Chipotle espresso chili

I make chili all the time. It is sort of a go-to meal for me, especially in the winter and especially due to the time when I was more vegetarian than not.

I've tried a few varieties but for the most part, I stick to a formula of onions, garlic, canned diced tomatoes, beans (always black, sometimes kidney or chick), sometimes ground turkey, and corn if I have it. Chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper are usually the only flavorings.


But not too long ago, I saw this recipe online and was drawn to the photos of the resulting chili. It was dark and thick and indulgent. I had to have it.

Spaghetti squash with sun-dried tomatoes and an egg

Ok, I admit it. I am a sucker for fad diets. The first time I heard about the Zone diet (from a college professor who had joined our table at dinner one night in the campus dining hall), I immediately took steps to alter my eating habits accordingly (he said it was about having roughly the same amount of carbs and protein, so whenever I would have pasta, I would add an equivalent amount of tofu to my sauce--at the time, I wasn't eating the school's beef).

Chocolate, glorious chocolate

I made these for the Mexican Chef's housewarming party.

I bought instant espresso powder specifically for this recipe. Ordinarily, I refuse on principle to buy something that I will only use for one recipe. I relented in this case because I noticed it coming up on several chocolate-based recipes so I figured I would use it again in the future.

Turns out, it makes a great cup of coffee.

Just-an-ordinary-day pasta

Most of the time when working late, I usually slap together some kind of "dinner" with leftovers, pre-packaged foods and/or (rarely) take-out. It involves maybe one pan and usually the microwave. Sometimes I don't even use a plate. It tastes fine and I'm usually satiated, hunger-wise, but it's not really satisfying.

How I spent my Thanksgiving

Wednesday nightAfter working much later than I had anticipated (and being majorly depressed after learning that I would have to cut my Thanksgiving break short in order to be on a work call on Friday), I ran home to prepare the stuffing. I chopped, I sauteed, I mixed. It was glorious.


This* is the stuffing recipe I've been making for years (the printout copy of this that I have is dated 2002--yikes). I've looked at other stuffing recipes but this one is special and unique without being overly complicated. As usual, I have my modifications:

Cornbread

This is perfectly sufficient cornbread. Good but not spectacular. Which is why it's great for stuffing--it provides a yummy buttery flavor without overwhelming the rest of the stuffing ingredients.

The original recipe is from a bag of cornmeal I bought a long time ago, cut out and saved in a little recipe book (ah, the olden days before recipes could be bookmarked on your computer). It's the same as the Gourmet recipe that follows the stuffing recipe I use, except that the Gourmet recipe uses double the amount of butter.