It's down to 28F here in Cow Hill. What the weatherman calls a
"wintry mix" has been falling all day. Most of it hasn't stuck to the
ground because of residual warmth. The high Tuesday was around 80.
But tomorrow will likely be another matter.

The university was closed at 11 a.m., so I spent much of the day at
home (after packing my paintings for tomorrow's drive to Wichita where
I have a show opening next weekend).

Chili seemed to be the thing to do for dinner tonight. I thawed two
pounds of grass-fed stew meat in the microwave and then seared it in
some olive oil in my chili pot. I added some water and brought it to
a simmer. I skimmed the foam off the top and left it simmering for
hours. The idea is to add some warmth to the house while making
dinner. This batch of chili will be more like stew than most pots
I've made. I'm talking about big chunks of beef this time around. I
put cominos, oregano, powdered chipotle, and Gebhardt's chili powder
in it about half an hour ago. I'll adjust the seasoning and thicken
it with masa about 7:20 p.m.

As the chili simmered this afternoon, I made a bowl of tamale dough to
use up the last of the Thanksgiving smoked turkey. I used Stephen
Pyles' recipe for the masa. The smoked turkey/jalapeno tamales are
made and sitting in the steamer as I type this and as the chili cooks
down. They'll be steamed after the chili is done. The plan is to
draw out the cooking time and lengthen the house-warming cooking some.

I figure the tamales will be a little present for my friends up in
Kansas if I make it there. Wish me luck.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:


>
> As the chili simmered this afternoon, I made a bowl of tamale dough to
> use up the last of the Thanksgiving smoked turkey. I used Stephen
> Pyles' recipe for the masa.

Mmmn, that sounds yummy. I've got some leftovers in the freezer, I might
copy your idea. How did you season your filling?


> I figure the tamales will be a little present for my friends up in
> Kansas if I make it there. Wish me luck.

You can drop some of those off in Kansas City, if you like.

It's still snowing here, but I suspect the highways will be clear
tomorrow. Most of the local city roads are merely wet.



Dawn

On Fri, 01 Dec 2006 01:09:28 GMT, Dawn >
wrote:

>> As the chili simmered this afternoon, I made a bowl of tamale dough to
>> use up the last of the Thanksgiving smoked turkey. I used Stephen
>> Pyles' recipe for the masa.
>
>Mmmn, that sounds yummy. I've got some leftovers in the freezer, I might
> copy your idea. How did you season your filling?
>
I didn't season the turkey much. It had been brined and smoked with
lemon slices under the skin. I sliced it very thin and added a slice
of pickled jalapeno to each tukey tamale. I had some masa left, so I
made a few black bean tamales with little pieces of homemade chipotle
in with the beans.
>
>> I figure the tamales will be a little present for my friends up in
>> Kansas if I make it there. Wish me luck.
>
>You can drop some of those off in Kansas City, if you like.

That would be just a bit out of the way, I'm guessing.
>
>It's still snowing here, but I suspect the highways will be clear
>tomorrow. Most of the local city roads are merely wet.
>
I imagine things will be okay once I get away from the panicky Texas
drivers.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> It's down to 28F here in Cow Hill. What the weatherman calls a
> "wintry mix" has been falling all day. Most of it hasn't stuck to the
> ground because of residual warmth. The high Tuesday was around 80.
> But tomorrow will likely be another matter.
>
Don't you just love the euphamism "wintry mix"? It's like they are afraid
to describe it as sleet, afraid to describe it as snow and (!) can't
possibly call it sleet and snow! Ours didn't show up so after all the dire
warnings the weather folks are out trying to find some wintry mix to spread
around town and justify their jobs.

> The university was closed at 11 a.m., so I spent much of the day at
> home (after packing my paintings for tomorrow's drive to Wichita where
> I have a show opening next weekend).
>
Good luck with your show, Michael! You know I know how that goes

> Chili seemed to be the thing to do for dinner tonight. I thawed two
> pounds of grass-fed stew meat in the microwave and then seared it in
> some olive oil in my chili pot. I added some water and brought it to
> a simmer. I skimmed the foam off the top and left it simmering for
> hours. The idea is to add some warmth to the house while making
> dinner. This batch of chili will be more like stew than most pots
> I've made. I'm talking about big chunks of beef this time around. I
> put cominos, oregano, powdered chipotle, and Gebhardt's chili powder
> in it about half an hour ago. I'll adjust the seasoning and thicken
> it with masa about 7:20 p.m.
>
> As the chili simmered this afternoon, I made a bowl of tamale dough to
> use up the last of the Thanksgiving smoked turkey. I used Stephen
> Pyles' recipe for the masa. The smoked turkey/jalapeno tamales are
> made and sitting in the steamer as I type this and as the chili cooks
> down. They'll be steamed after the chili is done. The plan is to
> draw out the cooking time and lengthen the house-warming cooking some.
>
> I figure the tamales will be a little present for my friends up in
> Kansas if I make it there. Wish me luck.

Luck, of course! Your chili sounds good. I'm making chicken & dumplings
today using some chicken thighs I had in the freezer. We didn't get the
"wintry mix", although they are still predicting some, 30% chance, and it's
29F whereas it was 69F yesterday. Brrrrrrrrr!

Jill