How to Win the Chili Cook-off

Full disclosure: I have never entered a chili cook-off, much less won one. Nevertheless, I think I have come up with a pretty good rendition of chili with beans. I don't intend to share the complete recipe. I might, after all, want to enter a chili cook-off some time. But I would like to share some tips that I think can take any chili recipe from good to prize-worthy.

Use the best quality ground beef you can find. I prefer grass-fed beef from Strong Stock Farms here in Knoxville. It has more flavor and less fat than grocery store ground beef. It is available at Three Rivers Market, and probably some other locations.

Cook the ground beef in bacon drippings, and season it in the skillet with your favorite Mexican spice mix. (There's one in Appalachian Cooking.) Add the spice when the beef is about half cooked, and then toss and stir until the meat is no longer pink.

Cool the cooked beef to room temperature, then refrigerate it in an airtight container for at least 24 hours and up to three days before you finish the chili. The flavors need to meld for the beef to taste really awesome.

Make the beans from scratch using dried organic pinto beans. Soak them overnight, drain, and cook in enough water to cover them with 2-3 cloves of garlic and a bay leaf. Do not salt beans until they are fully cooked. Beans can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Use tomato sauce, preferably organic, rather than whole tomatoes or some other form.

Start the chili with a sofrito made by cooking chopped onions, Mexican spice mix, minced garlic and tomato sauce in bacon drippings until the onion is translucent. Add diced green chili peppers to the sofrito, if you wish. The sofrito can be made ahead of time. Cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

With these preparations completed, you can bring the chili together in just a few minutes. Heat the sofrito, add the meat, stir until warmed through, and then add the beans, liquid and all. Let it cook for a bit, check the seasoning, and serve.

Recipe: Tropical Fruit Bread

Here we are in the Dead Zone for fresh fruit. The citrus season is largely over, except for lemons and limes, of course, and we won't be getting local strawberries for a while yet. Instead of settling for summer fruits shipped from faraway lands, or apples stored since last fall, turn your attention instead to products from the tropics. This recipe is a riff on traditional banana bread, with the fiber and nutrition amped up via coconut, pineapple, Brazil nuts, and key lime.

If you wish, substitute another fruit for the dried pineapple, or use fresh or canned pineapple. In the latter case, no rehydration is necessary.

Tropical Fruit Bread

Makes one loaf

1/4 cup Brazil nuts
1/4 cup dried diced pineapple
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh  key lime juice (about 3 limes)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Toast the Brazil nuts in a dry pan over high heat, transfer to a metal bowl to cool, and chop into dice.
Pour a little boiling water over the pineapple bits, allow to rehydrate for 10-15 minutes, then strain, reserving the liquid and pineapple separately.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, buttermilk, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut, Brazil nuts and pineapple. If the batter seems too stiff, add a little of the pineapple soaking water. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and key lime juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely before slicing.

Meal Prepping Saves Time

If you are not prepping your ingredients for multiple meals at once, you are likely wasting a lot of time in the kitchen. Meal prepping once a week can save you hours, especially if your work week tends to be hectic. Many people prefer to prep on Sunday, but around here that is a day for a family outing or other activity, so I typically prep on Tuesday. The main reason for my choice of day is that the local supermarket offers double gas points, so making the major purchases for the week makes sense.

Because I prefer not to cook much on Sundays, that is the day I try to use up as many leftover items as possible from the refrigerator and freezer. This saves time that would otherwise be spent on the day's meal preparation, in addition to saving money by avoiding waste.

Here are some tips and safety guidelines for food preparation:

Raw vegetables, such as radishes, cauliflower, carrots, celery, onions, squash and sweet potatoes, will keep for a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Put a paper towel in the bottom of the container to absorb excess moisture.

Leafy greens and more perishable vegetables, such as broccoli, snow peas, and asparagus, keep best if they  are blanched for 1 to 3 minutes and then refreshed in ice water prior to refrigeration.

Peeled white potatoes will keep 24 hours in the refrigerator if submerged in cold water.

Fresh berries will keep better if a small amount of sugar is added to them before storage. One tablespoon is enough for a 6-ounce clamshell of blackberries. The berries will soften and release juice, but they won't mold. Store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

You can roast multiple vegetables and proteins on one or two sheet pans and then store them separately in the refrigerator or freezer. To keep items separated, use inexpensive aluminum foil pans or just aluminum foil. Preheat the oven to 350, prep your foods, and then place them on sheet pans, using one for vegetables and one for meats. Drizzle the food with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add any herbs or spices that you like. Pop the pans into the oven and bake until the food is done. Check regularly and use tongs to transfer food to appropriate storage containers as it is cooked.

Use an instant-read thermometer to insure food, especially poultry, is at the proper internal temperature. This is especially important for food that you plan to store for later in the week. Undercooked food may spoil.

Purchase ground beef in bulk when it is on sale. Weigh out portions and freeze them that day. Browning the beef, draining off the fat, and then freezing it is another way to save a huge amount of time when later you want to make tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili or Sloppy Joes. You can do the same thing with bulk sausage.

You can also batch cook rice or pasta ahead of time and store it in suitable portions.

Cooked food will keep for three days in the refrigerator. Otherwise, freeze it.

For safety's sake and to avoid damage to your appliance, cooked food should be cool before placing it in the refrigerator or freezer. You can speed up cooling with a small fan, placed to blow air away from the food. Liquid foods in pots or pans can be set in a sink and surrounded with cold water, or in a larger pot filled with ice. This is a good technique for beans, stocks, soup and stew. Stir the liquid every few minutes to speed cooling.

Keep a written inventory posted on your freezer door so you know what you have available for meals. Keep a copy on your phone, as well, so you will have it when at the grocery store.

Putting a little effort into planning and preparation a few hours a week can pay off with more time for you and your loved ones to enjoy life. And that's what it's all about, after all.