The Scents Coming From My Kitchen…

The sense of smell explores food before we eat it and the scents coming from my kitchen right now are amazing.

The chicken thighs simmer in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and brown sugar and at the same time chili – which has a dose of both cocoa and coffee - is cooking on another burner.The aroma of these two dishes cooking together at the same time on my stove is heavenly.

In this moment, I think I love the smell of food as much as I love the taste.

Bon Appetit!

Three Cups Chicken

1 pd chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine
1 whole garlic, minced
1/2 thumb sized ginger, thinly sliced
2 pcs red peppers, thinly sliced
3 tbsp brown sugar
Handful of Thai basil

In a wok add sesame oil then sauté garlic, ginger and pepper

Add chicken and brown on all sides in high heat. (Make sure you use high heat. I cooked this too low and did not brown it long enough.)

Add soy sauce, rice wine and sugar then bring to a boil.

Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, add water if the sauce dries out.

Turn heat to high then add Thai basil, cook for 3 more minutes until sauce nearly dries out.

Mark's Chili

If I had looked at this chili recipe I would have dismissed it for having way too many ingredients. Lucky for me I tasted it first.

This is not your ordinary chili. It has hidden flavors and some will come back and hit you the minute you’ve had a taste. I love the fact that there are so many things going on in this recipe. This is the first chili recipe I've seen that did not have chili powder in it.

If you like it spicy, just add a little more cayenne and chili peppers.

I ate it the way my mom use to serve it - over potato chips. That’s the way I got use to eating it growing up and just as I thought, everything tastes better the way mom use to make it.

Bon Appetit!

2 teaspoons oil

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 lb lean ground beef

1.5 lb beef sirloin, cubed (Filet Mignon.. Great substitute)

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 can dark beer (Stout or Black Ale)

1 cup strong coffee

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

1 can beef broth

1/4 cup brown sugar ( Add more if desired )

3 1/2 tablespoons chili sauce

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon salt

4 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans ( Mix and substitute favorite bean's Red, Black, etc. I also like fewer beans so I used 3 cans)

4 chili peppers, chopped

Heat oil.

Cook onions, garlic and meat until brown. (Drain off excessive moisture)

Add tomatoes, beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth.

Add spices and peppers, drain and stir in 2 cans of kidney beans.

Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Depending on thickness, drain and add 2 remaining cans of kidney beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.