Stuff I've Made

I actually have been cooking quite a bit lately. Here's the challah that I made using Joanna's recipe. Shane said it was the best bread he's ever eaten. He's really happy we're doing soup this month cause I'll be making this bread a lot.




Here's some Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits that I got from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I couldn't find the recipe online and I've already returned the book to the library so I can't post the recipe. Sorry. It was interesting to make because I've never made biscuits before. It was a good excuse to buy a pastry blender. I think they came out pretty good, but they were so rich. I don't want my cooking to turn out to be detrimental to our health, so I'm not sure I'd make them again.



And here is a bowl of Beef-Chipotle Chili from Food Made Fast: Slow Cooker (Williams-Sonoma). This book is so awesome! I've only had it for three weeks and so far have made three things out of it. Shane has loved all of them. And I love making stuff in the slow cooker. I thought this chili was way too hot though. But I will make it again because Shane loved it so much even though it lasted about 4 nights. I'll just dig out some of the seeds from the chipotle peppers, that should make it more tolerable for me.



Beef Chipotle Chili

Flour, 1/4 cup
Salt and Pepper
Boneless beef chuck, 3 lb. trimmed of excess fat and cut into chunks
Olive oil, 4-6 Tbsp
Dried oregano, 1.5 tsp
Garlic, 4 cloves, minced
Red onions, 2, finely chopped
Beef broth, 2 cups
Chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, 1 7oz. can

1. In a resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, 1 tsp. sale, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Add the beef chunks and shake to coat evenly with the flour mixture; reserve the excess flour mixture. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 4 Tbsp. of the oil. Add half of the beef chunks and cook, turning as needed, until evenly browned on all sides, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and drain briefly, and then transfer to the slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining beef chunks, adding the remaining 2 Tbsp. oil if needed. Sprinkle oregano over the meat.

2. Return the pan to the medium-high heat. Add the garlic and all but 1/2 cup of the onions and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the reserved flour mixture and saute for about 1 minute longer. Pour in the broth and add the chipotle chilis with their sauce, breaking up the chilis coarsely with your fingers. Raise the heat to high, bring to a boil, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the pan bottom. Pour over the beef.

3. Cover and cook on the high-heat setting for 3-4 hours or the low-heat setting for 6-8 hours. The beef should be very tender. Spoon the chili into bowls, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup choppied onion and serve.

That makes it sound time-consuming, but it really went fast. I put this all together in the morning before going to work. I wasn't even late. I just got up 30 minutes earlier.