Today with gusty winds and rain drizzling down, it was a comfort food kind of day. What says warm and cozy better than a vat of chili and some cornbread?! Okay, so it's not chicken soup, but it is just as classic.I love that chili is a 'use what you have' soup, and that's what I do. Today I used black and garbanzo beans; two cans of garbanzo, four of black and two cans of diced tomatoes. Dump 'em all in a slow cooker (I have a large oval), draining the juices of the garbanzo beans. If you're opposed to canned goods, feel free to sub in beans that you've soaked overnight, but I am just not that planful.
As I layered in the beans, I added about a palmful of chili powder, a healthy sprinkling of cumin and about a teaspoon of salt. You could also use a pouch of chili seasoning. This is great on its own, served with Greek yogurt and shredded cheese or whatever you like on chili. However, my carnivorous J has requested meat in his chili so I also browned a pound if lean ground turkey, seasoned with chili powder, cumin, salt pepper and about a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Stir it all together and let 'er rip in the crock pot all day.
About a half hour before serving I made Mark Bittman's skillet cornbread, using liquid egg whites and maple syrup in place of the sugar, and 3/4 c. greek yogurt and 1/2 c. milk instead of just milk. I love not only how simple this is to prepare, but also the fact that you warm the fat first and then pour the batter on top, creating a perfectly crunchy crust, while still getting a bread that's not dry (I just really don't like the word moist) in the middle.
Cornbread muffins and pancakes are a big thing in Massachusetts, and when I was in the hospital having Charlie, they were on the breakfast menu...and I ordered them every single day. I now have an affinity for the flavor combination of cornbread and maple...makes me think of that sweet baby boy when what I have now is a crazy roaring toddler.
Dinner is served!
3 comments:
Personally I am a chili lover, and though I like chicken soup it's my comfort food favorite!! I love, love, LOVE cornbread and will have to hunt down this Mark Bittman recipe!
First of all I hate, hate, HATE the m-word. Something about it just reeks of snot and all things nasty, NOT yummy cakes, cupcakes OR cornbread! So glad I have found a fellow m-word hater out there. (Aside: last year for my b'day, my co-workers thought it would be hilarious to paint the word all over my car windows with that obnoxious wipe-off window paint. The man who works at the car wash was quite amused when I pulled in two minutes after leaving work.) Also? That chili and cornbread combo looks amazing. Seriously, I'm going to have to track down this Mark Bittman cookbook...
Apparently there needs to be a club for those of us that hate the "m" word! It is one of those words that make me shudder. But Mark Bittman! Woohoo! Love him. I downloaded his iPhone app and I find myself referring to it constantly.
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