We usually do the vegetarian chili thing on cold wintery nights, but when Rebecca mentioned it the other day, how could we not make it?  And while it hasn’t exactly been spring here in good ol’ New Jersey, it’s not winter either.  We’ve been stuck in 40-50 degree weather for these last few weeks with the exception of a random 85ish day thrown in there.

I know when people hear vegetarian they, more than likely, think of something bland; this chili recipe is far from bland.  I think even if I did the meat thing, I’d prefer this chili.  The recipe is from The Way the Cookie Crumbles and it is one of the few recipes that I haven’t really put my own spin on (with the exception of adding a different vegetable or two).  It’s that damn good.

So here we go, the ingredients.

And in list format:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1½ teaspoons ground coriander
• ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ? teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• Some garnishes: cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, cilantro, etc.

First up, you’re going to combine the oil, peppers, onions, garlic and dry spices together in a large pot.  Saute this mixture on medium heat for a good 10-15 minutes.  We typically like our peppers a bit on the firm side, so I usually stay around the 10 minute mark.

Eventually this mixture will be somewhat brown from the cooking, the onions sweating and the spices.  Once brown, throw in the rest of your ingredients with the exception of the butter — tomatoes, beans and soy sauce.

We had some leftover peas in the freezer so I decided to throw them in the mix.  Honestly?  They didn’t do much for the chili — didn’t make it taste better nor did it taste worse.  At times, I’ve also added frozen corn to the mix.

Once you have everything together, turn up the heat to about medium-high.  You’ll want to bring this to a boil and once there, turn down the heat to low.  Cover and cook for a solid hour; stirring occasionally.

The butter?  Throw it in the mix right before serving.  It gives it a bit more of a richness flavor.  This time around, I didn’t use the butter as I felt the chili wasn’t lacking any richness.

That picture above?  Yeah, not mine.  I’m guessing my memory card wasn’t sitting right in the camera as I was snapping away.  Oops.  So the final product above is courtesy of The Way the Cookie Crumbles (thanks!).

As usual, we’re linking this up to What I Ate Wednesday at Peas and Crayons!

Best baked potato soup.  Ever.

To be honest, I was always skeptical of baked potato soup.  Rebecca would rave about it and me?  I’d just be all, well, meh.  But then I had the baked potato soup at Houlihan’s.  It was very good; I had no idea soup could be something so great.  However, at the end of the day (or after using the toilet, whatever you prefer(hey, we’re friends, right?)) there was still something a bit off about it — the soup had too much of a creamy feel.  I actually wanted more potatoes in that thing.

A week or so ago, I discovered a baked potato soup recipe at The Curvy Carrot.  I admit; at first I shrugged it off thinking it was just another creamy attempt at the soup.  But then!  Then I saw that the crispy goodness on top wasn’t bacon and the recipe sucked me in!  Turns out that the crispy pieces on top are actually the skins from the baked potato!  What a fantastic idea!

And so on Sunday, I decided to make it.  To quote The Curvy Carrot, ‘Enjoy this recipe.  It’s a keeper.’  Amen.

Soup ingredients:

• 5 russet potatoes, scrubbed well and dried
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used salted butter and then used less salt than listed below)
• 1/2 cup flour; divided into two 1/4 cup portions
• 6 cups of whole milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream (for garnish — Rebecca didn’t use any)

Crispy potato skins ingredients:

• Reserved potato skins (from the potatoes above)
• Oil for brushing
• Salt+Pepper+any other spices you’d like to use (I added some hot pepper)

First thing is to get those potatoes cooked.

I poked some holes in each of the potatoes, sprinkled them with some salt+pepper, and then placed them in a preheated over at 400 degrees.  These things cooked for about an hour until fully cooked and softened. Once they were fully cooked, I let them cool a bit so I could work with them — roughly 45 minutes or so.

Once cooled, I sliced each potato into two pieces.  I carefully peeled back the skins and placed them back in the pan.  Half of the potato insides went into one bowl, while the other half went into another.

The first bowl got mashed pretty good.  The second bowl got cut into bitesize pieces.

The skins got brushed with some oil.  I then sprinkled a bit more salt+pepper on them, as well as some red pepper flakes.   I put these in the over at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until they were plenty crispy.  Check these often; you don’t want to burn them.

From here it was on to make the soup.  In a large dutch oven on medium heat, I melted the butter and then added 1/4 cup flour into the butter.  This mixture was wisked like crazy until it was lightly golden brown — maybe 3-4 minutes for me. I slowely added the milk and again wisked like crazy. After this was mixed came the rest of the flour; as well as some more wisking!  This was cooked until the liquid started to get thickened.  The original recipe said this took about 8 minutes.  It took me about 12-15 until it started to get thick.

Once thick, I added the mashed potatoes.  I stirred this well until completed mixed.  This mixture was followed by the bitesize potato pieces and some stirring.   Added some more pepper as well as the cheddar cheese.  Once the cheese was fully melted into the soup, we were good to eat!

I topped my soup off with some green onions and some sour cream.  Rebecca passed on the sour cream.  And then came the best part!  The crispy potato skins!  Mmm.

Once again, we are linking this post up to What I Ate Wednesday at Peas & Crayons!