Tuesday - fall for it.

Lunch with lulu

Tuesday…

I have been waiting for this time of the year for a few months now. The only time in New York City, when the air actually smells like - well - air. There is no struggle to breath, the subways aren't unbearable and scarves are back! It's fall. It's beautiful. It's hopeful. It's time for a new start - new love - new opportunity. It makes you sad and optimistic all at once. Remembering the old, but looking to the future. Thank you fall, for coming. And thank you for making night walks with my dog chuck even more meaningful, with your leaves and cool breeze. Thank you for being CHILI....speaking of.

Chili – so many different ways to make chili. I don’t really like a ton of cumin in mine, mainly because I like to make it the way my mom used to make it. When we were growing up my mother used to cook every Sunday. Whether it was brisket or chili or chicken soup, she would make something unforgettable and fragrant. I would sit on the floor of the kitchen wearing her blue terry cloth robe, that I acquired as my security blanket at a very young age, and watch her chop vegetables and clean chicken, cook meat and always prepare something nice for desert. Sundays were a day to sit down as a family and have comfort food. Real, comfort food with each bite you could taste the scents and textures that went into each chop, stir and mix.

So, here is a quick chili recipe that I really enjoy:

1 lb of ground turkey or beef

1 large onion chopped roughly

1 large can crushed tomato

1 jalapeno pepper chopped finely

1 yellow pepper chopped roughly

A few dashes of hot sauce (I like texas petes or red hot)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of black beans

Red pepper flakes

Tiny bit of cumin

Heat the olive oil up in a pot, add the chopped onions and peppers into the pot until the onion is translucent and the mixture smells like heaven. Add the meat and cook it on up until the meat is cooked through. Add the pepper flakes, jalapenos, hot sauce and crushed tomatoes. Mix it up. Take a whiff.

Open the cans of beans and wash them off. Dry them and add them to the pot. Put a touch of cumin in the mixture and turn the heat down low…let that mixture simmer for an hour or so, watch it get thick. Then let it cool. I like to make rice too and mix it together.

Don’t forget the following ingredients for toppings: sour cream, shredding cheddar and some salsa and chips on the side.

I like to make a pound of it and end up eating it for a few meals during the week. It is one of those foods that tastes just as good heated up the next day.

Plus, when it’s cool and breezy outside, and I’m in an office that looks nothing like my mother’s kitchen, heating up that chili, well it makes me feel a lot better.

Enjoy

lulu