Smoky Sloppy Joe Sliders with Cole Slaw

A week late but no less tempting, this was actually made by my dear Mr.W for Super Bowl Sunday. I had planned to make them myself for the annual Super Bowl Party hosted by our dear friends, Jim & Jennifer, but given my surgery and general inability to do most things leading up to the day of the party, Mr.W stepped up to the stove and took care of everything. Our hosts and the other partygoers were impressed, too.

These tasty, tasty little sloppy joe sandwiches were warm and spicy, tempered by the creamy cole slaw. He used sugar substitute, too, accommodating several of the party guests dietary restrictions. They were just the right size for a party, too--the mess was contained to 3 or 4 bites. Man food made suitable for women guests, too!

Yum.



Smoky Sloppy Joe Sliders with Cole Slaw
makes 24 mini-sandwiches

For the Cole Slaw
Cole Slaw should be made first, because it tastes best when marinated overnight.
1/2 cup lite mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar or sugar substitute
2 tablespoons white wine or white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
pinch kosher salt
several grinds of black pepper
pinch dried tarragon
3 cups finely sliced or grated green cabbage
1/2 cup julienned or shredded carrot

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayo, sugar, vinegars, salt, pepper and tarragon. Top with cabbage and carrot, turning with a large spoon to coat with dressing. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.

For the Sloppy Joes
Meat mixture may be made a day ahead, if desired. Leftovers are scrumptious.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped cherry peppers (from a jar found in the grocery's condiment aisle)
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
splash white vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 cup prepared ketchup
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar or sugar substitute
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
24 mini potato rolls

In a large pan, brown the ground beef in canola oil; drain and rinse cooked meat in a colander and return to pan. Add remaining ingredents, except for rolls, and stir to combine thoroughly. Simmer for about 20 minutes to thicken. If the sauce gets too thick, it can be thinned with water as desired.

To Assemble: Toast slider rolls if desired. Dollop with hot meat mixture, then top with a spoonful of cole slaw. Serve immediately.

Man Food: Cheesy Chicken Burrito Soup

This soup was a bit of an accident--and what a happy surprise, for me and for the men I fed it to.

I was looking for some kind of chicken chili dish to serve to Mr.W's friends, but they dislike all things sour creamy... so this soup was created.

Chock full of healthy goodness, this soup is a crowd-pleaser! Even your South-Beach and Low-Carb buddies will be able to eat this one.

Cheesy Chicken Burrito Soup

serves 6 to 8

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lb ground chicken or ground turkey
1 chopped onion
1 tablespoon garlic powder
4 cups or 2 cans beans (I used pintos)
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Fry chicken breast pieces in olive oil until browned; set aside. Brown ground chicken; set aside. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and set on low for four hours.

Add:

1 cup cooked rice or 1 cup rinsed quinoa (I used quinoa)
2 cups shredded cheddar, jack or favorite cheese
1-1/2 cups heavy cream mixed with 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)

1/2 pound frozen corn niblets

Turn slow cooker to high for 2 hours. Serve hot.

This is my entry to the Monthly Mingle: One-Dish Dinners, hosted by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey. Get lots of one-dish meal ideas at the roundup.

Man Food: Chicken and Dumplings

I've really been racking my brain for some new ideas for feeding Mr.W's friends. Friday I had an epiphany when I found whole chickens at the grocery for $.49/lb--chicken and dumplings.

What a comforting, filling, easy way to feed a crowd. My photos are from making this in the turkey roaster, but the recipe is for a more reasonable amount to make in a slow cooker (for the broth) and on the stove (for the remainder of the recipe). But if you're using a turkey roaster for this, double or triple the broth and soup recipe, and triple the dumplings.

Note that you can make this with ready-made chicken broth if desired; I like to make my own, and will show that as part of the recipe. However, I do use baking mix for my dumplings. I have made them from scratch in the past--you are, of course, welcome to do so.

Chicken and Dumplings

serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

For the broth:

1 3- to 4-pound whole chicken, or skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces, rinsed and patted dry

salt to taste

2-inch piece celery (I omitted this; didn't have celery)

water to cover

1 whole onion, cut in half (leave peel on for color)

For the soup:

1 cup pound baby-cut carrots

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup other uncooked fresh vegetables of choice (I used chopped rutabaga)
salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

For the dumplings:

2 cups baking mix

2/3 cup milk

seasoning salt

Instructions

For the broth:

Place chicken, onion and celery in crock pot. Put a good half-handful of salt over. If you're cautious about using salt, you can go easy at this point and correct seasoning later on. Cover with water and cook on low overnight or on high for 6 hours. It's done when the meat is falling off the bone.

Place a large colander in a large bowl. Transfer the contents of the crock pot to the colander; carefully lift colander out of bowl and switch to another bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool enough to handle. Strain remaining broth through wire mesh (may be refrigerated at this point until ready to continue cooking) and transfer to a soup pot.

For the soup:

Here's where you can really taste the broth and correct seasonings with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add vegetables and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until fork-tender. (Note: you can use frozen vegetables if desired; if that is your plan, don't add them yet!) If you accidentally over-salt the broth, add more water and some low-salt broth to correct.

While the vegetables are simmering, go through the cooled chicken pieces and pick out the meat, discarding any onion pieces, the celery, skin and bones.

Once vegetables are tender, add chicken meat to simmering broth (along with any frozen or precooked vegetables desired).

While you're waiting for the soup to return to a boil, mix up your dumpling batter.

For the dumplings:

Combine baking mix and milk; stir well. Batter will be lumpy.

Spoon over simmering soup, sprinkle generously with seasoning salt and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 20 minutes. Do not peek!

Serve hot.

I think they liked it. When it was served, it got all quiet downstairs. And that's always a good sign.

Man Food: Lazy Man Nachos

Sometimes you just need some fast-food to put in front of a bunch of hungry men, and this is just one of those recipes.

Yesterday I had a birthday party to attend (for which I prepared the birthday cake and some stuffed mushrooms--photos coming on those soon), AND it was man-Sunday, so I had to be really creative. Time was at a premium.

I decided on lazy man nachos, since I could prep the ground meat the day before and just throw it together. After fifteen minutes in a 400*F oven, they were ready to go.

Fifteen minutes after that, they were gone.

Lazy Man Nachos

serves 6 hungry men

2-1/2 pounds ground beef (I used 85% lean ground round)

two packets taco seasoning mix or loose-mix taco seasoning

water (according to directions on taco seasoning)

1 can red kidney beans or black beans, drained and rinsed

salsa (optional)

4 cups shredded cheddar, monterey jack or 'taco blend' cheese

2 18-ounce bags corn chips

Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium heat; drain fat and add taco seasoning mix and water according to package directions.

This is the stuff I use.

The package directions were to use 2/3 cup water and 1/4 cup seasoning per pound of meat, so I doubled that.

Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Liquid should be significantly reduced.

At this point I packed up the cooked meat and refrigerated it for the next day, which made it super easy to throw together at the last minute.

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Now you'll need two large pans; disposable foil roasters from the dollar store are perfect for this use. Spray pans with canola spray and put one bag of chips in each. Sprinkle cooked ground beef evenly over both pans. Try to get even coverage.

Sprinkle drained beans over meat. I only used one can for both pans; you could, of course, add more if you like.

Now some people like salsa and others don't, so I dolloped our favorite salsa over one of the pans and left the other pan without.

Sprinkle two cups of shredded cheese over each pan; place in the oven and cook, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve hot.

And there will be much rejoicing.

Now my brother brought in some bags of shredded lettuce/salad blend for those who wanted to make a taco salad out of the mixture; I think that was really a great idea. Along with condiments such as hot sauce, ranch dressing and extra salsa, this was a versatile dish to feed several hungry men without emptying the pocketbook.

While I would not recommend this as a meal in itself, it was a reasonably filling heavy snack for the fellas. Try it at your next party when it's cold outside. Your guests will love it.

Superbowl Sunday

Well, tomorrow is IT! The day Mr.W looks forward to every year (no matter who is playing). But every year he wishes it was the Falcons.

Oh, well. Maybe next year.

Football is foodball, however, and if it's on, he wants to watch. Some friends host an annual potluck Superbowl party in their home every year. I'm planning to bring these dishes:

- One-Bowl Sugar-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake: some of my friends are sugar-free, so this will be a perfect balance for all of those sugary sweets that will be present.

- Cheater Guacamole: I just cut up avocado and mix it with our favorite jarred salsa (from Aldi). I know, it's so Sandra Lee. I'll justify it by saying that these men really won't know the difference, anyway.

- Mr.W's Famous Fool-the-Vegetarian Velveeta Dip: this dip is a cardiologist's worst nightmare, but is a crowd pleaser nonetheless. It's your basic velveeta-salsa dip with a pound of cooked hamburger thrown in.

People love it. Don't ask me why.

Why that name, you ask? You bet there's a story behind it.

We brought this dip to a friend's party in Marietta, GA one year and one of her friends was unashamedly gobbling it up. Seriously, people, the woman was chowing down. As she oohed and aahed, eating bite after bite, she asked for the recipe. Mr.W recited it to her.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, it's so easy."

She whimpered, "OhmyGod," as she ran off.

Mr.W and I looked at each other, wondering what on earth was going on. Her husband, realizing we had no idea (we had just met these people that evening) said, "She's a vegetarian."

Why, why, WHY would you eat something liquidy and mysterious without asking what's in it if you have dietary requirements?

And so the dip was named.

I'll post party photos on Monday. Until then, happy [American] football!

Man Food: Cheesy Chili Mac

I think I'm running out of ideas for man food, because it took me DAYS to decide on this concoction for yesterday's Man Sunday in our basement.

But credit must be given where credit is due: Mr.W asked for it.

Mr.W was raised on prepackaged dinners and convenience foods, and these continue to be his favorite comfort food. Now I like a good box of macaroni-and-cheese dinner, myself, but only on occasion and not as a regular part of my dinner repertoire.

My love would prefer the opposite. But I digress.

As we wrestled for ideas to feed the men, Mr.W said, "How about Chili Mac?" Of course he meant the hamburger helper variety, but I knew I could make it better.

Here it is.

I need not have worried--the men gobbled it up like it was their last supper.

Cheesy Chili Mac

serves 6 hungry men

olive oil

2 to 2-1/2 pounds ground beef (I used 93% lean beef mince)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon cumin

2/3 cup chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (or to taste, optional)

2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce, plus 4 canfulls (32 ounces total) hot water

1-1/2 pounds elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions

2 cups shredded cheddar or favorite cheese (I used a colby-jack blend I found on sale)

Set a large pot over a medium flame. When pot is hot, add a drizzle of olive oil and the ground beef; cook, stirring often, to brown.

Stir in salt, paprika, oregano, cumin, chili powder and cayenne. Mix in tomato sauce and water; remove from heat.

Stir in cooked elbow macaroni and one cup shredded cheese. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 350*F or until cheese is melty.

What I did: I made up the meat & sauce mixture the night before and put it all into my crock pot insert and refrigerated; the day of the event I cooked up the macaroni, stirred it into the meat-sauce concoction, stirred in the cheese, topped with more cheese and left it on high for a good hour before the men ate.

So to continue planning meals for these men, and of course in honor of the upcoming superbowl, what are some manly, economical foods that you serve?

Man Food: Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Meatballs

A giant pan of baked pasta is a crowd-pleaser at any gathering--dress it up or dress it down, serve it with bread and a salad, or all by itself to a hungry crowd and you'll hear them all sighing before too long.


I made baked rigatoni for our recent Man-Sunday, when Mr.W's friends all come over to game in the basement. It's a man-only zone, except for when I venture down to deliver whatever food I've prepared that day.


Most of you have probably heard of the standard "Baked Ziti," which is the same basic meal; I like to use rigatoni because it has ridges that cling to the sauce just so. See how the sauce just sticks?


Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Meatballs
serves 20 regular people, or 10 large man-size servings

- 3 1-pound boxes dry pasta (I like Rigatoni)
- One entire recipe Overnight Spaghetti Sauce, or your own favorite spaghetti sauce (about 5 jars of sauce, plus cooked meat of your choice; I separate my cooked meat from my cooked sauce so I can place the meat on top, or portion it out as needed.)
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Grease a large oven-proof pan.


Note: Because my largest pan only cooks one pound of pasta at a time, I had to assemble this in stages, and that's how I've written these instructions; if you have a larger pot that can accommodate three pounds, by all means, do so. You should have two quarts of water (plus one teaspoon salt in the water, optional) per pound of pasta you want to cook.

Bring salted water to a boil.



Pour in dry pasta.


Stir immediately to prevent from sticking.



5. Return to a boil, then start timer according to directions on the pasta box. My boxes said 12-14 minutes, and because we like pasta a little firmer AND it was going into the oven, I set my timer for 10 minutes. Be sure to stir that pasta occasionally while it's boiling. If it's bubbling away and starts to look like this, stir or that stuff is going to cook into one giant mass! You can't wreck the pasta by stirring it.

3. When the timer goes off, carefully drain pasta using a large colander placed in a clean sink. Do not rinse pasta. Pour that first cooked box into your prepared pan. Top with 2/3 of the sauce (or three jars) and stir.

Top with parmesan cheese and start your water for the next box of pasta.

When second box of pasta is cooked and drained, spoon it over the parmesan cheese and stir entire mixture. Top with 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella.

Start your water for the last box of pasta and preheat oven to 350*F. When pasta is cooked and drained, spoon that on top and top with remaining sauce, any meat you are including, and mozzarella. Pop it all into your preheated oven and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Here it is after 30 minutes in the oven, all hot and gooey. Mmm.

Serve, along with any desired condiments (hot sauce, hot pepper flakes, additional parmesan cheese, cherry peppers, etc.) to your hungry crowd.

Here's what happened. I delivered the food downstairs and immediately returned upstairs to let them have their fun. It got real quiet. I heard the pan lid banging around a little bit, but otherwise nothing--oh, probably for a good fifteen minutes.

They ate it all.

Man Food: Black-Eyed Peas

In my house, black-eyed peas are a lick-your-fingers, stick-to-your-ribs, gobble-them-up bowl of deliciousness. At least Mr.W and his friends think so.

This is proper southern cooking, people. It's not for watching your waistline or an easy side dish. This takes hours and hours of tender lovin' care. And ham hocks. You can not have good black-eyed peas without ham hocks.

For the large group of men that we host, I made a double-batch (which is why the photo shows two ham hocks), but unless you're feeding an army, you should only make one. So without further ado, here's the recipe:


Black-Eyed Peas

2 quarts water
1 pound black-eyed peas, pre-soaked according to package directions
1 ham hock
3 slices uncooked bacon
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons creole seasoning (I use Tony's; use more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt (remember that Tony's has salt, and the ham hocks are salty--so be careful here)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (I use a tri-color pepper blend in my pepper grinder)

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and boil gently until peas are tender, stirring occasionally. (This takes about 1 hour on the stove. I've also done it in the slow cooker and yesterday, in the turkey roaster, which take a good four hours on high to cook the peas.)



Remove ham hock to a cutting board. While hock is cooling, partially mash the peas. I like to use my hand blender, but have also used a plain ole potato masher. However you do it, this helps to thicken the liquid.

Continue to simmer the peas, uncovered, to reduce the liquid by half for a thick but still soupy consistency. Be sure to taste in case it needs more seasoning--but be careful. Once the liquid is reduced down the seasonings will be stronger.

While peas are simmering, cut into that cooled ham hock and pick out any meat. Discard bones, cartilage, skin and fat/gelatin. Return meat to the peas.

See this consistency? This is perfect.


Serve in bowls with biscuits for dipping.



This always gets devoured at my house. Well, almost always. See, yesterday was Man-Day here at our place, but due to this nor'easter we're enjoying, it was canceled. So even after eating them all day yesterday, we still have a big pot left.


Anyone want some black-eyed peas n' biscuits?

Man Food: Meatball Heroes

Another man's day has come and gone, after a bit of a hiatus while Mr.W was out of town. To comemmorate this return to normalcy I made one of their favorites: Meatball Heroes.

A meatball sandwich is quintessential man food. Meat. Sauce. Cheese. Bread. So simple, but oh, so good.

Meatball Heroes

serves 6 manly men--but eat fast!

olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced vertically
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 26-ounce jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce* plus one jar of water
1 28-ounce of peeled tomatoes

4 pounds 80% lean ground beef

salt and pepper to taste

red pepper flake to taste

2 loaves unsliced italian bread, split lengthwise

grated parmesan cheese

about 2-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

*A note on jarred spaghetti sauce: I find that it's handy to have this in the pantry, and perfect for a quick starter sauce--meaning you do need to add onions, garlic, balsamic or whatever your favorite italian flavors are. Avoid sauces that contain added sugar or corn syrup. Of course you could use the equivalent amount of homemade sauce, if desired.

Heat a large pot over a medium-high flame. Saute sliced onion in olive oil until transparent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the jarred sauce and water.

In a separate bowl with high sides, squish up those whole tomatoes with your hands. You could use a knife or scissors, I suppose, but I like to hand-squish, because it breaks the tomatoes up into really small bits. Add to your sauce in the pot. Season sauce with salt, pepper and red pepper flake to taste. Set over a low flame with a lid.

In a large bowl, place your ground beef and season with salt and pepper. I go easy on the seasoning, myself, because they're going to get some really great flavor from the sauce later. Mix the meat with seasonings with your hands and gently roll meatballs the size of ping-pong balls. You should handle the ground beef as little as possible here--an over-rolled meatball will be tough. Meatballs should be tender when you bite into them.

Heat a large skillet over a medium flame. Brown meatballs in batches in olive oil. As they become browned on all sides, add them to the simmering sauce a few at a time, then add more meatballs to the skillet as room is made available.

When all meatballs have been added to the sauce, let them simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking at the bottom of the pot. Not only will your meatballs cook further, your sauce will be flavored by the meat and reduced to a somewhat thicker consistency. This is going to be SO GOOD.

While meatballs are simmering, preheat your oven to 350*F.

When the 30 minutes has passed, turn off the flame and lay your four bread halves out on a lightly greased cookie sheet and start adding meatballs to two halves. Spread some sauce on the other two halves and sprinkle everything with parmesan cheese. Top the meatball sides with shredded mozzarella cheese and put in the oven for 15 minutes, or until cheese is nice and melty.

Remove from oven. Carefully put those sandwich lids back on. Cut into serving pieces and enjoy.

Serve this to your menfolk and let the crowds rejoice!

At my house these sammies were devoured in mere minutes. Mr.W is sitting next to me as I type this saying, "Man, those were SO good!"

I think that says it all, folks.

Man Food: Brats n' Beer

Well, yesterday was another manly man day here at Chez W... and another fun food day for me! This time I made Bratwurst in Beer--one of the guys' favorites!

And of course it was our dear Wayne's birthday yesterday... so it was extra-special. My dear sister-in-law made him this cool birthday cake, which was not really a cake at all--it was a lightly sweet peanut butter bread, frosted and decorated just so.


But I digress.

Brats n' Beer is satisfying manly fare. After cooking for a few hours in the beer, it takes on a whole new personality--the sausages are darker, softened, the beer is reduced and tastes... well, nothing like beer, really, but becomes this wonderful jus perfect for soaking up with a bit of bread.

I served the brats n' beer alongside yellow and spicy brown mustards, onions and peppers also cooked in beer, ketchup, hot sauce and of course my homemade pickled cherry peppers--sure to blow their eyebrows right off!


Brats n Beer
8 manly portions or 16 regular portions


Bratwurst - I like at least 2 pounds... I had 24 links total, half were red 'beef brats,' and the other half were regular white brats
olive oil
1 package (of 8) hot dogs
2 16-count packages hot dog buns
2 large onions, sliced vertically
3 large green peppers, sliced
1 bag saurkraut, drained and rinsed 3 1-pint size cans beer


1. In a large saucepan, brown half the bratwurst in olive oil over a medium flame. When browned on all sides, poke each brat once or twice with a wooden skewer. Pour in 1 pint beer. Bring to a boil and remove from heat; transfer to a crock pot set to low.


2. Repeat with the second half of the bratwurst, and top with hot dogs. Let cook at least 2 hours on low. The longer the better--4 hours results in brats that are so soft they're falling apart.


3. In a little more olive oil, and again over medium heat, saute onions and green peppers until they begin to carmelize. Add the last pint of beer. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peppers become limp and liquid is reduced by at least half. Now here you could just add them to the crock pot with the brats, but because Mr.W is so very, very picky, I leave them separate in a foil-covered metal bowl in the oven at 200*F.


4. Serve warm with buns.

Note: I actually piled all the dogs & brats in the crock pot insert, covered with foil, and left in the oven at 250*F for 3-4 hours, and then put in the crock pot on low for serving.


There's nothing more manly than food cooked in beer. They were devoured with rave reviews. Devoured so quickly, in fact, that I could not get a photo of one of the bunned wonders... my digital camera's battery died and before I could turn around the food was no more!

Okay... I did get one terrible picture using my cell phone. Not great at all, the colorization is all wrong. It looks like a nasty green-tinted photo out of a 70s cookbook. But you get the idea. That stuff under the links that looks like rice is actually kraut.

Man Food: Spicy Black Bean Chili

Every other Sunday afternoon, Mr.W and a bunch of his guy friends get together for an afternoon of games, burping, scratching, and whatever else men do when they're in a room together for several hours. They like to gather in our basement, where there is a large wood table, several mismatched chairs, a coffee pot, a microwave, and enough room for about 10 men.

I usually cook something for these man-meetings. No canapes or delicate vegetable concoctions will do--no, indeed they require something spicy, something greasy, something... manly.

Yesterday I served Spicy Black Bean Chili. It's assertive yet moderate heat builds slowly as you eat. With an array of optional toppings, it's a veritable feast fit for a roomful of kings!





Spicy Black Bean Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds ground beef (I prefer coarse ground if I can find it)
1 tablespoon chopped onion
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce, plus 4 canfulls (32 ounces total) hot water
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
2/3 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 15-ounce cans black beans
1 heaping tablespoon masa flour

Heat a large skillet or over a medium flame. Add olive oil and turn pan to coat. Add ground beef and cook, stirring frequently, until no pink is visible. Drain ground beef in a sieve to remove rendered grease. Now transfer meat to a large stock pot--this make a large, manly amount of chili! Add to the cooked ground beef: onion, garlic, tomato sauce, salt, paprika, oregano, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and black beans. Stir well to combine. Set over a medium flame and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a glass or plastic measuring cup, combine 1/2 cup hot water with masa flour. Stir to make a thin, pourable mixture.

Pour masa mixture into simmering chili; cover pot and simmer for another 15 minutes to thicken. Serve in mugs or bowls with any number of toppings, which might include: salsa, sour cream, shredded or chunk cheddar or colby or monterey jack cheese, chopped onion and jalapeno slices.


This is the first of many future man food blog entries--I encourage you to make these recipes for yourselves, or your hairy loved ones. It's not pretty, no, it's not girly, or even something that photographs well--but it's good!


Mrs.W