Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah... By: Stella

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah...eating up our Southwestern meal... YES! We are back with more from the kitchen.

But-this time I am going to post some of the recipes!
First off we made the chili. This was a delicious recipe that we had at a friend's house and thoroughly enjoyed! It calls for Fritos- and you can use any type of chips, but I'd definitely recommend Fritos. They are small and nice to spread on top of the chili or underneath the chili for a delicious addition.
MMMM!!!!
Chili Recipe
2 garlic cloves (or 1 tsp. of minced garlic)
1 tsp. ground oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional-and we put it in plus a little bit extra to taste)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 pounds ground beef
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup masa (aka gluten free corn flour)
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 jalapeno seeded and finely diced (or we used 1/2 can diced green chilis, drained and part of the rest of the can went into the guacamole)
1 can diced tomatoes and chilis (We used the Rotel brand)
For serving:
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour Cream and Salsa
Fritos
Hmm, pretty good! :)

Place the ground beef in a large pot and throw in the garlic. Cook until brown. Drain the excess fat. Pour in the tomato sauce, followed by the spices and salt. (Spices being: cumin, oregano, cayenne, chili powder) then add the salt.
Add beans, peppers and tomatoes w/ 1/2 cup water (Add additional water as you make it if needed-we didn't need any)
Stir together well, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
After an hour place the masa in the bowl. Add 1/2 cup of water and stir with a fork.
Ten minutes before serving, dump the masa into the chili and stir together. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and add more masa paste and/ or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or just add more corn flour. Simmer for ten minutes.Then serve with shredded cheddar, chopped onions, and Fritos.

Here is the final product-with our homemade guacamole: MMM!The guacamole was delicious!  It was a touch spicy, but not too spicy! You can add the peppers if you want it to be hotter. :)
Guacamole Recipe
2 medium avocados, seeded, peeled, and cut up
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1/2 of a small onion, cut up
1 tablespoon of chopped Serrano or Jalapeno pepper (we used jalapeno-and we added a little extra to taste)
1 tablespoon of snipped cilantro or parsley (we used cilantro)
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice (we used lime)
1/4 tsp salt (We used a little bit more for a little bit more flavor)
Optional toppings (which we didn't use) are: Chopped tomato and onion

In a blender or food processor combine the avocados, tomato, onion, serrano or jalapeno pepper, cilantro or parsley, lemon or lime juice, and salt. Cover and blend or process till well combined, stopping machine occasionally to scrape sides. Transfer to a serving bowl. Cover and chill up to 4 hours. If desired, garnish with additional chopped tomato and onion. Use as a dip for chips or as a topping for main dishes (such as chili! :)) Makes about 1 3/4 cups.
Filia specifically loved the guacamole! I snapped several shots...
The above picture is a little (no, a lot!) blurry, but if you can tell, she is trying to do a face plant in the guacamole...I stopped that one pretty soon... With a spoon-Filia :P
Now we come to the anise-flavored sugar cookies! These were amazing! You can use either anise seed or anise flavoring. Either one works well, just taste a bit of the dough to see if you need more anise.

Anise Cookies
1 cup butter (or margarine)
2 1/4 flour
1 tsp. anise seed or several drops of flavoring
1 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 T. brandy or milk (we used milk)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
Cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top
Beat butter w/ mixer on high for 30 seconds. Add half of the flour, the anise seed, egg, sugar, brandy or milk, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat till thoroughly combined. Cover and chill for 3 hours.
On a lightly floured or powdered sugared surface, roll out half of the dough at a time to an 1/8 in. (we did 1/4 in. or so...) thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Take cinnamon sugar and sprinkle onto the cookies if desired. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 6 to 8 min. till golden brown and cool. (OR...in our case with our broken oven: bake the cookies in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes-your choice! :) )
Before...
And after with our homemade Mexican Hot Chocolate! MMM! :)

The hot chocolate was A-mazing! (If I may say so myself :) )
Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe
6 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
4 squares unsweetened chocolate or 4 packets of unsweetened chocolate
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 beaten eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Whipped Cream
Beat those eggs, boys!

In saucepan combine 1 CUP of the milk, the sugar, chocolate and cinnamon. Cook and stir over medium-low heat till chocolate is melted. Gradually stir in remaining milk. Cook and stir till milk is very hot, almost boiling- DO NOT BOIL!
Gradually stir in 1 cup of hot milk mixture into eggs then transfer entire mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir for 2 min. over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Beat with mixer till very frothy. Pour hot chocolate into mugs and dollop with whipped cream.

Enjoy the recipes...

HAPPY COOKING!!

'Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah'

By: Stella
Date: 04/03/12