Texas Chili

Texas chili never has beans in it and many people say it shouldn't include tomatoes either, although mine does. Traditional, Texas chili is made with meat, spices, and stock only and served topped with raw onions. In Texas it's commonly ordered as a 'Big Bowl of Red'. It's red color comes from the chilies and other spices and so does it's heat.



1 T. cooking oil
1 small Onion - diced
1 rib Celery - finely diced
1/2 Green Bell Pepper - diced
1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper - diced
3-6 cloves Garlic
1 lb Ground Turkey or Beef
1 lb Turkey or Pork Sausage (removed from casing)
1/2 heaping t. Cumin
1 1/2 t. Chili Powder
1/8 t. Cinnamon
1/8 t. Cayenne Pepper
1/4 t. Smoked Paprika
1 T. Dried Oregano
1/2 t. White Pepper
1/2 t. Black Pepper
1/4 t. Salt
2 Chipotle Peppers (seeds removed) - finely chopped
1 T. Adobo Sauce (from chipotle can)
1 15oz can Tomato Sauce*
1/2 28oz can Whole Tomatoes* (broken up)
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
splash Soy Sauce

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onions, celery and bell peppers to the hot oil. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are clear.

Add garlic to the pot and cook for two more minutes. Then remove the vegetables from the pot and set them aside.



Put all of your meat into the pot. Use a spatula or spoon to break the meat up as it cooks.



As the meat starts to cook add your sautéed vegetables back into the pot and mix them into the meat. Continue to break the meat up.



In a small bowl, mix all of the dry seasonings together. (On my list of ingredients above, it's from the cumin to the salt.) It makes about two tablespoons of spice mix.

Gazpacho w/ Crab and Shrimp

Gazpacho is a tomato based Spanish soup prepared with raw fruits and vegetables and is served chilled. It's super lite and refreshing. This soup is a wonderful summer meal from the garden.



Traditionally, gazpacho is made with chunks of bread blended in it. This adds texture to the soup and makes it more hearty. I didn't add bread to this recipe because I wanted a lighter, smoother soup. Instead, I served this gazpacho with silver dollar sized Jalapeño Corn Cakes. This allowed the diners to dip, top, or crumble the bread into their soups individually. I like interactive food, it adds a lot of fun to the dinner table!

Gazpacho

7 Tomatoes
3 Cucumbers - peeled
1 Jalapeño - seeds removed
1 small Onion - grated
1/4 large Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Garlic Clove - minced or pressed
Juice from 1 Lemon
Hot Sauce
Salt
White Pepper

Set two bowls out in your work station, one large and one smaller. Dice all of the fruits and veggies. Place about 1/3 of each in the small bowl and the rest in the large bowl.




Once the veggies are chopped, blend everything that's in the large bowl together until it's smooth. Use a blender of food processor and work in small batches to insure a consistent texture. Once blended, place the soup in a large serving or storing bowl.




Stir your diced fruits and vegetables, from the small bowl, into the blended soup.

Season the gazpacho with lemon juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Taste as you're seasoning and adjust as needed.

Now, your soup is done. You just need to chill, garnish, and serve.

At this point, the gazpacho is gluten free and vegetarian. To keep it this way, serve in a chilled glass topped with petite diced veggies and garnish with a lemon wedge and/or cucumber slice.

To make your gazpacho a little more fancy (and fun), top it with seafood!

This seafood topping was inspired by The Sample Room's Gazpacho that we ate last summer.