Chili-Mac: Gluten-Free

I love chili. When my daughter was home sick with a stomach bug, I took the opportunity to break out the chili fixin's for myself.

Weird thinking, I know, but when there is a bonus day off from work (not saying her being sick was a bonus, mind you), I feel inclined to go big with my cooking. She doesn't eat chili and said the cooking smells wouldn't bother her, so I figured since I had to make really bland stuff for her to eat, I'd make myself something extra spicy. I also made oven-roasted jalapeno peppers (recipe will be appearing shortly, needs some adjustments...). Clearly, I was not having any of the bland food myself.

For years now, I've been using a mix for the spices, from Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, which I highly recommend. There are no chemicals or weird fake-foods in the box, just cayenne pepper, corn masa flour, cumin, garlic, ground chili peppers, onion, oregano, paprika, salt. It's just easier to have everything put together for me, especially since I may not have all the ingredients on hand, most importantly, the corn masa which you use towards the end of cooking to thicken the chili.

I'd like to talk about chili-mac now. It's not a dish I grew up with. Maybe it did exist in NY, but it never made its way to me. The first time I encountered it, I was in southern Illinois with my then in-laws at Steak 'n Shake. It seemed to me like an ingenious combination. Why not use pasta as your vehicle of choice for chili? It's a pretty good combination of textures, and the cheese just sinks into the pasta every so nicely.

While I cooked the chili, I looked around for some corn tortillas to serve it with, only to come up empty. Instead, I chose a rice pasta as my base for the chili, making this the first time I've made chili-mac in my own kitchen. There is no cheese in this version, as I'm primarily dairy-free (except for butter, can't leave that behind), but you should feel free to add some nice sharp cheddar and maybe even some sour cream to finish off this great dish.

Gluten-free Chili-Mac

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Heat a large non-reactive pot over high heat.
  2. Add the olive oil and half of the minced shallots.
  3. Cook for 1 minutes. Add the ground meat.
  4. Brown on all sides, about 15 minutes of cooking time.
  5. Drain the fat from the pan.
  6. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices.
  7. Cook for ten minutes. Add the drained black beans.
  8. Slightly cover the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  9. While the chili is cooking, take the masa flour and mix with 1/3 cup warm water.
  10. Add to the chili to thicken it. Make sure the corn masa flour is not clumping in the chili, break it up with a fork as you stir it into the mix.
  11. Cook for five more minutes.
  12. Place the prepared pasta into individual serving bowls.
  13. Top with chili (and cheese, if you're into that).
  14. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

I wish it *were* Casamiento...It's a Close Second

Beans and rice in any form are a wonderful, homey, warm, satisfying dish. To be honest, I hadn't had much in the way of really good Mexcian, El Salvadorean or Nicaraguean food until I moved out to California. When I was 16, I got on a plane to Los Angeles from New York. Gran fran sent me off with a bagful of food, which, if memory serves me right, involved a salami sandwich on Pepperidge Farm white bread with Mayonnaise, pretzel sticks and M&M's. I felt very grown up on that trip. It was my first solo cross-country trip. Old enough to seem like I belonged on that plane alone, but young enough to revel in the free sodas and movies (yes, movie headphones were free in those way-back days).

My friend's family picked me up at LAX and asked if I was hungry, which I was. They drove to a small Mexican food stand and said the fish tacos were the best thing to order. I hadn't had much Mecxican food growing up, so had no idea the goodness I was in for. That fish taco changed my life! It made me realize there was a whole world of spices and herbs that I had never even thought of. I still recall the satisfying crunch of the lightly battered fried fish against the cilantro and cumin-spiced beans to this day.

Once I moved to California, there was a wealth of Mexican and El Salvadorean food choices, and I have been in heaven ever since. A favorite dish, casamiento, which is essentially rice and beans was introduced to me in the recent past. The version I've enjoyed the most is served at Panchita's here in San Francisco. Trying to recreate it has proven fruitless, so I can only satisfy my yearning for casamiento at Panchita's. I do, however, make a nice non-spicy rice and beans dish that has a similar homey/satisfying texture and flavor to it.

So for me, beans and rice were really just that: black beans, rice, some sour cream, sharp cheddar and if I'm feeling adventurous, diced red onion and avocado. It's one of my first out-on-my-own fast eacy comfort foods. I've been making this or a variation of this dish for close to 20 years. My rice and beans is only for me, sometimes my family, too, but it's not the kind of dish I even think to serve to guests.

I am including a real Casamiento recipe here, for those of you who have the time and heart to put into it.

Otherwise, this is how I make my own, lovely rice and beans. Enjoy!

Rice and Beans

serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 can black beans (preferably Goya brand)
  • 2 Chipotle Peppers in sauce (Embassa brand)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1.5 cups white rice, cooked to your liking
  • 1 avocado
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 small red onion diced
  • Sour Cream to taste

Method:

  • Place black beans and chipotle peppers in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stirring, heat until thoroughly heated through.
  • Once the beans are warmed and the rice is cooked, serve 4 equal portions of each into bowls.
  • Add shredded cheddar, avocado pieces, red onion and sour cream to taste.
  • You can add some nice hot sauce at this point, if'n the chipotle's weren't hot enough.