Trifle Update .....

I am very pleased to report that our trifle was a wonderful success!! It looked awesome (thanks Hubby!!) tasted delicious, and appeared to be heartily enjoyed by everyone!




It had a lot to live up to after the amazing Christmas dinner made by Katy & Cameron - beef which I believe was started outside on the grill (or bbq, for people back home) then finished in the oven, with little piped potatoes and broccoli sauteed with almonds - yum!! I also got to try some sweet potatoes with marshmallows - something I had heard about years ago and always thought was a bit twisted! Turns out I was wrong - yum again!! Throw in a few bottles of good wine and some wonderful company and you have the recipe for a perfect Christmas! A huge thank you to everyone who helped make our first American Christmas special :-)

And now for a lazy Boxing Day - Hubby is still in bed and I am curled up on the sofa nursing a slight hangover and watching Quantum of Solace. The furthest I'm planning on going is next door to feed the neighbour's cats, and the highlight of my day will be spending some quality time with Philippa and one of our new toys :-)

Incidentally, I have been asked several times what the history behind Boxing Day is as most people haven't heard of it over here. These days it's mainly just a way to commit suicide by shopping as it is the day all the shops start their big sales - much like Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) over here. But I realised that I didn't actually know the real story so I consulted the all-knowing Wikipedia, and, for anyone who cares, it was traditionally the day when wealthy people gave their servants a box containing gifts, money, and/or leftover food. So there you go - I learned something today, maybe you did to!

And now back to my movie and the delightful Daniel Craig ....... :-)

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! Was Santa good to you? I was a bit concerned that he might not be able to find us on the other side of the world (particularly as this house doesn't have a chimney) but as always, he came through! :-)




Santa Hubby did very well and got me a new coffee machine (dear God, I missed the old one!) This one does espressos and lattes and cappuccinos and hot chocolates and everything you could reasonably expect a coffee machine to do!






He also got a couple of joint presents for me and my beloved Phillipa - a ravioli making attachment and an ice cream making bowl!!! :-) I am ridiculously excited about these and will be playing with them just as soon as Safeway reopens for me to get the necessary ingredients!!






Other notable offerings from assorted Santas include:


The Big Book Of Cupcakes from Vera - this is a wonderful book full of yummy recipes and decorating ideas ranging from novelty to simply stunning. I cant wait to try them all out, and will of course keep you posted on my progress!

A digital photo frame from my sister in law - this is something I had been thinking about getting for a while and was going to suggest to Peter so I am really happy with this - nice one Caroline!!



But the Most Randomly Awesome award has to go to my daddy for Alibi At Midnight, a book he co-wrote with a fellow journalist in 1974 about a man falsely accused and tried for murder. I believe it was actually my stepmother who tracked the book down, much to my dad's embarrassment, but I love it and cant wait to read it!!




It doesn't quite feel like Christmas, if I'm honest. One of my favourite festive songs is Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, but every time i hear/hum/sing it I look around and think, No, there's something not quite right! Maybe it's the lack of snow - although I definitely do NOT miss that!! Maybe its the fact that it's still warm enough during the day to go out without a jacket? Maybe it's the absence of the Connie Francis Christmas album?! ;-)

I'm definitely missing my family and friends more than usual. Ive just had a wonderful Skype chat with my parents and sister and aunt and I'm a wee bit sad I wasn't there to share in the hilarity as they opened the pressies, but thanks to the magic of Skype they don't feel quite so far away. :-)

We are very fortunate to have been invited for Christmas dinner with our friends Katy & Cameron and their families which we are very excited about! We are contributing a trifle, which we haven't made before so we also have a shitload of cheese and wine as back up in case it all goes horribly wrong!! :-) Speaking of which, id better go put the cream on the trifle! Will post pics tomorrow and let you know how it turned out!

Well, whatever you're doing, wherever you are, and whoever you are with, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas!! xxx

Hubby Takeover!

Recipe for Peter's Chili con Carne

I've decided that my barbecue chili has reached the point where I can finally divulge the recipe and this is the handiest place to do it. I've been mucking about with this recipe for the last 10 years and it's taken cues from everywhere from Texas to Amritsar via the dankest curry houses of Pollokshields. I was handed a version of this from my good mate Chris, a chili fanatic who told me all about his "Honey 3 Meat" chili one drunken night somewhere in southern Holland, which he was gifted while living in Texas. So, with the giddy feeling of standing on the shoulders of giants here we go....

Before we start you're going to need some kit:

1) A really big pan

2) A barbecue (ideally with a smoker)

3) A metal sieve

4) A really big sharp knife

5) 2-3 days and about $30 assuming you have most of the spices already

Step 1 - The Rub

The basic beef chili uses 3 meats:

1) 4lbs short ribs or cheap fatty NY strip - get what's cheap at the time, but not thin flank.

2) 1.5lbs of ground chuck (btw good Scottish mince is far better, but whatever)

3) 1.5oz/42g bag of good beef jerky

Only the first meat has the rub applied; this is probably the most important stage of the process as a lot of the flavours are rubbed into the meat as early as possible to be released throughout
the cooking process as the other ingredients soften up. You'll need to reserve some time for this - I recommend doing it the night before the main cooking session to get the deepest bark later.

For the rub you'll need:

4 teaspoons mustard powder

2 teaspoons of coriander seed

2 teaspoons of cumin seed

4 teaspoons of smoked paprika

3 teaspoons of onion salt

2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons of diced garlic

2 teaspoons of diced cilantro (coriander) stems

2 teaspoons of black pepper (fine grind)

1 teaspoon of diced ginger (ground is fine too)

1 teaspoon of rubbed sage

1 teaspoon of diced oregano

1 teaspoon of diced marjoram

1 teaspoon of celery salt

Ideally you can find the mustard (75% yellow, 25% black), coriander and cumin seeds whole and' roast them in a small dry pan for 10 minutes then grind them from hot in a cold mortar. If you're using all pre-ground spices (Colman's mustard is fine, but find decent coriander seeds if you can) mix everything but the fresh cilantro, garlic (and ginger if using fresh) in a mortar and grind away to break up the ground herbs into the spices.

Once the dry rub is prepared I mix it with the garlic, cilantro, ginger (if using fresh diced ginger rather than dried powder) and a splash of liquid smoke. Take the meat and cut it into 1"x1"x6" strips, then work in all the rub

Now put it in the fridge overnight, and if you have a smoker get the hickory soaking too.

Note - don't add sugars to this rub if you're grilling it, but feel free to add some brown sugar if you're smoking it.

Step 2: The Barbecue

This is the first manly bit - in that you get to make the neighbours really jealous. if you have a smoker fire it up, if not (like me) you need to get some of this http://www.thesmokestackco.com/index.shtml. We're not planning on cooking more than 1/8" in, we're really just trying to get the best flavours out of the beef now that it's saturated in rub. I set a smokestack on a high gas grill for 15 minutes until it has filled the grill, then I sear the beef on all sides for about 10-15minutes. You want to end up with something that's half cooked and smells awesome:

Let it cool and dice it into 1/2" cubes before it cools completely:

If you have bones then keep them - you can throw them into the pan for the first hour, then pull them out and pick the meat off once it's softened before you put the beans in.

Step 3: Preparing The Chili

So this is the second manly bit. You probably want to set the wife up with a soppy film so she doesn't take note of the daft amount of chili peppers you're about to chop up. Lets start with the ingredients you need to look out:

(Top to bottom)

2 bottles of Negra Modelo beer

5 whole tomatoes, sieved

(1 teaspoon of table salt & 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar)

1 Spanish (cheap white) onion

2 large soaked Guajillo chilies (reserve the water for later)

1 green bell pepper

6 fresh green Anaheim chilies

12 dried red birdseye chilies

1 small tin of chipotles in adobo sauce

1 finely diced beef jerky

3 teaspoons of garlic

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

Now you must choose how mental you want the chili to be. If you take all the seeds out of the above chilies you have an awesome well rounded beast of a chili with a warm long lasting heat you can enjoy and not worry about the wife putting the face on. However be warned, if you leave them all in you won't be able to eat it without some burning. I like to leave half the seeds in - mainly the chipotles as they have a lot of the smokiness from the adobo I long for.

Take the tomatoes and dice them, run them though a seive unti l you have 90% of the weight in liquid with no solids left. Use a wooden spoon to push the tomato flesh through the sieve. Use the salt and vinegar to break down the skins and internals to maximize the volume of smooth tomato. You should be left with a sieve full of tasteless fiber and a bowl of tasty tomato goo.

Now prepare the chilis. The seeds from the Anaheim, Guajillo and birdseye chilis just add heat - take out as much as you like. Dice the birdseyes into 1mm cubes, the Anaheim into 1mm slices and the Guajillo and chipotles into 3mm squares so they dissolve easily. Make sure you remove the hard flesh near the stems as they don't dissolve as fast. Once the Guajillo chilies are soaked add the water to the tomato juice.

The beef jerky should be high quality - you can just about get away with Jack Links but it's the only supermarket brand I've found acceptable - get down to Los Gatos Meats and get some fresh. Take that sharp knife and shave it to 0.25mm slices across the grain so it'll dissolve like

stock.

Step 4: Cook The Chili

Get a big pan - like silly big, look at the amount of stuff we're dealing with. I use 2x7 qt pans.

0 Mins: Onions in.

+3 Mins: Garlic in.

+2 Mins: Ground beef in.

+2 Mins: Splash of Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper.

+1 Mins: Add chipotles in adobo sauce

+1 Mins: Guajillo chilies

+1 Mins: 1 beer and 1/3 of the tomatoes, any bones.

+5 Mins: Rest of the chilies

+2 Mins Rest of the meat

+3 Mins Bell peppers & some of the 2nd beer (about what's left after 20 mins over a hot pan).

+5 Mins: 2 handfuls of cilantro, 1 handful of oregano, marjoram and a couple of pinches of sage and thyme.

+5 Mins: (Optional) 2 tins of beans - I use kidney and pinto

+15 Mins: 1 tablespoon of honey and extra chili powder as needed (It'll taste hotter than the final taste right now, so add bit by bit - you have a day to wait before you have to commit to the heat level)

Step 5: Stew The Chili

It'll start looking like this:

Put the chili on a low heat for at least 4-6 hours the 1st night. Cook it on a low heat for at least 2 days while tasting every 4 hours. As the flavours melt together you will probably find you need to add in extra heat - do so carefully as the extra spice will take 2-4 hours to permeate and release it's heat. On the 1st night the short rib meat should dissolve in your mouth and the sauce may taste too sharp and sweet depending on the amount of chili seeds you added. By day 2 you may just need to add a pinch of brown sugar and some chipotle chili powder if the heat has eased too much. By day 3 it should have stabilized and be ready to serve.

I generally wait 3 days before serving - double baked potatoes, tortillas or corn bread are the way to go. There is no good reason a chili ever encounters rice, salad or cheese. Baked beans and slaw can be an acceptable accompaniment as long as no beans were added earlier.

There are various modifications to the above recipe that cater for the bacon lover, in fact the above recipe normally makes use of bacon stock for extra flavour during the barbecuing stage. For the non-alcoholics among us, the dark beer can be easily swapped for ginger or root beer as long as it's not too sweet - cut back on the real ginger in this case. By day two you should have something so tasty you'll be making excuses to tamper with it: