Chili Pups

Last week I was traveling to San Francisco and I had a 50 minute stop-over in Cincinnati.  I knew that I’d have a chance to get some Cincinnati Chili at the Airport.  I was lucky to find Gold Star.

Ahhhh the chili pups were great — yummm

Chili Pups

 

Gold Star Chili at Cincinnati Airport

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Meatless Pizzas

We had company from Cincinnati last night and a big request for pizza. Since we follow the dictate of – no meat of Fridays during Lent, I made three excellent meat-less pizzas.

1. Caramelized Sweet Onion and Baby Bella mushrooms with homemade pizza sauce and provolone cheese – got rave reviews on that one.

2. Greek Pizza – with the obvious – homemade pizza sauce, pre-cooked spinach w/garlic, chopped Kalamata Olives (pitted), fried eggplant, and Feta cheese.

3. Pepper Pizza – Slivers of Red and Green Bell Peppers with rings of Cubanelle Peppers – homemade sauce, provolone cheese as well.

I always dust the pizza (no matter what the toppings are) with garlic powder and dried oregano before putting them in the oven at 400 (for 25 minutes).

Try these… they were a real hit last night.

Sorry I don’t have any photos – I was so busy serving – and I might have had too much wine 😉

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Best Cornbread Ever!

We had chili earlier in the week and the leftovers last night. Didn’t have any good crusty bread to have with it, so I worked on this cornbread recipe. I might not be the healthiest of recipes, but if you think of “moderation” then it will taste all the better.

ENJOY

THEEEE Best Cornbread Ever!

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 15oz can of sweet kernel corn – drained
Bacon grease

Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or medium cast iron frying pan with bacon grease.

In a medium sized glass bowl, melt butter in microwave at high for 45 seconds and let this cool a bit – then whisk in the buttermilk and eggs.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in large bowl. Blend in wet mixture and the can of corn. Pour this into the prepared pan or frying pan.

Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

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Cincinnati Chili

My daughter asked me for the Cincinnati Chili recipe that I usually make. This is supposed to be “Empress Style” i.e. Empress Chili Parlor. This was the second request in a week (my son asked for it last weekend) – so I figured I’d post it today.

This is very nice on a winter Saturday – Enjoy

Cincinnati Chili (Empress

2 lbs 93% lean ground beef (or ground sirloin)

2 large onions chopped

3 large garlic cloves chopped

1 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp Chili powder

2 tbsp Ground cumin

2 tbsp Ground allspice

2 tbsp Ground cinnamon

1 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp powdered cocoa

2 tbsp ground red pepper (use less if you want it less HOT)

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp of red wine vinegar

3 or 4 bay leaves

1 small can tomato paste

1 small can of tomato sauce

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1 lb. Package of spaghetti

grated sharp cheddar cheese

One large WHITE onion chopped

Oyster crackers (optional)

In a large pot, pour in 11/2 quarts of water. Add the tomato paste and the can of tomato sauce. Stir this around until all the paste is dissolved.

Add the chopped garlic.

Add the ground sirloin my dropping small chucks of the meat into the liquid (that’s right – it goes in raw). Stir this around so that it is a loose mixture of liquid and meat (gross !!)

Add the two chopped onions, stir, and then add in all the rest of the ingredients. The entire mixture should be somewhat loose when you start and then will thicken as it cooks. If it seems to thick to begin with add more water.

Let this simmer on low or about three hours or until thicker. It smells great the entire time its cooking!! If it gets too thick and you don’t keep an eye on it, it will burn and you’ll have to throw it out! – so be careful dammit !

Cook pasta til done and drain. Place pasta on plates or pasta bowls and cover with Cincinnati Chili. Top with 1) dice white onions, sharp cheddar cheese, hot sauce (optional). Serve with oyster crackers is you want to.

Chili Pups………In a hot dog bun – – – spread a little yellow mustard into the bun, scoop in some Cincinnati Chili, top with onions, cheddar cheese, hot sauce. YUMMMMM.

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