As always, it needs to sit before I really know what I think, but so far I I like it. With a small mod, I’m likely to do this one again. Recipe after the jump. It’s hot enough to mean business, but not so hot that all you can taste is fire.This shall be called “Chicken Chili with Pineapple”. That name sounds so cuddly, though, that it probably needs a subtitle. Maybe “Asses of Fire edition”. It’s not that hot, but you won’t mistake it for anything you brought home from Hard Times.

The recipe here is what I made, not what I’d planned. I gathered ideas from 5 or 6 I found in google, then added some of my favorite things. Leaving out the beans is a first for me. It works well.

Meat
0.8lb Merguez
1 lb “market style” bacon
1 lb chicken breast tenders

Veg
10 large tomatillos
2 red jalapeños
2 green jalapeños
4 habaneros
5 thai chilis
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
0.5 fresh pineapple
1 bag frozen corn
8 oz mushrooms
1 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts
2 tbs cornstarch

Spice
3 tbs cayenne (was planned to be 1tbs but there was a pouring accident I didn’t see fit to fix)
2 tbs horseradish
6 tbs rooster sauce
1 140g can Harissa

Prep:
1. Take half the hot peppers, remove the stems, and slit them open. Take the other half and dice.
2. Boil tomatillos and slit peppers for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and save the water.
3. Take the diced peppers and put them in a hot skillet. Cook bacon in same skillet. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Save the grease/pepper mix.
4. Peel tomatillos if necessary. Mine were easy to peel before boiling, so I did that instead of needing to deal with boiling hot veggies. Place the tomatillos, along with the slit peppers from the tomatillo water into a blender. Mix well (15 – 30s).
5. Add everything except the cornstarch to the slow cooker. Pineapple last.
6. Cook on high in the slow cooker around 4 hours. Then shred the chicken and move the temperature to low. By that point, my chicken shredded just by pressing into it with a spoon as I stirred. Add the cornstarch at this point and stir it in if things look too soupy. I needed 2 tablespoons.

You can leave it on low until you’re ready to eat.

After the first meal of it, I mostly approve. The heat is about right for me, and the peanuts are a nice touch. Next time I try this, I will probably double the chicken and omit the Merguez. The taste of the merguez doesn’t really come through the chili, and I’m no huge fan of what it does for the texture, especially in comparison to how well the chicken works. I might also consider adding a sweet pepper to the mix.

This is certainly the strangest chili I’ve ever made. I’ll update in a couple days with the final verdict.

Update: After a couple days to cure in the fridge, the chili is only better. This recipe will definitely be reused. I still think the merguez needs to be replaced with more chicken. It’s not bad in there, but there are better uses for the merguez and the chicken works really well here.

I went to Hard Times for the vegetarian chili mac 3-way with tomatoes and jalapeños. It was stellar, as expected. Then I decided to roam the neighborhood a bit and grab a coffee. On my way to Boccato gelato, I passed Iota. Outside Iota, there was a woman standing around in a Halloween costume playing the fiddle. Naturally, I had to stop and listen, then ask why she was there.

It turns out she was the banjo player for a Junior League Band, that was about to play Iota. A rock band with a banjo and a violin sounded right down my alley, so I decided I’d stop back by iota after my coffee. Wow. Good thing I did. The opening band (Resurrectionists, out of Boston) was good. The main act, called Junior League Band and based out of DC was just fantastic. They were every bit as good as you’d expect a roots band with a banjo and fiddle to be. Think somewhere between Jump Little Children and Rusted Root, with Regina Spektor fronting, and you will probably imagine the right sound. Or just go look them up on iTunes and listen to a few songs. It’s just good, fun music. Along with the original stuff on the album I linked, they did a nice cover of Thriller for Halloween. There were no horns at the live show, but are on the album. At the end of the night, that’s easily the best $12 I’ve spent to see a band in recent memory, and I definitely plan to look out for them again in the new year. I don’t know if the violin is a regular feature for them, but it definitely should be!

I don’t know how this one will turn out yet; I’ll update this after I try it. Click through for the full recipe.

Update 1: After about six hours in the slow cooker, the chili looked a little thin. I suppose my earlier judgement that it was too thick was off base. Maybe the recipe did not need an entire can of Yuengling. This has been remedied by adding potato flakes and stirring until the thickness looked about right. So far, this is a respectable batch. Not as good as last year’s, but solid. And it’s mild enough that we’ll both eat it. The real test comes after it gets to cure for a couple of days in the refrigerator, of course.

1.3 lb lean ground turkey
1 lb spicy italian sausage
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

0.5 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tbs chili powder
1 tsp cilantro
1 tsp basil
2 packets Sazón Goya con culantro y achiote
4 tsp wasabi powder

2 Anaheim peppers, coarsely chopped
6 Serrano pepers, finely chopped
1 Habanero pepper, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
4 carrots
3 stalks celery

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 can sweet corn
1 16 oz can dark red kidney beans
1 16 oz can pink beans
1 12 oz can Yuengling

1. Brown turkey, sausage and onions in about 2 tbs bacon grease on medium heat.
2. Add sweet pepper, carrots, celery, spices and the canned vegetables to the slow cooker.
3. When meat and onions have been browned just so that there’s no pink showing, drain and add to slow cooker. Turn stove burner to its highest setting and return the skillet to the burner.
4. Once the skillet is very hot, add the chili peppers. Roast them for 1 – 2 minutes. You probably want the hood fan on high while this is happening.
5. Add roasted hot peppers to the slow cooker along with the beer. Cook 5 – 6 hours on high.

2 cups pasta (shells FTW)

1.5 Tbs. butter

1.5 Tbs. all-purpose flour
0.25 Tsp. kosher salt
A pinch of:
- cayenne
- freshly ground black pepper
- paprika

0.75 C skim milk
between 0.5 and 1 cup assorted cheese
My mix was approximately:
- 80% sharp cheddar
- 10% plain Chavrie (very chèvre-like goat’s milk cheese from PA)
- 10% feta

Melt butter in a small saucepan and remove it from the heat to stir in the flour and seasonings. Gradually add the milk, stirring until well mixed; the mixture will seem quite thin at this point. Return to the heat and cook over low to medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Once the sauce has thickened and seems smooth, cook for about 5 more minutes. Add the cheeses and stir until everything is smooth.

On my stove with medium shells, the time to start the water boiling for the pasta was when the milk/flour/spice mixture returned to the heat.

This is the first batch I’ve made in quite some time, and I had lost my old favorite recipe. This batch didn’t turn out badly, though.Here was my effort:

• 1L red wine
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup kirsch
• 2 Tbs mulling spices
• 2 Tbs honey
• 6 Tbs sugar

I used a Little Penguin shiraz. The exact variety of wine is mostly unimportant; I’ve used various shiraz, beaujolais and pinot before to equally good effect. After the addition of the sugar and spices, the wine is basically unrecognizable, so I generally just pick up the best $6 or $7 bottles I can find on that particular day.

This time I used a store bought mix of mulling spices. If you have whole cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves around there’s no sense purchasing the mix. Whole cinnamon gets too old before I use it up, though, so I was happy to pick up the mix. Also, this batch was a bit sweet for my tastes. Next time I think I’ll back off a couple tablespoons of sugar or just skip the honey. You can also substitute water for OJ if desired, and maybe use a bit of orange zest. I prefer it with the OJ, though. The brandy isn’t essential, and doesn’t have to be kirsch.
Either put the spices in the wine loose then filter when you’re done, or tie them up in cheesecloth for an easier solution. Stir everything in a saucepan and heat until it just boils, then reduce heat slightly and mull for 15 – 20 minutes. This time of year, serve it hot just as you would apple cider.

The only problem with it is that I failed to record what I put in it. I’m sure it has habs and jalepenos, and I can taste horseradish. The meat is a mix of turkey and chorizo. There are 3 or 4 kinds of beans, corn and tomatoes. There is also the distinctive taste of those mysterious orange Goya spice packets.

It’s a shame I only have a few bowls left. With any luck, this winter’s big batch will be almost as good.