Good Eats

I wanted to share three recipes I'm making this week. Two are among my favorites and one was a new one is definitely a keeper.

First up is Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti. I know some people make this as just basic chili served over spaghetti, but I believe that this recipe is true Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti - it definitely doesn't taste like traditional chili...or spaghetti either. My friend Jean first made it for us years ago and I was so excited to see that it was included in the cookbook her church put out (just an aside, I love church cookbooks! Not the youth group raising money ones, but the old school ones that have all sorts of yummy recipes submitted by different generations of women. )

This has a long list of ingredients, bu the great thing is once you get all the spices in, you just let it simmer for hours. I love when I don't have to spend a ton of time at dinnertime actually getting dinner ready. Make sense?

Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti

1 quart water
2 lbs ground beef
2 medium onions, grated fine
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
5 whole allspice
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cloves garlic
4 Tbs chili powder
2 T vinegar
1 large bay leaf
5 whole cloves
2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 ounce bitter (I use unsweetened) chocolate
1 tsp cinnamon

That's right, there's cinnamon, chocolate, cloves and allspice in this chili! Just trust me....

Add uncooked ground beef to water in large pot. Stir until beef separates to a fine mixture. Boil slowly for 30 minutes. Add all other ingredients. Stir to combine, bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for about 3 hours. For the last hour, the pot can be covered after desired consistency is reached.

Serve over spaghetti and top with your choice of fresh chopped onion, sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. (We choose all three!)

Secondly, tonight's dinner!

I found this recipe on my friend Crafty P's new blog, Crafty's Cafe. She put up the recipe for Thai Peanut Noodles a few weeks ago and I've been looking forward to trying it. Click on the recipe to be linked to directly to her post.

Of course I have to let you know what I thought of it.....the verdict is in and it was delicious! It was also very easy to put together which is a definite plus.

I did use the Udon noodles that it called for (rather than linguine) and I think that it was worth it (I found them in the same aisle as the chili sauce and they were pretty cheap. I did buy a few bags of them b/c each bag is pretty small - one serving size if you're eating it as a main dish.

In terms of spice, we doubled the sauce (which was more than enough - I will be having this as leftovers at some point this week!) and I added one and a half tsp of the hot chili sauce, which was just about perfect for me, a tiny bit spicy for Matt but he didn't complain.

I thought topping it with the cilantro, green onions, chopped peanuts (dry roasted is what I used) and fresh lime juice was definitely necessary - do not pass those up!

Next time I make it I might add some thinly cut cooked chicken. It's fine as it is and a great option for a meatless meal, but for those who would want more, chicken would be a great fit with it.

Finally, you don't need as much sauce as you might think. I found that when I got to the bottom of the bowl there was a ton of sauce left and it was a bit overpowering. Matt warned me about this and I didn't listen so I had to learn the hard way. Didn't stop me from scraping every last bit out of the bowl.

I could seriously go and eat more of this right now and it's almost 10 pm. So I definitely recommend it next time you're looking for an easy tasty meal.

Finally I have one more recipe to share. I could have sworn I already posted this one last Cinco de Mayo, but I did a quick search and it didn't turn up.

Ok, so now I realize that apparently I don't know how to spell "fajitas" and I'm not even going to tell you how I was trying to spell them. Spelled correctly I realize that I did indeed post this recipe last year. It was fun to look back and see that this time a year ago Catherine had been potty trained for two weeks and we were having a cake to celebrate.

Wow, that seems so long ago. I'm glad I can't spell and was able to remember that! So go ahead and check out last year's post and the recipe for my favorite fajitas.