Meaty Monday – Pumpkin Chili

Need a fast, easy chili recipe? This pumpkin chili can be taken from the frozen meat, to the table in about 35 – 40 minutes.

I am horrible at making menus for the week. I tend to decide at the last minute what we should eat that meal. I know life would be easier if I could plan and shop ahead, but old habits are hard to break!

I love this recipe, because it is healthy, and fast. There is no shame in using canned or frozen ingredients! Keeping extra canned and frozen ingredients on hand works well when you live in areas where the winters make running to the grocery store impossible at times.

We are pig farmers, and have a lot of pork on hand, so I use ground pork for this recipe. Feel free to use whatever ground meat you have on hand. Since I am usually a last minute cook, I thaw my ground pork in the microwave. While I’m thawing the meat, I start to cook the onions in olive oil. My eyes run like a river when I cut onions, so I use Ore-Ida frozen chopped onions. I measure out the correct amount, and toss them in the pot frozen. No need to thaw before use! To make things easier, I measure out the spices and bouillon into a small ramekin or bowl while the onions are cooking.

After the onions are cooked down, add the ground meat, and brown it until it is cooked thoroughly. Add the diced tomatoes, pumpkin, black beans, and vegetable stock, stirring to combine. Sprinkle the chili powder, cumin, pepper and beef bouillon over the top, then stir in until the chili is mixed well. At this point, give the chili a taste and see if you need to add salt. I typically leave the salt out, and it is just fine.

Bring the chili to a simmer, and let it cook for 20 minutes. If you are thinking ahead, you can put this in a slow cooker on low for a few hours.  To serve, ladle the chili into bowls, and top with a bit of shredded cheese. If I have a mix on hand, I’ll whip up some honey cornbread to go with it.

Here’s the recipe:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I like to use garlic powder, adding it with the other spices)

1 pound ground pork

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 can pumpkin puree

1 ½ Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated beef bouillon

Salt to taste

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 cup vegetable stock (can use more if you like your chili more soupy)

Heat oil in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, and sauté the onion and garlic until tender.

Stir in the pork, and cook until evenly brown.

Mix in tomatoes, pumpkin and black beans.

Stir in beef bouillon and vegetable stock.

Season with chili powder, cumin, pepper, and salt.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or put in slow cooker.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese over top if desired.

Serves 6

Carolyn Cares Pumpkin Chili

Meaty Monday – Marshall Salad & Beef Strip Steak Supper

When looking for a good lettuce based salad to serve at our Century Appreciation Party, I immediately thought of the Marshall Salad recipe that was given to me by my sister-in-law, Sally.  When you have the basics down, you can do some switching up to suit your tastes, or your crowd.

The dressing for the salad needs to be refrigerated for 3 hours, so a little planning ahead would be good. To make things easier for serving at our party, we skipped making the dressing, and had bottled dressings available.

The full written recipe will appear after the photos.

The very first step, especially if you are making this in the summer, is to prepare an iced coffee (or your favorite cold beverage). I would save the intoxicating forms for later…you’ll be operating with sharp knives.

MMM. Iced coffee
MMM. Iced coffee

Next, you will need to make your salad dressing. Remember, it needs to chill for three hours (it can be left in the fridge overnight and be just as good).

Salad dressing ingredients
Salad dressing ingredients

Does anyone else have issues with the markings washing off of your Pyrex glass measuring cups? That’s one reason why I like to measure liquid ingredients larger than 1/4 cup on a scale.

I like using a scale when measuring out liquid ingredients
I like using a scale when measuring out liquid ingredients

After you have measured out and poured the oil and lemon juice into the blender, crush the cloves of garlic. If you don’t have a “bash and chop” style utensil, use a broad knife such as the chef knife shown here.

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Place the knife flat onto the garlic clove, and strike the knife with the heel of your hand. It is super important to keep your fingers out of the way. We don’t want any emergency room visits while we are making supper!

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After you have smashed the garlic, it becomes super easy to peel. Give it a rough chop, and add it to the blender.

Garlic Smash
Garlic Smash

Add the salt, and pepper…

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Then blend. The liquid will turn white pretty quickly as the oil and lemon juice emulsify, just make sure you blend long enough to chop the garlic into itty bitty pieces.

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Pour the dressing into a glass jar, and cover. If you have a small Mason jar with a lid handy, use that.

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While the dressing is chilling, slice your bacon slices. If your knives are not sharp, a kitchen shears works really well for cutting bacon.

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Fry the bacon until it is a golden brown.

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Then drain the bacon on paper towels and let cool. I scoop the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon, and put it in a cereal bowl that has been lined with paper toweling. That way, I can throw some plastic wrap over the top, and put it in the fridge to cool while the dressing is chilling.

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When I was about ready to assemble the rest of the salad, I took our Angus beef strip steaks (from our local Hy-Vee) out of the fridge and put them on a platter and lightly seasoned them with salt and pepper. We’re not huge pepper people, so I only seasoned one side with pepper. I set them aside until it was time to throw them on the grill.

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Even pig farmers enjoy a good beef steak!

Using a clean cutting board (it is important to use separate cutting boards when making meals with meat and produce to prevent cross contamination. The chances of getting sick are low, but we all must practice food safety!), I brought out my Romaine lettuce, cut off the ends and removed the outer leaves before cutting the lettuce into bite size pieces. I ended up using all three heads of lettuce that came in the pack so none would go to waste.

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I use a lettuce knife which is supposed keep the lettuce from turning brown. I don’t know if it works, but I like this little plastic knife. After the lettuce was cut, I washed it, and spun it dry in my salad spinner. I also washed the grape tomatoes and gave them a spin. If your grape tomatoes are approaching cherry tomato size, slice them in half after washing.

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Then, it was time to put the steaks on the grill.

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While the steaks were cooking, I assembled the salad in my fancy Dollar Tree bowl. On top of the lettuce I dumped the mozzarella cheese, shredded Parmesan cheese, grape tomatoes, and the cooled bacon.

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I mixed the salad together with a pair of tongs before adding the dressing. Being the amateur food photographer that I am, I didn’t tidy up my work space before taking the next photo. But, really, who has time to be all tidy when you have steaks almost finished cooking, and your tummy is growling for this yummy salad?

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After the dressing was added, I mixed the salad one more time with a large spoon. I don’t like soggy croutons, so we add ours at the table.

Finally, time to eat! The steaks were super tender, and didn’t need all kinds of treatment before grilling. The lightly seasoned meat paired very well with the salad.

A huge thanks goes out to my friend, Jenny Dewey, who helped guide my steak preparation.

Supper is served!
Supper is served!

 

Marshall Salad

Dressing:

3/4 c (6 ounces) salad oil

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon salt & pepper

Blend in blender. Store in refrigerator for 3 hours. Toss with salad just before serving.

Salad:

2-3 heads romaine lettuce, torn up

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes

7 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup croutons

Mix together just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.