menus, December 4, 2012

Everything you possess of skill, and wealth, and handicraft,
wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?”
― Rumi

In the (mumblety mum) years in which I've been messing about in the kitchen, I've embarked on many quests, and sometimes found the holy grail  I sought.

No, not like this one-

though the quests have sometimes involved flesh wounds

A kitchen grail quest is a search for the ultimate go-to recipe of its kind. The recipe that never lets you down, doesn't exhaust either your energy or your bank account, and makes you look like you're a rock star who knows how to cook for rock stars. The recipe that leaves you saying "I've found it! From now unto the end of time, this is our family's_________ recipe!"

Like these ones-

cue the ethereal music of successful discovery...

There they are. The recipes that mean I never have to hunt a brownie, or chocolate chip cookie or homemade bread or sugar cookie or popover or chocolate cookie or pasta sauce or meatball recipe again.

I can if I want to, but I don't have to.

And now I've decided to set out on a search for the holy grail of chili recipes.

To aide in the quest, I whistled out my inner research hound.

Well, not really. I can't whistle. But if  "research hound" can be a fictitious symbol of my nerdy compulsion to find-things-out, the whistle that summons it can be fictitious too. 

Chili, according to the dictionary, is a meat stew (I see those hands vegetarian chili lovers, I'll get to you in a paragraph or two.) with or without beans (hands down, bean haters), usually with tomatoes or tomato sauce and chilies.

According to Wikipedia, there's also some really juicy history in every bowl of chili!  Conquistadors, Aztecs, frontier settlers, San Antonio Chili queens and even Chicago Exposition of 1893! (history! food! Yay!) 

As with most venerable dishes, chili can spark some pretty err...heated..disagreements-beans vs no beans, no vegetables vs. vegetarian, chicken vs. beef...

There are so many variations, in fact, that I've decided to stage this quest as a playoff.

Like this:

So, from now until  I'm tired of this game, Thursday nights are chili nights around here. Candidates will be judged absolutely not impartially on taste, appearance, ease of preparation and cost. And, if any of you who live near want to come play, drop me a note on Thursdays to see if the week is still sailing on course- I could use some guest judges.

Here's what else we'll be eating this week:

Wednesday:  beef stew and greens

You know what's irresistable about this recipe? Those teeny bits of refrigerated biscuits on the top. So cute! I'll be using my mad new collard green skilz and put a little dark green vegginess alongside. And if you don't like cooking with beer, beef broth or tomato juice or V8 would be great substitutes.

Thursday: meatball chili

I'm thinking that meatballs in chili is wierd enough to place this recipe in the "everything else" division instead of the "all beef" division. I'll be making a big batch of these meatballs, using them twice more this week and freezing the rest. The recipe calls for frozen meatballs from the shop, and I confess that they're a nice alternative to the messy and time-consuming process of making your own. I've googled around, and there are lots of threads out there that can point you toward a good brand.

Friday: red sauce with meatballs and salad

Friends from far away come in tonight, and this is a great dinner to have waiting in the crock pot. Just boil up the pasta as the rest of the crew unloads the suitcases, and we've got dinner. Added bonus? The stupendous way the house will smell when we walk in the door from the airport. 

Saturday: chicken lasagna and green beans

My friend (see above) has requested lasagna. A special lasagna for a special tummy- one that rebels painfully at garlic and strong spices. So, we'll take a beef break and try this gentle little thing (and leave out the garlic).

Sunday: Minestrone soup and popovers

Watch and be amazed-  I've set Sunday up to be super easy-peasy:

The rest of friday's red sauce goes into the soup pot with some beef broth, a few of the leftover meatballs, and some fresh and/or frozen vegetables. Heat it up, sprinkle on some parmesan and, if you feel like it, make some popovers. You've got a beautiful, delicious soup in less time than it would take (me) to pick a restaurant. 

 The Rumi quote- it's a lovely mindspin, isn't it?

The idea that so much of what we hold dear in our lives began as a thought, or a quest.

And it's no accident that the word quest- to seek- is the source of our word question.

It's not surprising then that so many of our questions, even the itty bitty ones like "what's for dinner?" prove to be the beginning of a journey.

So I hope that this week you're able to ask yourself and the universe questions both large and small, safe and scary. And don't be too surprised if your questions lead you to quest- to think and wonder and hunt for things that astonish you.

 And I hope that no matter how thorny the questy path becomes, it leads you (eventually) to knowlege and grace and peace.

And everything else worth hunting for.