Chilly weather chowder:

David and I started dating in the middle of winter, the day after Christmas in 2005. Shortly after that, I moved into his Clifton apartment. The apartment was cheap but drafty, and in an attempt to keep me happy, David cranked the thermostat to a balmy 70 degrees.

The utility bill tripled. David and I were both working part time while attending classes at U.C., and the budget was tight as it was, even without an astronomically high heating bill. So the thermostat went back down, I spent a lot of time in sweaters attempting to cuddle with the cat, and David made me lots of chowder.

This is a recipe that converges three essential factors and one essential food group for the college student: Cheap, lazy, leftovers and bacon. The whole batch fills a very large pot, making for a tasty lunch for the next few days.

David points out: contrary to what this graph implies, the chowder is not made with cold pizza, packaged bacon, a baconator, and leftovers from dinner at your parents house

For old times sake, we made it again the other day, on one of the first chilly, rainy days of the year. We are now significantly less lazy, and with full time employment, less cheap, so we changed the recipe a little. I've posted the original version with notes on the modifications.

Also, in college I was a little more calorie conscious, so David calculated the calories in this soup for me. It’s about 3,445 calories for 3 qts.

This recipe is adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup frozen chopped onion
1 qt. of chicken broth (college version: use bouillon cubes and water)
2 lb. package Simply Potatoes mashed potatoes, 1 package diced or scalloped potatoes
1 lb. bag of frozen corn niblets
1/4 cup white roux made with bacon fat (college version: one (2.5 oz.) packet country style gravy mix)
2 cups milk for use with roux or gravy packet
1 lb. of cooked and crumbled bacon (college version: Oscar Meyer precooked bacon, cut into small pieces)

Directions:
1. In large dutch oven or pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add scalloped potatoes and bacon, cook over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.

3. If making a roux instead of using the gravy mix, whisk 2 tb flour into 2 tb hot bacon fat, for a minute or two.

4. Slowly whisk the milk into the roux to make a basic béchamel or into the gravy mix. Bring to a simmer.

5. Stir in corn and mashed potatoes; return to boiling. Add sauce from step 4.

6. Salt and pepper to taste.

To accompany the chowder, I made skillet scones, using an adaptation of this recipe. The only thing I would change is I'd use a little more salt in the dough.

A-Team Chili:

Winter in Cincinnati means different things to many people. To David, it means that he’s in for another season of fighting with his rear wheel drive Mustang in the snow. To my Dad, it’s time to break out the jeep, attach the snowplow and help out some grateful neighbors.

Me, I have a thing against winter. I suppose it really isn’t Winter’s fault that I’m short and my jean hems drag the salty, mucky ground, or that I spend most of season glaring out the window at the frigid air, wearing my winter coat indoors to be comfortable. Winter is what it is and doesn’t care what nobody thinks. I still don’t like it. I want my flip flops back.

To recap: winter to me means that I wreck my jeans and my winter coat gets a workout. I also eat chili and soup. A lot. Probably while wearing my coat inside. Potentially glaring out the window at the frigid air.

David was making a nice tomato soup for me for awhile, but sometimes tomato soup doesn’t cut it for lunch. Resolving to eat out less and cook at home more and eager to continue using our Le Creuset French oven, we decided to make our own chili.

I spent Saturday morning scouring recipes on the internet to find a good chili recipe. I found some solid recipes. Nothing was wrong with them, except I wanted our first batch of homemade chili to be a little less conventional.

I began to think of unusual, tasty things to put in the Chili and drawing up a list. Dark beer! Chipotle peppers! Ground bison! Camel meat!

“You know…” David remarked from the futon, doing his own chili research. “Making a chili is not like assembling the A-Team.”

“Whatever. Garbonzo beans!”

“No.”

“Fine, well I still want the camel and bison meat in it. It will be delicious, you’ll see.”

Camel is a very interesting meat. It is very lean and red, and smells delicious when you are browning it. Don’t feel bad for the camel, camels are not very nice animals. They have cranky, sour dispositions. I would be too if I always had sand stuck between my toes.

it is important to sort dried beans. Seriously. David found two pebbles. Dental work is expensive.

Camel, one of the tastiest Jerks of the animal kingdom

The chili came out very nicely for our first try. We are now on our 4th batch. We’ve been messing around with the meats and the spices. I firmly believe that we will stumble across the perfect chili by the time winter is over.

we finish with a roux to thicken the chili

The Wonders of Findlay Market:

This post details a welcome back dinner I made for David, and my trip to Findlay market to get the all sorts of yummy items to make it. That said, it’s also about how to make yourself feel better after having spent $180 on cookware.

I’d read about Le Creuset pans. They seemed to be on just about every cooks Christmas wishlist, and I recalled the Brown Eyed Baker mentioning that some could be found at TJ Maxx.

Which is where I found myself on Friday afternoon. Looking at a $140.00 Le Creuset 5 ½ qt enameled cast iron French oven.

I did some research and did a quick twitter poll. Is this pot really worth it? I asked. How is it different than a crockpot?

“Well, you can put it in the oven. Oh, and it’s not a DEATHTRAP” Said Jeff.
“NO WAY! The last time I trusted something French I ended up gagging on Saison beer.” exclaimed 5chw4r7z.

In the interest of accuracy, I feel that I have to point out that Saison style beer is not technically from France, rather a French speaking region of Belgium.

5chw4r7z’s Franco-phobia aside, the overall endorsement was that this pot would probably continue to be used in the kitchen long after I was gone. A versatile pot, good for soups and stews and braising. A heavy pot—something I can attest to after carrying the thing around the store pondering my potential purchase.

My decision made, I plunked it on the counter with two small and one large Le Creuset potterie baking pans and lugged it all home.

David would be coming back into town from Michigan the following day. I was planning on making dinner for him anyway. And what’s the point of buying an expensive French oven if I was not going to use it? I resolved to make dinner in my new Le Creuset cookware. All my new cookware, including the baking dishes.

I stayed up that evening looking at photograzing and tastespotting until my stomach started rumbling. I needed a main dish, a side, an appetizer and a dessert.

I really wanted to try making rack of lamb, so that was what I decided to make as a main. David said he wanted eggplant. I find eggplant a very strange vegetable, but stumbled upon this recipe for a vegetable tian at the Gastronomer.

For dessert I knew I was headed to Findlay market, so it had to involve Dojo Gelato in some way. I found the perfect recipe from Smitten Kitchen for vanilla roasted pears, and knew Dojo’s Mexican vanilla gelato would be a great counterpart to the dish.

I loaded myself up with re-usable bags and headed off to Findlay Market, where I found everything I needed. First stop, Kroeger and Sons for two frenched lamb racks. I got two racks and also two lamb chops because they looked nice for $45. Then over to Madison’s Produce for fresh rosemary and thyme. I also saw some figs on the shelf next to the herbs, and grabbed those. I made the figs with this recipe for roasted figs with balsamic vinegar, leaving out the pine nuts.

Then over to some of the produce vendors for a bulb of garlic, an onion, a lemon, 5 pears, an eggplant and a zucchini. Back over to the other side of Findlay to Krause’s deli for cave aged gruyere. While I was there I saw some rosemary Manchego, a quarter pound of which also ended up in my grocery bag.

Then back again to the other side of Findlay, where I picked up two bottles of wine from Market wines. Going around the front, I had my last two stops—the Colonel for spices, (a blend of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, appropriately named “Simon and Garfunkel” and one large, fragrant vanilla bean) and Dojo for gelato.

I ended up with two pints of gelato with two different flavors in each. Gingersnap and Mexican vanilla in one pint, and rose petal pistachio and chocolate in the other.

My shopping done, I brought my now very heavy bag back to the apartment and began the prep work. David got back a little early, so nothing was cooked, just prepped and in the fridge, but it all worked out. We seared the lamb well after covering it in herbs and roasted it in the oven until the internal temperature reached approximately 130 degrees.

I’d say the star of the evening was the tian. With the gruyere cheese on top of the eggplant and zucchini and the flavor from the sautéed onion, garlic and herbs, this is a dish that we will be making again soon. It looks very impressive in the pan and is incredibly easy to cook. I can imagine many variations of this as different vegetables come into season.

Kitty was not much help, but he sure looked cute

I really enjoy going to Findlay Market. People are friendly and cheerful, vendors take the time to have conversations with their customers and give their recommendations (David and I spent a good 45 minutes with the Colonel getting an impromptu spice education on a Saturday morning) and I almost always find something new and interesting.

If you have not been, go! Christmas is coming up. Don’t get your standing rib roast or holiday meal supplies from the Grocery store this year. Head down to Findlay and see what I mean.