Flap Steak, Cherry Tomatoes, and Grits

Every year Uncle T has a garden.  This year the garden was kept small for ease of keeping up with things.  Another reason for keeping it small was that last year's garden produced enough that we have enough to keep us through to next year.  I did add one new item this year, a cherry tomato plant.

The cherry tomato plant has done amazingly well and we have lots of cherry tomatoes.  I've been coming up with ways to use cherry tomatoes in meals so they don't go to waste.  A guy in a cooking group I belong to on Facebook sent me a link to a dish using cherry tomatoes that had skirt steak and polenta.  I thought it looked interesting but not quite what we'd go for normally.

Standing in front of the cherry tomato plant.  It's over 7 feet.

First off, Uncle T is a good Southern boy and as such his preferred method of using dried corn is in the form of grits.  Shrimp and grits is a Southern staple and as such I figured this dish would work best as a variation on shrimp and grits.  I also usually have packages of Sirloin Butt, Flap in the freezer so I would use that in lieu of the skirt steak.  In the end, simplicity won the day and a fabulous tasting and looking dish was the result.

Flap Steak, Cherry Tomatoes, and Grits

l  1.5lb Flap steak
1 cup old fashion grits
4 cups water
3 cups cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6-8 Tbs butter
salt
pepper

For the grits, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Stir in the grits and a pinch of salt.  Once it comes back to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer.  Stir occasionally.  The grits will be cooked in 15 - 20 minutes.  Stir to ensure no lumps are present then stir in the Parmesan cheese.  Cover and keep warm.

For the steak, trim any excess fat and membrane then season with salt and pepper.  Preferably using a cast iron skillet melt 3 Tbs butter then when the melted butter is foaming add the steak.  Cook on one side until you get a nice crust.  Turn the steak and cook until desired doneness.  We like rare - medium rare so I generally aim for 135F internal.  Remove the steak and let rest.

For the cherry tomatoes add at least 3 Tbs more butter to the skillet the steak was cooked in.  Once it has melted and combined with the pan juices left by the steak add the cherry tomatoes.  Cook the cherry tomatoes until some of them have burst and the rest are hot.

To serve I prefer to use a pasta bowl.  Spoon the grits into bowls.  Spoon the cherry tomatoes and the pan juices around the edge of each bowl.  Slice the flap steak 1/4 inch thick on the bias then layer in the middle of each bowl.

Flap steak, cherry tomatoes, and grits ready to serve

I suppose one could use the 5 minute quick grits but I'll not vouch for the quality of the dish if so.  Uncle T is old school Southern so grits only count if they are the old fashion kind that take 20 minutes to cook.  Skirt steak or flank steak would also work for this recipe but I believe the flap steak has the better beef flavor.

This is a relatively quick and definitely easy dish to make that is filling and tasty.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Take care,
Uncle T

Steak and Kidney Pie

Uncle T doesn't like to let anything go to waste when he kills and butchers an animal.  As a result, we eat a fair bit of offal.  I always save the heart, liver, and kidneys and if I'm wanting to make haggis I'll save the lungs.  The kidneys are always for steak and kidney pie.  It's hard to beat a meaty dish full of rich gravy.

Most people think steak and kidney pie is British food.  They're probably just the most known for it.  Some time ago I came across an article saying that what we in the United States would call a pie is referred to as pudding in the UK.  What it comes down to is, crust on top is pie and crust on top and bottom is pudding.  What I normally make would be steak and kidney pudding since I usually put a crust on the top and bottom.  Steak and kidney pie would just have crust on the top.  That said, I don't know how accurate that is and I still use pie interchangeably for this dish in whichever configuration I make.

Steak and Kidney Pie

If you are dead set against eating offal you can just make this with beef for a steak pie.  I'm also writing this to prepare most of it in a pressure cooker.  The non-pressure cooked way involves simmering on the stove top for an hour or more until the meat is tender.

Steak and Kidney Pie

1-1.5 lbs beef
8 oz kidney
1 onion, diced small
butter
flour
beef broth
salt
pepper
garlic powder
corn starch
1 package puff pastry

Cut beef  and kidney into bite sized pieces.  A more flavorful cut, like round steak, sirloin butt flap, or even chuck is the best choice.  Sautee the onion in some butter.  Toss the beef with seasoned flour and corn starch then brown on all sides in the skillet.  Remove from the skillet and repeat the process with the kidney.  Remove the kidney from the skillet and use more butter and flour to make a dark roux.  Once the roux is done, stir in beef broth until you have a thick dark gravy.  Add salt and pepper to taste then return the steak and kidney to the skillet.  Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 9 pan and top with the puff pastry.  Bake according to the instructions for the puff pastry.

Steak and Kidney Pie, mashed potatoes, and sautéed red cabbage

This is best served with either mashed potatoes or rice.  It can be to the side or served over them.  Steak and kidney pie is a rich flavorful dish.

Reheated Steak and Kidney pie, rice, and fried zucchini

Kidney's can be found at some grocery stores and most Asian stores will have them.  Usually what they have are beef kidneys.  So go get a package and start making steak and kidney pie.

Give it try and let me know what you think.

Uncle T

Sous Vide Sirloin Steak and Brussels Sprout Salad

I've been interested in Sous Vide cooking for some time now.  Until fairly recently, sous vide cookery was priced beyond most home cooks.  Even if someone wanted to spend the money for a sous vide cooker, you ended up with a huge appliance taking up space on your counter.  Over the past few years sous vide circulators have come on the scene reducing both the cost and kitchen foot print of sous vide cookery.  Last year I ordered a new sous vide circulator that was coming on the market and have used it frequently.  I got the Joule, by ChefSteps, and I'll be doing a review post in a few days.

Our local warehouse store had a sale on Sirloin Butts a couple of weeks ago and I took advantage of the situation.  Sirloin steaks have great flavor and I cut some thick steaks to cook sous vide as a test.  I'm happy to say it turned out quite well.

Starting the post sous vide sear

The Brussels sprout salad was inspired by a guy on Instagram that goes by the name, Bacon Dealer.  He has some awesome pictures of smoked and grilled meats as well as his home made Bacon and Pancetta.  Bacon Dealer developed a broccoli salad and over time got it to taste like he wanted.  Once I found out what he used I told him I'd be adding my own spin to it.  Here is the post with his broccoli salad with the ingredients in comments, Bacon Dealer.

The sirloin steak was cooked according to the program in the Joule.  I seasoned each side with salt and pepper then did a quick sear on each side.  The steak was put into a zip bag with 3 cloves of crushed garlic, and some sprigs of thyme and oregano from our herb garden.  Then a bit of olive oil was splashed all over the steak and it was ready for the cook.  I chose 129F for the cook and with a steak the thickness of this one it cooked an hour.  After the cook, 2 Tbs of butter were melted in a hot skillet and the steak was put into the skillet along with everything in the bag with it.  The steak got a quick sear, about 45 seconds, on each side.  While it was searing, the top side was getting basted with the oil and butter mixture in the skillet.  Once both sides were seared, it was time to slice.

Ready to slice

Before I sliced the steak, I made a quick pan sauce to top the slices.  I added another 2 Tbs of butter to the skillet and let it melt.  Then I added 1/4 cup or so of Brandy and let the alcohol burn off.  A little extra simmering to reduce it a bit and it was ready.

Nicely done

The Brussels sprout salad was mostly prepared while the sous vide cook was taking place.  I waited until the steak was almost done before dressing the salad.  It is a quick salad and easily adjusted to suit your family's tastes.

Brussels Sprout Salad

8 oz Brussels sprouts
4-6 oz Pancetta lardons
2-4 oz Cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cup Craisins
1/4 cup Pistachios
1/4 cup Pecans
1/4 cup fermented red peppers, julienned
 Apple cider vinegar
Olive Oil
salt

Thinly slice the Brussels sprouts and place in a bowl.  Dice the Cheddar cheese and add to the sliced spouts.  Put the Pancetta lardons in a skillet and cook until just brown.  You don't want your Pancetta crispy like bacon.  Add the freshly cooked and drained Pancetta to the bowl with the sprouts and cheese and toss to mix.  Do a rough chop on the Craisins, Pistachios, and Pecans and add them to the bowl and toss to mix.  Take a bite and add salt if needed.  When ready to serve, splash vinegar and olive oil over the salad and toss to mix.  Add more of each if the salad is too dry.  Serve and enjoy.   

A fine tasty meal.  The steak is ready for the pan sauce.

Since the salad was all we were having with the sirloin steak we had a larger than usual portion.  If we'd had a potato as part of supper then we'd have gotten 4 servings out of this recipe.  I used fermented red peppers because I still had some and they came from my garden.  You can use either fresh red pepper or pickled pepper as a substitute. 

If you've been thinking about getting into sous vide cooking then I highly recommend the Joule.  Sous vide cooking is not fast but the results are worth the wait.

Give this salad a try the next time you want a salad or just need to add something green to your supper.  I think you'll be pleased.  If you try it, let me know what you think.

Uncle T

Mushroom Fettuccine with Miso Beef and Asparagus

Several years ago while we were stationed in Texas we would drive up to Wimberley for their Market Days.  The Wimberley Market Days was the 1st Saturday of the month and was a combination farmer's market, flea market, and arts and crafts show.  It took several hours to get through the whole thing even if you just took a quick glance at each booth.

One of the regular vendors would demo their pasta.  They had dry pastas of several flavors that they had developed.  Our favorites were the mushroom and the hot pepper.  I've not found any quite like them since we moved to Virginia.

I've tried different flavored pastas with mixed success.  My worst attempt was making black bean pasta.  The flavor was good but the texture was sadly lacking.  I've been researching alternative pastas and think I have a handle on some of the fixes.  I decided to test some of the changes on making the mushrooom pasta.

Most grocery stores have some small packages of dried mushrooms.  We went to Grand Mart, our favorite international market, and bought a large package of dried shitake mushrooms.  We also picked up a jar of miso at the same time.  I'd been thinking of the miso for soup but thought it would be an excellent seasoning.  I actually got Korean fermented soybean paste which is called Doenjang.  As I understand it, doenjang is a bit stronger flavored than miso.  I'm still calling it miso beef because more people are familiar with miso than the name doenjang.

Doenjang, fermented soybean paste

Mushroom Fettucinni

1/2 cup powdered mushrooms
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Put a handful of dried mushrooms in a food processor/Vitamix and reduce to powder.  Put 1/2 cup of the mushroom powder in a bowl.  Add the flour and salt and stir to combine.  Add the eggs, egg yolk, and olive oil and stir.  Once most of the ingredients are combined, turn out on a smooth surface and knead until smooth.  Wrap in plastic and let sit for 20 - 30 minutes.  Cut the pasta into 4 pieces and run through the pasta maker to flatten and thin.  Cut into desired lengths then run through the fettuccine cutter.  Spread on a tray with a bit of flour and repeat with the rest of the dough.  Add the fettuccine to heavily salted boiling water and cook until almost done.  This will just be a few minutes.  Add to the miso beef and asparagus and combine thoroughly.  The fettuccine will finish cooking during this mixing.

These are the dried Shitake mushrooms I used

Miso Beef and Asparagus

1 lb beef, I used strip steaks
1 lb asparagus
1/2 cup miso paste
2 Tbs olive oil

Cut beef into thin strips and put in a bowl.  Add the miso paste and mix thoroughly.  Let this stand for at least an hour.  Trim the asparagus then cut into thirds.  Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the asparagus and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Once the asparagus has cooked for 1 - 2 minutes add the beef to the skillet.  Cook until the meat is almost done.  This should be timed to be around the same time the fettuccine is done.  The pasta water that transfers with the fettuccine will combine with the miso paste to make a nice sauce to coat the noodles.  Serve and enjoy.  This will make 4 good size servings.

Mushroom Fettuccine with Miso Steak and Asparagus

This is a mighty tasty meal that reheats well if you have leftovers.  This would also work well with pork or chicken.  Give these out of the ordinary ingredients a try.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Taco Burgers

While we try to have a widely varied menu throughout the week we generally only have 4 choices for supper on Saturday night.  This past Saturday we opted for hamburgers since it had been a bit since we'd had those.  Hamburgers require little prep since I buy large chubs of ground beef and make 5 ounce patties with the burger press and freeze them.  So all I had to do was pull out a package and defrost them.


OK, the little prep is a bit inaccurate since I did make hamburger buns instead of buying some.  Using the stand mixer makes that go faster and most of the time in making hamburger buns is spent letting the dough rise.  I use the recipe found here, Hamburger Buns.  This recipe can be used to make great hotdog buns/hoagie rolls simply by altering the shape.  They are so much better than anything  you'll find at the store, both in flavor and texture.


Usually we have Saturday night leftovers for lunch on Sunday but with burgers we generally don't have any.  The main reason we don't have any is that I put 2 patties per package.  Yeah, I know I should package them by fours or thaw more.  Since I had a chub of ground beef to divide into 1 lb packages I decided to do something a bit different.  I made taco burgers for lunch on Sunday.


After lunch was done I did a Google search for taco burgers and while I found lots of recipes I didn't find any quite like mine.  So, I'm taking credit for this one.


Taco Burger


1 lb ground beef
hot taco seasoning, 1 packet if using store bought
4 dashes Uncle T's Devil Sauce, use the hot sauce of your choice if desired
shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 cup salsa
leaf lettuce
cilantro


Mix the ground beef and taco seasoning thoroughly.  Add the hot sauce if desired and mix well.  Form into burger patties.  Drain the salsa of most of its liquid and set aside.  Place patties on hot grill and leave them alone for 5 minutes then turn them over.  Once they are turned over, place a pile of the shredded cheese on each burger and close lid to help cheese melt.  The buns can be split and put on the grill to toast at this time if desired.  Check after 3 - 4 minutes to see if the cheese is melted to your satisfaction.  Remove burgers from the grill.  To assemble the burger place 3 or 4 leaves of lettuce on the bottom bun.  Put the burger on the lettuce then top with 2 or 3 sprigs of cilantro.  Top with some of the drained salsa.  Put the top of the bun on and enjoy.

Fully Assembled Taco Burger

For these burgers I used my gas grill since it's a little quicker to get going.  The gas grill was preheated to 500F according to its thermometer with both burners on High.  Once the burgers were on and the lid closed the burners were reduce to Medium.  I know people like to fiddle with meat on the grill but leave them alone.  They only need to be flipped once and definitely don't mash the burgers with the spatula.

The lettuce and cilantro came out of the garden about 10 minutes before they got put on the burgers.  The taco seasoning I used was my own blend.  I combined parts of two recipes I found online and upped the heat a bit.  I'm still tweaking that recipe but I'm close to what I'm wanting.  I did use store bought salsa as we didn't can any last summer.  We had tater tots with the burgers since that is what I had in the freezer and didn't want to take the time to do homemade French fries.  The tots were seasoned with homemade seasoning salt.  We did the same thing with the regular burgers on Saturday night.

Taco Burger with Tater Tots

So if you are tired of the same old hamburger give the taco burger a try.  You can tweak the recipe to suit you and your family's taste.  Give a try and let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Deli Style Roast Beef

There are many things that people eat on a daily basis that they buy for the convenience factor.  Sliced deli meat is one of these things.  After all, you just go to the counter and order how much you want and the deli worker plops it on the slicer and in a couple of minutes you have a package of sliced deli meat.  I'll admit, we do that at times also.  Some deli meats are just too time consuming to make or even I don't have the proper equipment to easily make it.


A week or so ago, we were at the local big box store and they were giving samples of two of their deli meats and two cheeses.  The good wife sampled the roast beef with provolone and I had the roast beef with swiss cheese.  That got the good wife in the mood for some roast beef to have for sandwiches or to the side with some cottage cheese for her lunches.  I agreed and we stepped over to the deli counter and started looking.


Besides the price, deli meats have extra stuff added to them that wouldn't be added at home to enhance the color, the shelf life, and the flavor.  Given those conditions I suggested we get a beef roast from the meat case and I'd make her the sandwich meat.  It's been a bit since I'd done that so she had forgotten about it.  At the meat case I found a nice 13.5 lb bottom outside beef roast, the biceps femoris for the food science geeks like me.  The other option was a eye of round roast which I've done with good results.


The next day, I pulled the roast out of the refrigerator and got ready to make the deli meat.  I washed and dried it then sliced away the fat from the roast and cleaned up a bit of membrane from the other side of the roast.  I cut a bit off the ends to make sure the size was fairly uniform from end to end.


After the roast was trimmed to my satisfaction, I placed it on a rack in a sheet tray.  Then I rub the roast all over with oil, use the oil of your choice, then sprinkled generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.


I prefer to let it rest for a bit to get closer to room temperature but I didn't do that this time.  This is not like cooking a steak so I don't think starting to cook while it was still cool affected the outcome.


Put the roast on the middle rack of a 500F oven for 20 minutes.  Then lower the temperature to 300F and cook for another 30 minutes.  Depending on the size of your roast this should have you pretty close for rare.  This time is dead on if you use the eye of round roast. 

Fresh From the Oven

Internal Temperatures for Doneness

Rare	125F
Medium Rare	135F
Medium	145F
Medium Well	155F
Well Done	165F

I used the thermometer I use for smoking to keep an eye on the temperature.  Once the roast is out of the oven cover it with a tent of aluminum foil for 30 minutes.  I pulled the roast out when it reached 118F knowing the temperature would keep rising, carry over, for a bit as it rested.  Carry over is usually between 5 - 10 degrees.  For a large roast like this I usually figure on 10 degrees.  I pulled the thermometer probe out so I don't know for sure but this roast probably ended up around 128F.

Nice Medium Rare Roast Beef

Once the roast was cooled a bit I cut it to check the flavor.  The half slice for the good wife ended up as a couple of slices.  Yes, I sampled just as much as she did.  I then wrapped it in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator to completely chill to be easier to slice.

The Good Wife Sneaking a Sample

 The next afternoon, I cut the roast in half for ease of handling and got busy with the slicer.  In no time at all I had a tray full of thinly sliced beef roast.  After trimming the roast and cutting off the ends to even up the size and then cooking we ended up with 7.65 lbs of deli sliced roast beef.  Between the sampling after the roast was done and what I sampled while slicing there is at least 8 oz. unaccounted for.  That is probably all accounted for in the fat I trimmed prior to seasoning.

For storage, I packaged the meat in 8.5 - 8.75 oz vacuum sealed packages.  That's enough for several sandwiches.


Making your own sandwich meat is the way to go for sure.  The main benefit is that there is nothing but natural ingredients.  You also get to tailor the flavor profile to suit your tastes rather than being stuck with what the deli carries.  You can do the same with turkey breast though I tend to do turkey on the smoker.


Give this a try and I'm sure you'll prefer this to store bought.  If you make it, let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Corned Beef for Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day in the US is far different than it is in Ireland as I understand it.  Here in the US it seems to have devolved to encompass three things, parades, green beer, and eating corned beef and cabbage.  The Irish view the day as a time for reflection and time to get together with family. 


The good wife and I both have a bit of Irish genetics according to the DNA results but that is about as far as our Irishness goes.  We did enjoy going to the Saint Patrick's Day parade when we were stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX.  San Antonio has one of the largest parades in the country and is something to see.  After the parade was a day of entertainment by various musical and dance groups at the amphitheater on the River Walk.  We've not made it to the local Saint Patrick's Day parade since we know it will not compare to the one in San Antonio.


I don't know what to say about green beer other than, NO.  I mean, if you want to drink something to connect with Ireland why not drink a pint of Guinness?  The last number I heard was that there would be 13 million pints of Guinness drunk on Saint Patrick's Day.  That certainly makes more sense than green beer.  If a Guinness isn't your thing, rest assured that Ireland produces other beer styles that should suit any taste and many are readily available in the US.


Now for the corned beef.  Even today, with Ireland making its mark in the Foodie scene, beef is not a big deal.  The Irish are more about pork and lamb, not to mention seafood.  I did run across a mention of corned beef in Ireland from long ago and it was in the list of things served to a high ranking man as a means to impress him.  Beef just wasn't consumed much since so when a cow was finally slaughtered it most likely went to the well to do folks. 


Corned beef became an American Irish thing during the great Irish immigration periods into the US.  It was procured from Jewish delis and was inexpensive and when served with cabbage and potatoes provided a cheap filling meal.  Usually brisket is the cut of choice for making corned beef but any part can be used.  From such humble beginnings do some fine traditions spring.


Most corned beef in the US is sold in the weeks leading up to Saint Patrick's Day unless it is found at the deli counter to be sliced for sandwiches.  Yes, I know there are Jewish delis in New York that are famous for their corned beef sandwiches but I'm talking about corned beef as the cornerstone of a large meal.  While commercially produced corned beef is better than nothing, you are at the mercy of their recipe and whatever spice blend they include to cook with it.  Much better flavor and control can be had be making it yourself.


The corned beef I made for this year was made using a 5 lb chuck roast.  I used the brine recipe out of Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.  Most everything used in the brine is likely in your house already or is readily available.  The only specialty item is the pink salt, aka sodium nitrite, and it can be found at some specialty stores though I get mine from Butcher and Packer.  The beef sits in the brine for 5 days in the refrigerator and you have corned beef.  Here is the curing recipe from Michael Ruhlman's blog, Curing Corned Beef.


In the interest of time, I cooked mine in the pressure cooker this year.  We had a meeting to go to so couldn't take the time to slow cook it.  I had the good wife dump the brine and replace it with plain water to alleviate some of the saltiness about mid-morning.  After I got home, I dumped that water and put the corned beef in the pressure cooker.  I added water to just cover the meat and added 20 grams of my homemade pickling spice.  The pickling spice was based on the one in Charcuterie.  40 minutes of pressure cooking later we had hot corned beef.

Corned Beef, Cabbage, Roasted Potatoes

The cabbage was easy to do.  I put an onion, quartered then sliced, in a hot skillet with 3 Tbs of butter and let the onion cook while I sliced the cabbage.  Once the cabbage was sliced I laid it on top of the onion in the skillet then added 1 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid from the corned beef.  After the cabbage had steamed a bit I stirred it all around to get the onion and cabbage mixed together and made sure all the cabbage had time in the cooking liquid.  No need to add salt or pepper because there was plenty of flavor from the butter, onion, and corned beef cooking liquid.

Cabbage ready to plate

Since potatoes are the usual thing to go with corned beef and cabbage, I decided to go with roasted potatoes.  These were just cubed, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and put in a 425F oven for 20 minutes.  After the 20 minutes the potatoes were tossed/stirred about the pan and back in the oven for another 15 minutes.


So, with the exception of the time required to brine the beef, this was a quick easy tasty meal.  It's definitely worthy of being used more than one day a year.  Besides, the corned beef you don't eat with the meal can be sliced and made into sandwiches or some variation.  I'll have a separate post about a variation to a corned beef sandwich.


I encourage you to try to make your own corned beef and just taste the difference.   Visit Chef Ruhlman's blog and make the corned beef and then look around for other things to try.  If you make your own, let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T

Pressure Cooker Chili and Johnny Cakes

What's a good way to drive away the chill of a dreary drizzly winter day?  A good hot bowl of chili.  Well the other day was just such a day so we just had to have some chili.  We'd been planning on chili at some point to be able to try out some of the chipotles in adobo sauce the good wife had canned this summer.  I smoked and dried some of the jalapenos that came from our garden and she did the rest.  We're quite pleased with how they turned out.


I know some won't consider this chili since it has beans but that doesn't really bother me.  Chili is one of those dishes that has many regional variations and people will argue over them in a manner similar to barbecue.  Heck, I even know some that put spaghetti noodles in their chili.  I'll definitely not get on my soapbox about barbecue other than to say that barbecue is a product not an action.


So, without further ado, let's get into Uncle T's chili.  The instructions are for an electric pressure cooker.


Pressure Cooker Chili


2 lb beef chuck roast
1 1/2 cup dried light red kidney beans
1 cup dried small red beans
4 oz jar chipotles in adobo sauce
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 bottle red wine
2 Tbs oil
seasoned flour
salt


Put oil in pressure cooker and turn on sear function.  Cut the chuck roast into 4 pieces and dredge in seasoned flour.  Brown the pieces of chuck roast on all sides.  Once they are browned turn off the sear feature.  Pour in the red wine and enough additional water to just cover the meat.  Pressure cook for 40 minutes.  After the timer goes off release the pressure.  Mince the chipotles. Add the red beans, kidney beans, diced onion, and the chipotles with the adobo sauce to the pressure cooker.  Add a couple of pinches of salt and stir to combine everything.  Pressure cook for 40 minutes.  Let the pressure naturally reduce for 10 minutes then manually release the remaining pressure.  Pull out the chunks of chuck roast and finely dice then stir back into the pot.  Fill a bowl and enjoy.

A bowl of chili and fresh hot Johnny cakes

I used wine for this recipe since it adds a nice flavor profile to the broth.  A good stout beer would also work if you are more inclined.  You could also use beef broth in place of the water but I didn't think it would need it.


Johnny cakes are an excellent accompaniment to chili.  Johnny cakes also vary greatly by location.  They range from something that looks like Southern cornbread to a fluffy pancake to a crispy fried flat bread.  What I'm talking about is the crispy fried flat bread.  Some in the South will use self rising flour and even eggs and milk but I go back to the more basic version.  Of course, a point that will drive some a bit crazy is that these are best fried in a cast iron skillet in bacon grease.  Yes, in old school Southern homes, bacon grease is kept and used for seasoning and frying. 


Johnny Cakes


3/4 cup corn meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1tsp salt
water


 Put the corn meal, flour, and salt in a bowl and whisk together.  Add water and mix together until you have a fairly thin batter.  Put enough bacon grease in a cast iron skillet to cover the bottom to a depth of 1/8 to 1/4 inch on medium heat.  Using a large spoon, spoon the batter into the hot bacon grease making sure the cakes don't touch.  As they cook, holes will appear in the batter.  When the edges start to get brown, check the doneness on the bottom.  If it is brown enough to suit you then flip the cakes and fry on the other side.  These don't take very long to cook.  Put on paper towels to drain while you cook the next batch. 


The water amount and consistency of the batter are up to you.  I vary them depending on how I want the cakes to turn out.  To go with the chili I wanted a thicker more substantial cake so I didn't use as much water.  At times, I want a thinner crispier cake so I'll use more water to make a runny batter.


You should add these to your winter meal rotation.  If you give them a try, let me know what you think.


Uncle T