The Best Chili You Will Ever Taste

Each year, I make Turkey Chili the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My Mother says she looks forward to it all year long. This year, I did not cook a turkey--gasp!--so I didn't have any leftover. But I did make chili.

This is a recipe I have adapted, only slightly, from recipezaar.com recipe #73166 by the same title. The person who submitted the recipe states that she doesn't know the origin of it. It is very unusual and complex in flavor and we love it. Sometimes I serve it with Fritos and cheddar cheese; other times sour cream and cornbread. I've served it over rice, and turned it into both nachos and tamale pie.

The Best Chili You Will Ever Taste
2 tsp. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 lb. ground sirloin
3/4 lb. cubed sirloin
One 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
12 oz. dark beer
1 cup strong coffee
12 oz. tomato paste
1 can beef broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. corriander
1 tsp. salt
4 chili peppers, chopped
3 cans beans, such as kidney, black, pinto, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in large heavy pot and brown the meat and onions very well. Add the tomatoes, beer, coffee, tomato paste, and beef broth and stir until well blended. Add the sugar, garlic, spices, and peppers. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add the beans and simmer for 30 minutes more.

The Southern Relish Tray

The finishing touch on our Southern Thanksgiving table has always been the Relish Tray. Traditionally, it would be served on divided, cut glass trays and include a variety of pickles. In our family we love the fresh crunch of raw vegetables such as carrots, green onions, radishes, and celery (shown here stuffed with pimiento cheese) to cleanse the palate and offset the richness of the other dishes.

Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples

Here is a recipe from the November, 2005 Everyday Food magazine. This delicious recipe first appeared on my Thanksgiving that year and every year since. I've also made it several other times over the years. I really like it!

Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 pints brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, and halved
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 apple, cored and sliced
2 tsp. red wine vinegar

Arrange bacon in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees until done, about 10 minutes. Add brussels sprouts in a single layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until they begin to brown, about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and toss in apple slices. Return to oven and roast until brussels sprouts are browned and tender and apple slices are tender, about 10 minutes more. Toss with vinegar and serve.

Stuffing or Dressing? How about Stuffed Dressing

The same questions arise every Thanksgiving. . .yams or sweet potatoes and stuffing or dressing. The answers are easy if you want to get technical, but let's not. When families come together for a bountiful meal, whether they call it stuffing and yams, or dressing and sweet potatoes, may they be blessed and enjoy. For the record, I am in the latter group.

I was surveying my kitchen inventory recently, after we'd had a weekend visit from out-of-town family, planning uses for all the leftovers. I saw leftover cornbread, extra sandwich bread, and a few biscuits left from breakfast. As I thought of the sliced turkey, bought for sandwiches, left in the fridge, I had an aha! moment. I would make simple turkey and dressing.

Not knowing exactly how this was going to come together, I starting crumbling the cornbread, biscuits, and a few slices of sandwich bread into a large bowl. I sliced a few stalks of celery and chopped a large, sweet onion, then sauteed them in about 6 tablespoons of butter. I was visualizing as I was crumbling and chopping and it came to me what I would do.

I added the sauteed vegetables to the crumbled bread mixture, added a couple of beaten eggs, a can of chicken broth, a couple of teaspoons of poultry seasoning, along with some salt and pepper, plus some chopped parsley. I wished it were moister, so I added some milk until it was the very moist consistency I was looking for.

I put half the mixture in the bottom of a baking pan and topped it with sliced turkey. Over the turkey, I added a layer of cranberry sauce. Then I added the remainder of the dressing mixture and baked it in in a 375 degree oven for about 50 minutes, until it was firm and nicely browned.

I served it with extra cranberry sauce but gravy (or both) would also be good. It was while I was eating it that I came up with the name for it--Stuffed Dressing. Pritchard Parker said, Mmmm!!

Sunday Brunch: Shrimp and Grits

By now, everyone knows about shrimp and grits, right? The famous low country delicacy? The shrimp cooked in a bacon-y mushroom gravy and served over cheese grits? If not, you really should try it--you don't know what you've missed. Shrimp and Grits makes a very impressive and delicious brunch dish to serve all your guests on special ocassions.

This is the recipe of gifted chef and resturanteur, Chef Bill Neal (1950 - 1991) from Crook's Corner Restaurant, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This is the best recipe for the dish I have ever eaten at any restaurant, or cooked at home. There is a long list of ingredients (it is a complex dish) but it comes together quickly, once you have everything assembled and prepped.

So go ahead, start frying that bacon, squeezing some lemons, grating cheese, slicing mushrooms, and peeling those shrimp, it really is a delicious combination of flavors.

Bill Neal's Shrimp and Grits

2 cups water

One 14 1/2 oz. can chicken broth

3/4 cup half and half

1 cup stone ground grits

3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce

1/4 tsp. white pepper

3 slices bacon

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 cup flour

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup scallions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce

lemon wedges

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil, in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in grits; reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, according to time on package. When the grits are done, stir in the cheddar cheese and next 4 ingredients, stirring until cheeses are melted. Cover and set aside, but keep warm.

While the grits are cooking, fry in bacon in a large skillet, until crisp. Set aside on paper towel and reserve 1 Tbsp. drippings in skillet. Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and set aside.

In the bacon drippings, saute the mushrooms about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the scallions and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes, until the shrimp begin to brown. Stir in the chicken broth, lemon juice, and hot sauce, and continue to cook 2 more minutes, stirring to loosen brown bits from skillet.

Divide the grits into 4 large, shallow bowls, ladle the shrimp mixture over the grits, and top each with crumbled bacon. Serve with lemon wedges.