chili & cornbread

When I think of chili, I dream of Zippy's (the diner on every corner in Hawaii) meat chili over sticky rice. I was introduced to Zippy's chili after my mom would buy buckets of them for school fundraisers. I thought it was fine time, since my hubby had been asking me to, to make my own kind of chili. After searching long and wide, reading plenty of reviews, I decided on this recipe. Initially, I questioned the use of 1/4 cup chili powder and tomato juice, but, was very pleased, with the addition of a can of zesty diced tomatoes. The spices make this recipe. I decided to pair the chili with some cornbread and I found this recipe for La Beth's Vanilla Cornbread via the foodnetwork.com. My husband has some snotty feelings towards cornbread. To quote him, "just make enough for yourself, because I won't be eating any of that dry stuff." This stuff uses a whole tablespoon of vanilla so, once I got it in the oven and it started smelling all vanilla-ey, he asked if he could have a bite. And, just after one bite, he became a snotty cornbread convert, "I only like this kind of cornbread." Now, I don't know if it's because I used a dark pan (note to self: invest in an 8x8, light pan) but, the cornbread tested done about 20 minutes in, half the time, suggested in the recipe.

I used the whole chili recipe, but it makes a ton, and I mean a ton of chili. This would be great for tailgating. I was afraid my six quart cast iron pot would over flow (thank goodness it didn't). I'm excited for fall and football season, we will definitely be having people over for this one.

this gadget brings me home...

That wonderful gadget to the right that has earned a permanent spot on my counter is my beloved, heaven sent, rice cooker. I can almost guarantee that rice cookers are permanent kitchen fixtures in almost every Filipino home and are at least in every cupboard in local (the Hawai'i local) kitchens. Mine is a zojirushi from their zutto line, and I bought it from Target because it looked sleek. I did not know at the time of the capacities of this wonderful 4 cup machine. It can cook oatmeal (and grits, I'm sure)! Also, it gets through the tough exterior of brown rice making it an easier healthy choice to make, though I rarely do. The feature I love the most is that it tells you, in hours, how long the rice has been in the rice cooker. My parents always cooked with jasmine rice but in Hawai'i the rice of choice is the shorter grained, less fragrant calrose (which, don't tell my parents, but I prefer). While at home, I went to Max's of Manila, my favorite Filipino restaurant and they have this wonderful garlic fried rice in Tagalog, sinangang. Max's garlic rice isn't greasy and I think their trick is (I could be wrong), they fry up the garlic and mix it up in the steamed rice, then let the flavors merry in the rice cooker until it is served. I'm totally going to try this one day. To the right is the control panel and it's showing me that I only have to wait three more minutes until the rice is done.

My lunch (actually my middle of the night meal) was portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice. At home, you can find this meal for breakfast at every Jack in the Box, McDonald's, and short order restaurant. Most locals top the rice off with some soy sauce. Having just been home, my wonderful mama packed me six sausages to have in my freezer until I go home again in six months (ah, heaven and a heart attack at my finger tips). For all of you out there who are fond of portuguese sausage you can get some here. To the left is a close up of my rice cooker made rice. A white plate probably wasn't a good choice to showcase rice and next time, I'll look for a different colored plate. Again, the lighting sucks. Trust me it was simple and onolicious!