Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Texas Chili

I'm genuinely surprised at how simple this recipe is, since it leans heavily on the chili powder as well as how much of this is fat versus water. Takes a while to make, though, almost 2 1/2 hours for me although most of it is just simmering to stew the meat. It's very good, though, if you want a hearty stick-to-your-ribs stew. Mine needed a dash of salt but otherwise was pretty darned good.

I am now officially a San Antonio Chili Queen (Claimant in Exile).

I wasn't able to find tallow locally, and didn't want to drive into town to a meat market, so I substiuted more lard for the tallow. Also, I used some generic Chili powder istead of Gebhardt's since it's what I had in the pantry. Might be why it didn't seem as hot as Max's did on his YouTube video....

# Texas Chili

Tasting History with Max Miller
5.0 servings

2.0 pounds boneless chuck beef
2.0 tsp salt
0.25 cup tallow
2.0 tbsp lard
1.0 cup onion (minced)
3.0 cups water (hot)
3.0 tbsp chili powder
2.0 tbsp garlic (minced)

1 - Chop the meat into small cubes, about 1/2 inch.
2 - Mix the beef and the tallow together, then add the salt and mix.
3 - Melt the lard in a pot over medium heat and add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring so they don’t burn.
4 - Add the meat mixture and cook, turning the meat frequently. Once all the meat has some color, continue to cook stirring every few minutes.
5 - Once the juices have cooked off and the meat is left frying in the fat, add the hot water. Make sure the water is very hot, almost boiling.
6 - Add the chili powder and garlic and stir until everything is mixed well.
7 - Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer with the lid off for 1 to 1 ½ hours. The time will depend on the heat and the cut of meat you’re using. Mine took an hour for the meat to get nice and tender. You shouldn’t have to add any more water, but keep an eye on it because if the water all boils away, the chili will burn.
8 - After the chili has simmered and the meat is tender, serve it forth and transport yourself back to the plazas of San Antonio when the Chili Queens reigned.

Makes 5 servings at ~400 calories
Calories 425
Total Fat 22g
Total Carbohydrate 6g
Protein 6g

#thisweeksmeals #cooking #TastingHistory

This Week's Bread: Globi

I've always had an interest in ancient cooking particularly Roman cooking. One of my fave omlettes is an ancient Roman recipe (eggs with honey and pepper!) But recently I've come to find out that the book I had been using for decades was inaccurate when it came to recipes with cheese.

This week's bread comes from Max Miller's Tasting History book, and is a recipe that's also in my other book, Mark Grant's Roman Cookery. And it shows the innacuracy of Grant's book: The recipes are roughly the same except Miller's book uses Ricotta Cheese. Grant's uses Cheddar.

I picked up Grant's book before the internet got big, so it was my only source for adapted Roman recipes so I didn't know any better...but the flavors with Cheddar were odd. Later, after more adaptions became available, I learned the roman cheese was more like ricotta or cottage cheese. Which is what Max Miller's recipe for Globi uses.

Anyways, Globi is pretty good. A little weak in the flavor department, coming across as a sweet version of a hush puppy. Makes for a nice little snack, but might be too mild for out tastes. It's not authentic, but dusting this with powdered sugar would be fantastic.

# Globi

Tasting History with Max Miller
6.0 servings of 4 balls

1.0 cup ricotta cheese
1.0 cup spelt flour
1.0 tbsp spelt flour
canola oil (for frying)
0.3333333333333333 cup honey
poppy seeds

1 - Mix the ricotta and flour in a bowl until it becomes a dough.
2 - Form the dough into 1 inch balls
3 - Heat the oil in a pot to 350°F (175°C).
4 - Fry the balls a couple at a time for 60 to 90 seconds.
5 - Turn them every 10 to 15 seconds to make sure they’re cooking evenly
6 - At 60 seconds, take one out to check its color. You want them to be a nice deep golden brown.
7 - When they’re done, set them on a wire rack to drain over some paper towel. Repeat the process until all the globi are fried.
8 - Once all the globi have been fried, heat the honey just until it thins a bit.
9 - Dip the globi into the honey and coat them evenly, then sprinkle them with poppy seeds.

Yields 6 servings of 4 balls at ~37.5g carbs per serving
Calories 232
Total Fat 5g
Total Carbohydrates 38g
Protein 9g

#thisweeksmeals #cooking #tastinghistory

They're here...THEY'RE HERE!

Super busy day today, and not with the best start.

This morning, while taking a shower, I heard my doorbell ring. I was expecting a package, so I quickly just slapped on my shorts and shirt, and stepped on the hardwood floor with wet feet.

Legs promptly decided "LET'S SEE IF WE CAN DO THE SPLITS" with my hips saying "NO, YOU CAN'T" and crashed down on my butt.

I'm fine. No major pain, just aches of tendons and muscles that were stretched a bit more than they were used to.

I did spend the rest of the day at Crystal and Lissa's resting up and getting some serious nerd education I'm going to need in the near future. Also, a very good dinner I needed right then.

Coming home, the rest of the evening was cooking four meals for the upcoming week. Took all night, since one was a slow cooked stew, which I'm not sure I did correctly...but we'll find out when I have the real taste test tomorrow.

And with all that done, I'm an hour out for bed. After taking some muscle relaxants and pain relievers that were meant for my neck, but should work with my hurting hips. :)

My house smells GOOD.