Big Food Small Budget

A homemade pot of chili is a great excuse to have some habanero peppers in your fridge. They have a bright, citrussy flavor and provide a delicious kick of spice to your chili. I also loaded my recipe with beef and black beans, which I love for their nutritional power and ability to stretch a meal. What brings this chili recipe home for me is simmering it for a couple hours. This lets the vegetables to break down and become part of the sauce. It also lets the ground beef break down a little and become almost meltingly tender. 2 lbs ground beef 4 Tbsp chili powder 2 onions, finely chopped 1 Tbsp oregano 2 ghost peppers 1 Tbsp cumin 1 red bell pepper 1/4 cup corn flour 4 beefsteak tomatoes 1.5 cups beef stock 1/4 tsp habanero chili powder 3 cups black beans 3 cloves garlic Working in batches, cook beef on medium high until browned. Remove from pan. Lower heat to medium, add onions, and cook until golden browned. Add ghost pepper, tomatoes, and bell pepper and cook, stirring until veget...

I can't for the life of me remember where I first heard of pimento cheese. I think I saw someone on youtube using it to make some kind of funky American cheeseburger. 843 youtube searches later though, and I can't find any evidence of this memory. Well, whether I'm going insane or have somehow transferred over from an alternate universe, my curiosity was piqued and I had to start making my own pimento cheese. 2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature, and softened 4 oz pimento peppers, drained, and finely chopped 2 Tbsp mayonnaise 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 habanero pepper, finely chopped Salt and pepper to taste In a large mixing bowl combine the cheddar, cream cheese, pimento peppers, mayonnaise, seasonings, and habanero. Using a fork or a stand mixer, beat the mixture until thoroughly combined. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed. If you added more salt and pepper, stir to inc...

My first experience with jerk spice was the happiest of happy accidents. While working through a BBQ cookbook one summer afternoon I saw a recipe for smoked jerked chicken. Although the jerk spice wasn't that involved, it did include habanero chili powder and the concept of the dish intrigued me. So, after much research I found a recipe I liked. And, after some experimentation I put together a recipe that works really well. 1 Tbsp onion powder 1 Tbsp garlic powder 2 tsp cayenne pepper 2 tsp salt 2 tsp pepper 2 tsp thyme 2 tsp sugar 1 tsp parsley 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp habanero chili powder 1/2 tsp chinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 cumin Measure ingredients into a small bowl and stir until thoroughly combined. Transfer the seasoning to a container with a tight fitting lid and store in a cool, dry place. This seasoinng mix is delicious on both chicken and pork and would provide a tasty, earthy base to a pork stew.

Making your own seasoning mixes is so easy and satisfying I can't believe I didn't start doing it years ago. I particularly enjoy being able to noodle around with a recipe and make it something uniquely my own. I also like eliminating undesirable ingredients like maltodextrin, modified corn starch, and MSG from my diet. And for extra home cooking bonus points, making a double or triple recipe lets you save the money you would have spent buying premade packages of seasonings. 2 Tbsp chilli powder 1 Tbsp chipotle chilli powder 3 tsp onion powder 3 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp sea salt 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp habanero chilli powder Add ingredients to a bowl and stir until thoroughly combined. Transfer the taco seasoning to a resealable container and store in a cool, dry place.