a handful of things I enjoy cooking or baking and that, I think, are pretty tasty.

Today at Casa Zen, we are throwing together a bunch of "easy" finger foods to munch tonight while we gather 'round ye olde telly to watch the Super Bowl. So, I thought I'd go ahead and share my favorite, super-easy chili recipe.

I stole this recipe from my Dad and tweaked it here and there to my own personal taste. In fact, I don't think we've ever made this chili exactly the same way twice. We're always substituting or throwing in something new or changing proportions.

So, really, this is less of a "recipe" and more of a "guideline". :)

I think the best dishes come from experimenting. So, if anyone out there gives this chili a try, I'd love to hear how you liked it and how you "made it your own".

C's CROCKPOT CHORIZO CHILI

HARDWARE
1 medium-sized crockpot
1 large skillet

SOFTWARE:
2 cups black beans
1/2 pound ground beef
1 pkg (9oz) beef chorizo
6 oz (1 small can) tomato paste
3 roma tomatoes
1 medium green bellpepper, chopped*
1 anaheim chile pepper, chopped*
1/2 yellow onion
3-4 cups chicken broth (or 1 1/2 bottles of a medium ale)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper (to taste)

* I prefer to remove most of the seeds from the peppers to cut back on the heat, but if you like your chili spicier, leave them in.)

DIRECTIONS

The night before:
In a medium saucepan, cover the 2 cups of dry beans with water and boil for 20 minutes. Then turn off heat and let the beans soak overnight (or at least 4 hours).

Chili day:
Drain the beans. Add them to the crockpot.
In a large skillet: Sweat the chopped onions and bellpepper.
When the onions are soft and almost translucent, add the ground beef to the skillet.
Brown the ground beef, seasoning with the chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.

Drain the beef, add it to the crockpot.
In the same skillet, cook the chorizo until it is mostly liquified.
Add the chorizo to the crockpot.
Add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and chopped peppers.
Add the chicken broth (or beer) - make sure there is enough liquid to fully cover the ingredients.
Stir.
Put the lid on the crockpot. Turn it on medium and walk away for at least 6 hours.
(Come back and give it a stir every hour or so.)

I like to serve it with a little grated cheddar cheese on top and a side of toasted french bread.

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BONUS RECIPE: ZEN'S PICO DE GALLO (GARDEN SALSA)

(Stolen from my Mom. And, again, a lot of wiggle-room to make it to your own taste.)

SOFTWARE:

3 large roma tomatoes (or 1 beefsteak) (3/4 lb)
1/8 brown onion (or to taste)
6 sprigs cilantro
1/8 lime or lemon (no peel)
1-2 cloves garlic
1-3 Serrano Chiles
1 tsp salt
1/8 Green Bell Pepper

*For guacamole, just add 4 large avocados

DIRECTIONS:

Chop garlic, chilis. Add to bowl. Stir.
Chop onions, tomatoes, cilantro, bell pepper. Add. Stir.
Add salt, lemon/lime. Stir.
Refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors combine. It will get spicier the longer it sits.

OPTIONAL HARDWARE:

I like to make this in my food processor. Just "pulse" the garlic and chiles first until they are minced, then add everything else and "pulse" to your desired consistency.

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Feliz Comiendo!

Zen