Recipe Reveiw from 11/7/2011

I wish the weather would make up it's mind! Either be nice, warm, and sunny, or stick with the cold bluster that usually exemplifies Fall.  Enough of this 52* one day, 30* the next business. 

This week Andy-dog has taken a hankering to flossing his teeth on my rugs.  One rug in particular - it used to be my cotton yoga mat, but I never used it as such and decided to put it to better use as a throw rug.  First was the corner.  Bad Dog!  Then he decided he liked chewing holes in it instead.   BAD dog!  THEN! he decided that well, if he couldn't floss on the nice yoga rug, he would pick a different one.  Arrgh!

Once I correct him of this undesirable habit, I have a friend who thought she might be able to sew me a new edge. 

But enough of my adorable pup.   Recipe for the week:

Pork and Butternut Squash Chili (Ckng Light, Nov 2011)
If you were to click on the link, you would find that this recipe calls for beef.  I've lost my taste for beef so I subbed a pork roast.  Another recipe that could be simplified - like tossing the whole thing into the crockpot and walking away.  You could do about 4 hours on high, or 6-8 on low.  And why buy whole tomatoes when everything is just going to dissolve anyway - use diced in my opinion.  This was tasty enough if not a bit on the bland side for us - even with a while jalapeno tossed in.  I liked all the veggies in it and if a person wanted to make it complete vegetarian, skip the meat all together and use a comparable amount of butternut squash. 

This also made a lot.  I'll be freezing a couple servings for sure. 

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds boneless chuck roast, [pork roast] trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 teaspoon salt

photo from CookingLight.com

1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons diced jalapeño pepper
2/3 cup dry red wine white wine
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ancho chile pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (28-ounce) can whole   [diced] tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
[1 cup coarsely chopped celery]  my addition

6 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 teaspoon oil; swirl. Sprinkle beef with salt. Add beef to pan; sauté 8 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef.

2. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, garlic, and jalapeño; sauté 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine; bring to a boil, scraping pan. Cook 2 minutes. Return beef to pan.

3. Stir in ancho chile pepper and the next 7 ingredients (through kidney beans), and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer gently for 1 hour. Add butternut squash and 1 cup carrot, and simmer for 1 hour or until beef is tender. Ladle 1 1/3 cups chili into each of 6 bowls, and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 teaspoon cilantro.

Mike Wilson, Cooking Light
NOVEMBER 2011