Cooking For One, Or Two -- October 4, 2016

Updates

October 5, 2016: a quick google search reveals many cooks use an apple in their chili. I did not know that until now. Very, very interesting. 

Later, 9:44 p.m. Central Time: a reader was kind enough to send a chili recipe that sounds about as easy as it can get. See first comment. I brought the recipe up here so it could be googled:

Seems everyone has their own personal chili recipe...mine is based on one of everything; 1 lb ground beef, 1 qt cooked tomatoes, 1 large onion, 1 cup chopped chili peppers, 1 tblspoon fresh basil, 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, 1 large apple, 1 small garlic, and one can of chili beans...

Meat is cooked with onions first, and then everything else simmers an hour before the beans are added last...at this time of year, everything except the meat and beans are fresh and comes right from my garden...

The apple is obviously the "secret" ingredient. In cooking it is interesting that certain fruits, vegetables, or herbs have a way of bringing out the flavor of other ingredients, and my hunch the apple has something in it that makes this chili particularly interesting. Sugar? I assume the apple is "cored and diced."
 

Original Post

 

I've mentioned this before. The secret for living alone or with just one significant other is to have "dishes" made up ahead of time that can be heated quickly and enjoyed at a moment's notice. I learned this from Robert Rodriguez and his ten-minute cooking schools.

Along that line, I always have a bowl of pasta -- a spaghetti of some sort -- in the refrigerator. Whenever hungry for lunch, a snack, and sometimes even, the evening meal, I simply take out a "portion" of spaghetti -- heat it up, and add any number of sauces, some prepared ahead of time, some simply out of the bottle or the can.

May and I also like to keep a bowl of chili in the refrigerator.  This is incredibly easy to make.
Except for the hamburger and a bit of water, the ingredients are shown in the first photograph below.

• brown a quarter pound of hamburger or however much you want on top of the stove
• add the ingredients in the first photo below; note the strainer
• add a third-cup of water, and maybe a bit more if necessary, but don't let it turn into soup
• bring to a "boil" on top of the stove; with so little liquid, you won't see much of a "boil"
• as soon as it "boils," -- maybe two minutes -- turn the heat down to lowest setting and let simmer for a total of maybe 10 minutes
• ready to eat, or refrigerate

Meanwhile:

• as many "cut-in-half" green and red peppers as you want
• on aluminum foil on cookie pan in over: broil at low setting for 20 minutes
• total additional broiling time up to you; just don't let the peppers burn
• place peppers in a brown paper bag for at least ten minutes to continue cooking
• remove from paper bag; remove the skin; don't worry about getting all the skin off
• ready to eat, or refrigerate

So here it is, in photographs:

Along with a quarter pound of hamburger, or however much you want, the ingredients (with a third cup of water) for the chili:

"Boil" but as soon as you see it start to bubble, turn to lowest heat and simmer for at least ten minutes. 

Meanwhile, four sliced peppers -- or as many as you want (or can afford); broil - low for at least 20 minutes; check then and decide if you want to broil longer, but don't let them burn. The skin should turn a dark (burned) color but the pulp should not be burned.

 

Once out of the oven, place in a brown paper bag, close tightly, and let the peppers continue to cook for another 10 minutes (even longer if you wish). Then remove the skin: kind of sticky; have some running water to get this off your fingers; don't worry about getting all the skin off. The skin is fine to eat; it just sticks to the roof of your mouth.

Spoon hot chili over the peppers and enjoy. Libation of choice, of course. If it's wine or Scotch or a craft beer, be sure to annotate your diary with the drink and score it for future reference.