When the weather is rainy and dreary, I seem to always crave chili! This slow-cooker chili recipe came indirectly from the folks at America’s Test Kitchen, so you know that a lot of trial and error went into this before it reached my recipe-altering hands. While I love their diligence and scientific approach to cooking, I’ve found that most of their recipes are a bit, well, boring to me. They’re like perfectly perfect non-interesting versions of whatever food is being featured. And while there’s something to be said for that, it’s not usually what I’m going for when I cook at home. So I’ve learned to take what they say to heart and then change it . . . read on for my kicked-up version of their basic slow-cooker chili recipe.

The first step is unorthodox for chili, but well-known when making meatballs: a panade. “Panade” is a fancy word for “milk and bread mixed together” and is intended to keep ground meat dishes like meatloaf and meatballs from drying out during cooking. Here, in a chili, it’s used for the same purpose and works beautifully.

The mashed-up bread-and-milk misture should end up looking something like this:

Into this bowl you add  the main attraction, the beef and seasonings:

ATK said they tested different fat percentages in beef and recommend using 85% lean ground beef. I stuck with their recommendation as that’s the sort of thing they’re really good at!

Once mixed up, your bread mash and beef and seasonings look like this. Now, seasonings is where I strayed from the recipe the most: I wanted a spicier chili so went with Ancho Chili powder and about twice as much Chipotle than what they called for. I also added cinnamon but took out the sugar, as I don’t like sweetness but wanted the depth of flavor that sweet notes give a meaty chili.

After prepping the meat mixture, you turn to the stovetop to start cooking:

You then start cooking the ingredients, starting with the onions and garlic

Then adding the spices, tomato paste,

And finally the meat mixture.

When the meat is cooked so that there’s no pink left:

You’re almost done with the “hard part”! You stir in the tomato sauce and scrape up the yummy bits stuck to the pan:

And then pour the whole deal into the slow cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients, turn on the pot, and walk away.

When it’s cooked it will look like (an in-focus version of) this:

Spoon into bowls, top with grated cheese and/or sour cream, and dig in! I like to eat chili with chewy bread that has a nice crust on it, so that there’s a bit of crunch and texture from the bread but it’s also possible to wipe every last drop of chili sauce out of your bowl.

Slow Cooker Beef Chili
Adapted from Cooking for Two 2011

Ingredients:

• 1 slice white sandwich bread, torn in half
• 3 tbsp milk
• 0.25 tsp salt
• 0.25 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
• 1 lb ground beef, 85% lean
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp ancho chili powder
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 0.5 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 15-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 15-oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14.5-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Equipment:

• Large skillet
• Slow cooker (that’s a link to mine, which I love)

Directions:

Prepare panade by mashing bread and milk into paste. With hands, mix in ground beef and salt and pepper. Set aside.

In skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, chili powder, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook until slightly browned (6 or 7 minutes). Stir in beef mixture and cook until no longer pink (2 minutes). Stir in tomato sauce, scraping pan to release yummy brown bits (yes that’s the technical term).

Transfer to slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients and turn on slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-7 hours (preferred) or on high for 3-4 hours.

Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, with optional toppings as desired.

The onset of cold weather (even if it is still off-and-on here in NYC) always makes me want to dive back into cooking in a serious way. Yesterday I made norwegian meatballs and today I’ve spent the better part of the morning pouring over and dog-earing pages of the new Bon Appetit magazine.

My must-try list for this issue is kinda ridiculous, but can you blame me? There’s a whole section devoted to potatoes. Swoon.

• White chocolate-mint pots de creme with candy cane brittle – the perfect Chrstimas dessert!
• Honey-Bourbon Toddy
• Chocolate-Almond Bark with Sea Salt - my absolute favorite chocolate pairing, made at home. Love.
• Walnut-Thyme Honey – wonderful as a holiday present as suggested in the magazine, but also great to keep on hand for your own use!
• Faux Pho
• Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas & Feta – long title but delicious concept
• Lamb Shanks with Pears and Pistachios
• Potato Rolls with Caraway Salt
• Peppermint Meringues
• Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel
• Potato Galette with Caraway and Sweet Onions
• Gnocci Gratin with Gorgonzola Dolce
• Rosti with Bacon and Scallions
• Bacon & Spinach-Stuffed Rib-Eye Roast - the holiday season always makes me want to cook up a giant hunk of meat, and I’ve been on the lookout for a new standout recipe . . .
• Salt-Roasted Chicken

So today I started my first-ever detox diet, and really it’s my first-ever diet diet. I guess hitting 30 makes you stop being able to eat whatever you want without putting on the pounds . . . because over the last year or so, I’ve gained over 10 pounds without even noticing it!

When I think about it, it’s really easy to see why I’ve gained weight: work. My coworkers and I go for a coffee run at about once a day, and I usually grab a croissant or cookie or cupcake with the coffee. And at my desk I usually have a bag of something to snack on, which means I end up eating pretty much all day long. And when we go out together after work? That’s at least one beer I wouldn’t have otherwise drank (often more than one!).

So basically, work is making me fat. For the last month or so I’ve been thinking “I have to stop eating so much” but haven’t really done much about it. I substituted my desk snack from chips to carrots, and I started making coffee in the office in order to stay out of the coffee shop with its alluring pastries, but that’s about it. In two weeks I’ll be on a cruise wearing a bathing suit so I’d like to feel a little less gross than I feel right now.

Solution? The 4 Day Diet first module, the detox diet. I have a good friend who swears by it so decided to give it a shot! I won’t list exactly what the diet is because I don’t want to steal from the book, but the basics are simple: lots of water, 40 minutes of cardio per day, very low calorie intake, no meat. What you see above is about half the food for all of today! Surprisingly I haven’t felt hungry yet today, I guess I did a good job spacing out my breakfast (coffee and banana) with my mid-morning snack (yogurt + banana)

In all honestly I’m not even sure I believe in detox diets or cleanses . . . what do you think? Have you tried one in the past? Did it work?

I was slicing up some cucumbers this morning when my knife slipped and sunk into my middle finger right below the nail. It more surprised me than hurt, but boy did the little cut bleed like crazy! Thankfully it wasn’t so bad and I was able to continue breaking down the cukes. The spears are now soaking in the brine, you can see them in the background of this picture.

I’ll have homemade dill pickles in about a month! Totally worth a little blood loss.

So a few months ago, my BFF Shana started talking about a new place called Mile End in Brooklyn. Apparently they’re “a montreal jewish delicatessen” and she knew just what that meant, being Jewish and partly Canadian. Me? I had no idea what to expect.

Then this giant disco-fry-looking thing showed up at our table and I was like, “OH. I see why you were so excited!” That’s right, it’s poutine in New York City, my friends. Run, don’t walk to Brooklyn to get your hands on this wonderful monstrosity. You can’t have this sort of thing often (or rather, you shouldn’t have this sort of thing often), but everyone should try it at least once!

You’re welcome.

(and sorry!)

We’re in full-on summer here in NYC and it’s blatantly obvious lately. It’s almost-brutally hot every day and night, extra-humid every time there’s a quick thunderstorm, and everyone and their brother is always throwing a BBQ for any (or no) reason.

On Monday, to celebrate Independence Day, my friend Kimberly threw a BBQ in her backyard. She’s got one of the most impressive outdoor spaces I’ve seen yet in the city, big enough to fit 30 people! We ate everything from staples like hot dogs and burgers to totally-not-traditional rice balls, and it was all really really good. My contribution? This Fingerling Potato Salad from the July 2011 issue for Bon Appetit. Step-by-step photos and the recipe after the jump!

Every time I get the itch to make potato salad I look for a new recipe to try. Maybe one day I’ll settle on “my” potato salad, but that hasn’t happened yet, I’m still auditioning potential candidates!

Like almost every potato salad recipe, this one calls for boiling the potatoes first. In the instructions it actually says to cut the potatoes and then boil them, but I always boil them whole and cut them later so I didn’t even realize the recipe said to do otherwise. The reason I always boil them whole is because I’ve found that boiling sliced (or peeled) potatoes makes the potato take up a bunch of water and leads to a soggy finished product. I’m not sure if that’s really true or if it’s all in my head, but I’m planning to do a semi-scientific test in the near future to see if my gut is right on this one . . .

But anyway, back to the potato salad.

I set the potatoes to boil and moved on to the rest of the prep work:

How beautiful are these freshly-washed leeks? I love them! The picture kind of takes my breath away, and really makes me thankful for the natural sunlight in my new apartment. Looking at these leeks again is making me want to go out and get some more to roast.

But again, I digress . . . these leeks were quickly broken down:

And while the potatoes kept working on the back burner, I started toasting the mustard seeds:

When you’re toasting spices in a pan, it’s important to take them off the heat as soon as they get aromatic. For mustard seeds, which don’t really have much of a scent, take them off the minute you see/hear the first one pop. They’ll keep popping even after you’ve taken the pan off the heat!

After moving the oil and seeds into a bowl, I added more oil and started sauteing the leeks:

If I had more patience, I would have done the leeks in batches as my frying pan was not large enough to accommodate all of them without crowding them, which leads to steaming rather than sauteing . . . but I decided that it was good enough for this salad and tried not to feel lazy about it as I stirred the leeks and kept checking on the potatoes, which still weren’t done by this point.

Once the leeks were just-soft, I turned the heat off and turned to the dishes while I waited for the potatoes to be done. When they finally were, I drained them, waited a few minutes for them to cool off a bit, and then started to break them down:

The secret to cutting cooked potatoes is little-to-no downward pressure. If you push down with the knife, the skin will pop off and the potato won’t slice neatly. If you use your knife the way you would to slice fish, you’ll get a nice smooth cut on the potatoes. Wiping the knife off reguarly (just like you would if you were breaking down fish!) helps too.

In the end, you have a bowl full of cut up potatoes:

And then it’s just toss toss toss, season season season, and you’re done!

The resulting potato salad was subtly-flavored yet interesting. Because it has no mayo, it’s a much drier potato salad than is traditional. Feel free to up the mustard/vinegar amount at the end to make it more tangy if that’s what you prefer! To be honest, that’s what I prefer, but I kept it as-is for the sake of following the recipe the first time (I usually don’t change too much the first time I make a recipe, otherwise I can’t trust the result to tell me whether to try the recipe again or not!). As written, the recipe produces a mellow potato salad that most people will love. Everyone who tried it at the BBQ said they loved it!

Fingerling Potato Salad
Modified from Fingerling Potato Salad, Bon Appetit July 2011

• 3. pounds fingerling potatoes, washed & unpeeled
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 9 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp mustard seeds
• 3 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4″ slices
• 1 tbsp (or more to taste) apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• Freshly ground black pepper

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water, making sure there is enough water to cover the potatoes by a few inches. Add 1 tbsp salt and bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are cooked through. (You can test if they’re ready by spearing one with a fork, it should be easy to spear)

While potatoes are working, heat 3 tbsp oil in pan and toast mustard seeds over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until you hear the first one pop. Remove from heat and transfer oil/mustard mix to a bowl to wait.

Add 2 tbsp oil and leeks to the pan. Add salt and cook over medium heat until just softened, about 10 minutes.

When potatoes are ready, drain them and let them cool off a bit. Then using a sharp knife, cut them into pieces about 3/4″ in size.

To assemble salad:

Add remaining oil plus the vinegar, Dijon mustard, and 1 tbsp water to the mustard seed mixture and wisk to combine. Toss potatoes and olives in the dressing to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.

I will forever be amused by the designs that baristas can make in properly-steamed milk. It’s such a shame to have to put a lid on a cup like this in order to safely carry my very-expensive latte down the street.

But this $4 latte from Kaffe 1668 in Tribeca? Totally worth it.

Went to a BBQ at a friend’s place yesterday and that’s when it really hit me: It’s summer! I can hardly believe it’s almost July . . . no idea where this year went so far! Makes me think I better get back to cooking ASAP, before all the fresh ingredients disappear with the changing seasons . . .

Phew. Long time no see! I’m sorry for being gone so long, but a combination of moving into a new apartment and the day job going into overdrive meant that cooking was the last thing on my mind for the last two months. But I think I may be back now!

Part of the problem I was having is that my new place has a simply pathetic kitchen. It’s very typical by NYC standards but it’s a far cry from what I’d gotten used to at my last few apartments . . . but it’s a tradeoff, like everything else about real estate. The new place is cheaper than my old one, in a “cooler” neighborhood, and a 5-minute walk to my office! All of that makes it worth the negatives, like the fact that it’s a 5th-floor walk up, tiny, and has a crappy kitchen.

What you see above is the kitchen I’ve ended up with so far, but I’m not quite done making tweaks and changes. When I first moved in here, the fridge was next to the stove (where the baker’s rack is) and there was nearly no storage space at all. Moving the fridge to the opposite wall and adding the baker’s rack has done wonders for the functionality of the space: I not only have more storage area, I also got a bit of counter space next to the stove. That space is priceless in my opinion!

I haven’t put the kitchen through it’s paces yet because of a lack of time, but with my new CSA season starting next week I can feel the cooking mojo coming back. Cooking content coming soon, pinky swear!

I’m kind of cheating with this “daily photo” because it was taken about a month ago, but the burger at Landmarc was so good that I really wanted to write about it. If you’re a New Yorker, I’m sure you’ve had more than one “discussion” about what the best burger in NYC is. And if you’re a New Yorker like me, your discussion probably also included breaking burgers down into categories and naming your favorite for each category! In my mind, burgers are split up into “restaurant style” burgers and “regular” burgers — the main difference being the size and style of the patty. “Regular” burgers are what you get at Corner Bistro or Shake Shack, whereas “restaurant” burgers are like this one from Landmarc or my personal top-ranked “restaurant” burger, the one at the Standard Grill.

I’d heard great things about the Landmarc burger and am here to say that they’re all deserved. In fact, the whole restaurant impressed me, from the excellent Bloody Mary to the attentive service to the gorgeous modern-yet-rustic interior that features metal, wood, and glass (pretty much my favorite style of decor for a restaurant). If you’re in Tribeca and hankering for a juicy burger you can’t go wrong with Landmarc!