The Secret Recipe Club - Crispy Eggplant, Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

We are so excited because this is our first month joining the Secret Recipe Club.  This is how it works.  A large group of blogs are assigned another blog in which they need to make a recipe from.  It's a secret! We can't tell anyone whose blog we have been assigned.  Once we choose a recipe we re-create it and then all the blogs post their recipes on the same day. We then get to see who had our blog and see what recipe from our blog they decided to make.  It's a great way to get to know new foodie friends!  This month we were assigned to JBean Cuisine.  I loved all of her delicious recipes and her use of spices that most people don't use very often.  A South East Asian Cuisine theme runs throughout her blog which was exciting since I absolutely LOVE Indian and Thai spices and flavors.  Although funny enough I chose a recipe that was very simple and straight forward because I knew my husband would love it and also I thought it would take a really pretty picture.  There's nothing wrong with wanting a pretty picture to display is there?  Here is The Perfect Stack......Delicious cripsy eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil. YUM!

The Perfect Stack:

Crispy Eggplant, Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 small eggplant
1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced in half
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 – 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium tomato, sliced into 1/4 inch slices (or however thick you like)
3 slices of mozzarella, about 1/4 of a ball, sliced into desired thickness
3 small leaves of basil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar reduction
1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)

TIP:  To make the balsamic reduction, simply heat 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Allow the vinegar to reduce by half, or until it coats the back of a spoon **

Preparation:

For the Eggplant:

Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch slices.  Rub both sides of the eggplant slices with garlic cloves (switch garlic halves about half-way through).

Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant with salt and pepper.

Place flour in a shallow bowl. One by one, place each piece of eggplant into the flour, press down lightly to coat the eggplant evenly.  Tap lightly to remove extra flour.

Heat a large frying pan (or sauté pan) over medium-high heat.  Add the oil and heat until glistening.

Add the eggplant slices and pan-fry for 2-3 minutes per side.  Keep careful watch as not to burn them.  If they brown too quickly, lower the heat.

Flip each slice over and cook the other side, until nice and crisp (and golden brown).

Remove from frying pan and place on paper towel to drain off excess oil.

To Assemble the Salad:

Place a piece of the fried eggplant on your plate, top with a slice of tomato, then 1 slice of mozzarella and top that with 1 leaf of basil.  Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used up.

Drizzle the salad with the balsamic vinegar and 1 TBSP of olive oil (if desired).

Enjoy!

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sunday #19

Well we are 19 weeks in on our Sharing Sundays and we are really loving all the fantastic recipes that we've seen over the past several months.  It's like having our own little personal recipe index!  It really has been so much fun. We would love to see what themes you are interested in, hopefully something we haven't  thought of yet.  So for this week when you link up please post a comment about what kind of themes you would like to see and we will make up a schedule of themes for the next few months.  Now on to this week's theme which is SWEET and SAVORY!  Please post recipes that contain both sweet and savory ingredients. 

Our Rules:

1.  Please become a follower of our blog.

2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Now here are the featured recipes from last week's Asian cuisine theme.....

Homemade Chicken Eggrolls by Angelgirlpj




Kung Pao Chicken by The Lady Behin the Curtain




Fried Rice by Everyday Mom's Meals

General Tso's Chicken by A Spoonful of Thyme















Chicken Lettuce Wraps by Little Mommy Big Appetite


Next on to those delicious SWEET and SAVORY recipes.........

Jack-O-Lantern Sweet Potato Fries

I saw this recipe posted on the The Family Kitchen and I thought it was the cutest thing.  I was also happy to see something heathly with a Halloween theme.  I sat with my kids and we had so much fun making these.  I used the sharp knife to cut into the sweet potato pumpkins and they used a two pronged fork to pop out  the shapes.  It was definitely time consuming but the result is super cute.  I would suggest maybe using one potato to make jack-o-lanterns and then just make plain "faceless" pumpkins out of the second potato to help speed up the process.

Ingredients:

2 very large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Preparation:

Prehat oven to 400 degrees F.  Choose sweet potatoes that are round and fat and are fairly even all around.  Peel the skin from both sweet potatoes. Slice the tip ends from the sweet potato, leaving the thickest part of the middle. Use a sharp knife to cut a small “V” shape in the center of the sweet potato. Slice the sweet potato into 1/8″ thin slices. Use a small, sharp knife to “carve” jack-o-lantern faces into each sweet potato slice. Put "jack-o-lanterns", olive oil and spices in plastic ziploc bag.  Place the sweet potato fries on a cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes, or until barely golden brown around the edges.

Carve "v" shape arcross the  top of your sweet potato

Slice 1/8" thick to make little pumpkin shapes

With a sharp paring knife cut out a Jack-O-Lantern face on each pumpkin slice

Toss in a bag with oil and spices and lay flat on a greased cookie sheet

Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes until just starting to get golden brown on edges

Linked to Strut your Stuff Saturday

Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos

Linked to Made it on Monday by Lark's Country Heart

Beef Teriyaki by Sharon

I LOVE this recipe.  My friend Sharon makes it often.  She brought it to my house for a potluck dinner I had with friends and it was a big hit.  I'm always amazed at how easy the recipe is.  She serves it with rice on the side.  You can also make this with chicken or shrimp if you prefer.  I love the steak!

Ingredients:

1 pound of steak (chicken or shrimp can be used too)
1 red pepper
1 large onion
1/2 of fresh pineapple
1/2 cup of terriyaki sauce (I use Soy Vey brand)

Preparation:

Thinly slice steak, pepper and onion. Slice pineapple into 1 inch cubes.  On high heat and in small batches, coat the bottom of the pan with oil and fry the vegetables, pineapple, and steak. Right before you are about to pull the food out of the pan, coat the food with the terriyaki sauce.  Let the sauce get sticky and caramelized and then pull the food out of the pan.  Serve with white rice.

Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's Butternut Squash and Apple Soup.  We've made quite a few changes and additions so if you are interested in the original recipe please go here.  Nanci and I made this soup of our last catering event and we served it in small 3 oz espesso coffee cups with a piece of Rosemary Biscotti with Dried Cranberries.  The soup is amazing on it's own and I love serving it in a cup for my guests to make drinking soup so much easier and portable.  Our sister, Susan usually makes this soup for Thanksgiving (minus the cream because she's kosher) and it's always a huge hit!  Last year we served it with Karen's mini cranberry muffins but this year we are serving the biscotti.

**NOTE -  We do not suggest that you serve the biscotti in the soup as pictured above.  The hot soup softens the biscotti very quickly and the cookie ends up breaking off in the bottom of the soup cup which makes it very difficult to drink if you don't have a spoon! 

It does make for a pretty picture though.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon mild curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 large butternut squash

2 tablespoons honey

2 large sweet apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 - 3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Split butternut squash in half, scoop out seeds.  Drizzle olive oil over the inside of the butternut squash, sprinkle with salt and pepper and then drizzle with honey.  Place face down (skin side up) on a lined  baking sheet and roast in oven for about 35-40 minutes.  In a large stock pot add olive oil and butter, heat until melted and add in onions, curry powder and cumin.  Cook over low heat stirring often about 15-20 minutes until onions become soft.  Remove butternut squash from oven and carefully scoop out flesh and add to the stock pot with the onions.  Next add apples and 2 cups of chicken stock, stir and bring to a boil. Cover and let cook over medium/low heat for about 30-40 minutes.  Uncover and puree using an immersion blender.  Add an additional 1/2 cup - 1 cup of chicken stock and stir to combine.  Lastly add heavy cream, stir to combine.  Serve hot.

Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos
Linked to Totally Tasty Tuesdays
Linked To Holiday Sweet Swap

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #18

This week's theme is ASIAN cuisine Please link up any of your favorite Asian recipes to share with everyone!!

Our Rules:

1.  Please become a follower of our blog.

2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Here are a few of the featured recipes from last week!  Thank you to everyone who took the time to link up. 

Italian Style Chicken Noodle Soup by Lisa's Dinnertime Dish

Welsh Cakes by Cook Lisa Cook

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies by Meg's Everyday Indulgence

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

by The South Padre Island Flip Floop Foodie

Sawdust Pie by The Sweet Swiper

Now on to this week's recipes!!! Let's see your Asian inspired recipes!!

Mini Potato Pancakes with Carmelized Apples

The perfect little bite! 

Why make potato pancakes and dip them in applesauce or in sour cream when you can just make a mini one with both.  You get the savory crispy potato pancake with a sweet apple topping and then a nice creamy contrast with the sour cream.  This was another appetizer that Nanci and I served at our last catering event and it was a HUGE hit.  We hope you try them too.

Ingredients:

for potato pancakes:
3 russet potatoes, grated
3 russet potatoes, processed in the food processor
1 onion, processed in food processor
1 cup pancake mix
2 teaspoons salt

for carmelized apples:
2 firm, tart apples such as Gala, Granny Smith, julienned (into thin matchsticks)
3 tablepsoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

For the potato pancakes, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease mini muffin tins generously with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine prepared potatoes and onions with pancake mix and salt.  Spoon mixture into mini muffin tins until about 2/3 - 3/4 full.   Bake in oven about 25 minutes or until the sides and bottoms of potatoes are golden brown.  Remove from oven and carefully remove each potato muffn and place bottom side up on a flat clean surface.  Using a few paper towels press down potato "muffin" lightly to form a little pancake.  Flip back over so the lighter side is face up and place back on a baking sheet.  Put back in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes to brown other side of pancake.

For caramelized apple topping, melt butter in a saucepan on stove over medium heat.  Add brown sugar and stir to combine.  Next add apples and cinnamon.  Stir apples in brown sugar mixture and boil over med/hi heat for about 7 minutes until apples are coated and the brown sugar mixture thickens into a caramel.  Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble, top each potato pancake with about a teaspoon of the apple mixture.  Place a small dollop of sour cream on top of the apples and sprinkle with chopped scallions to garnish if desired.

Mini Apple Crisp with Salted Caramel

I created this recipe for the Improv Cooking Challenge.  This month's ingredients are apples and caramel.  I decided to make these non-dairy (Parve) as a dessert for Susan's Rosh Hashana dinner.  I was amazed how the non-dairy version of this caramel sauce came out delicious so if you are Kosher or do not eat dairy this caramel sauce is excellent.  If you prefer to  make a dairy version of these just substitute the margarine for butter and the non-dairy creamer for heavy cream.

Ingredients:

30 Athens Mini Phyllo Shells (sold in the frozen dessert section of your supermarket)

3 McIntosh Apples, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 cup water

For Salted Caramel:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup non dairy creamer -coffee rich (can substitute heavy cream if you want a dairy caramel)

2 tablespoons of non-dairy margarine (can substitute butter if you want a dairy caramel)

1 teaspoon of coarse salt

For Crisp:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup of non-dairy margarine (can substitute butter for a dairy crisp)

1/3 cup brown sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line Phyllo Shells on a lined baking sheet.  You can spray baking sheet lightly with non-stick cooking spray to ensure they don't stick or use a Silpat liner. 

Place chopped apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the apples just start to get soft and breakdown.  Turn off heat and set aside

Next, prepare the caramel sauce.  Place sugars, non-dairy creamer and margarine in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan.  Stir and bring mixture to a low boil stirring occasionally.  Cook caramel until all the sugar is dissolved and sauce begins to thicken, about 10-15 minutes.  Take off heat and sprinkle in salt, stir to incorporate, set aside.

Next, prepare the crisp topping.  Combine, flour, oats, sugar and margarine in a medium bowl.  cut margarine into the sugar, flour mixture using 2 knives or a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Now you are ready to assemble the mini apple crisps.  Spoon a small amount of caramel sauce in the bottom of each Phyllo Shell.  Next spoon about a teaspoon of the apple mixture into each Phyllo Shell.  The apple mixture should come up to the top of the shell.  Next using your hands take a big pinch of the crisp topping and place on top of each mound of apples.  It's okay if you press the mixture together so it's easier to handle and "mold". 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  They are done with the topping is lightly brown and the apple mixture begins to bubble. 

Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool a little bit.  Drizzle extra caramel sauce on the top of each apple crisp.  I think they taste best if they are served warm but they are delicious fully cooled too.

Linked to Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Risotto Cakes

I saw Ina Garten make risotto cakes on her show and I knew I had a big container of untouched risotto in my cabinet so I decided to give these a try.  I didn't follow Ina's recipe but I loved the addtion of fresh chives (my favorite herb).  The only annoying thing about making these is that you need to let the risotto chill in the refrigerator overnight.  I think this is a really important step so unless you have left over risotto from the night before this isn't something you can just whip up on a whim.  But if you have time to plan this is a really yummy recipe.  It's great for lunch or a light dinner or I'm thinking about making them as a side for brunch one day.

Ingredients:

1 cup aborio rice, uncooked

1/2 cup of chopped onions

3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-2 tablespoons of fresh chives, chopped

Plain Panko bread crumbs

Preparation:

To make the risotto first heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.  Add chopped onion and cook for about 2 minutes until translucent.  Next add the dry aborio rice and sautee with the onions for a few minutes.  After liquid is absorbed add another 1/2 cup of stock and repeat until all 3 cups of stock is used up and the rice is tender.  Remove from heat and place risotto in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.  Once risotto is chilled add eggs, salt and chives to risotto and mix to combine.  Heat oil in a large skillet.  Place panko bread crumbs in a shallow bowl.  Begin to make patties with about 1/3 cup of risotto mixture using your hands.  Coat risotto patty in bread crumbs and cook in oil over med/hi heat until golden brown on both sides.  Drain on paper towel to soak up excess oil and sprinkle with additional salt if desired.  You can keep risotto cakes warm in a low oven (250 degrees F.) until ready to serve.  Serve hot  with a side salad for lunch or use risotto cakes as a side dish for any meal.

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #17

This week's theme is NO THEME!!! Please link up any of your favorite recipes to share with everyone!!

Our Rules:

1.  Please become a follower of our blog.

2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Here are the featured soup, stew and chili recipes from last week!  Thank you to everyone who took the time to link up. 

Wendy's Style Chili by Comfy Cuisine

Dove's Nest White Chili by Aunt Nubby's Kitchen

Zucchini Soup by Baking Me














Dutch Cheese Soup by A Spoonful of Thyme

















Split Pea Soup by Everyday Mom's Meals

Pecan Chicken Bites

These little chicken nuggets are packed with flavor and texture.  The combination of using crushed honey mustard pretzels and chopped pecans make a nice crunchy coating while the mustard marinade adds extra flavor while keeping the chicken nice and moist.  These are a great pass around appetizer for any cocktail party.

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken breasts cut into nuggets (about 2 inch pieces)

6-8 oz pecans chopped finely

2 cups of Snyder's honey mustard pretzel pieces crushed in food processor

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a bowl mix together chopped pecans and ground pretzels, set aside.  In a food processer add oil, mustards, honey, water and vinegar and pulse until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place into a Ziploc bag. Pour 1/2 of mustard mixture over chicken and seal bag. (reserve other half of sauce for dipping later) Toss all the chicken pieces with mustard mixture. Place ground pretzels and pecans into a bowl. Take chicken pieces one by one and coat in pretzel mixture. Place in signle layer on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, turning over after 10 min.  Serve on skewers for easy dipping!

Classic Deviled Eggs

I never made deviled eggs before.  I always thought it was sort of old fashioned and pase' but I think I was wrong.  Deviled Eggs are a "classic" appetizer not old fashioned.  For my first try I just made very simple, straight up "classic" deviled eggs and I served them as one of the appetizers for a small family dinner I had last week at my house.  These little eggs were GONE in minutes!  This is also a very quick, easy appetizer to make if you need something last minute especially since most people always have eggs, mayo and some type of white vinegar on hand.  I can't wait to experiment and see what other types of deviled egg recipes I can come up with.

Ingredients:

6 hardboiled eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (you can really use any type of white vinegar)

salt, pepper, paprika, chives to taste

Preparation:'

Split hard boiled eggs in half and carefully remove yolks and place in a small bowl.  To the yolks add mayo, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Mix with a fork until very well blended.  Put yolk mixture into a pastry bag with a round or star tip (or just use a ziploc bag and snip a small amount off of one corner).  Pipe about 1-2 tablespoons of egg yolk mixture into each egg shell.  Once all the eggs are filled with the yolk mixture sprinkle the tops with paprika and some chives.  You can make these several hours in advance and chilll them in the refrigerator utnil ready to serve. 



Baked Brie Bites

 Super quick and easy appetizer that tastes SUPER delicious.   This is one of the appetizers that Nanci and I  are serving at our next catering event.  We are doing an appetizer dinner that will consist of all pass around hors d' oeurves.  We have been testing recipes for what feels like weeks to make sure everything is perfect and delicious before the event.

Ingredients:

30 Athens Mini Phyllo Shells (sold in the frozen dessert section of your supermarket)

1/2 lb brie cheese

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degree F.  Arrange Phyllo Shells on a baking sheet.  Toast almonds in a small dry skillet over medium heat until the nuts are a light golden brown.  Watch the pan the whole time and move nuts around constantly so you don't burn them, set aside to cool.  Next, cut the rind off the brie and divide into 1 inch cubes (about 1 teaspoon).  Place each cube of brie into a Phyllo Shell.  Next put about a 1/2 teaspoon of apricot preserves on top of the brie.  Lastly, top the preserves with a few almond slices.  Put in hot oven and bake until cheese is melted about 4-5 minutes. (start checking around 3 minutes since every oven is different).  Serve hot!

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #16

Autum is finally here and the weather is getting cooler.  It's time to break out all those comforting soup, stew and chili recipes!  That is the theme this week for Sharing Sundays! SOUPS, STEWS and CHILI!  Please link up your favorite recipes to share with everyone.  I know I'm always looking for something new to make.

Our Rules:
1.  Please become a follower of our blog.
2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

The pumpkin recipes from last week were fantastic......Here are a few highlights!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls by The Kitchen Cookie


Pumpkin Coffee Cake by Crumbs and Chaos


Fall Harvest Pasta by Carol - Pampered Chef


Pumpkin Fluff by Everyday Mom's Meals


Can't Leave Em Alone Bars: Pumpkin Addition
by The 4 Little Fergusons


Now Let's See those SOUPS, STEWS and CHILI recipes!!

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Cocoa Frosting

This is a fantastic chocolate cake recipe. It's from Susie Fishbein's Kosher Palette Cookbook.  Our family has made it a hundred times but typically as a bundt cake.  I've never made it into cupcakes though so I wanted to give it a try and it was still perfect! It was originally a non-dairy recipe but I used regular milk because it didn't matter if it was dairy or not when I was making it.  If you prefer non dairy, just substitute the milk for non-dairy creamer or soy milk.  This cake is super moist and chocolately and not too sweet which is great because this frosting recipe is super sweet!  Perfect combination!



Ingredients:

2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup boiling water

Frosting:
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl, stirring until well blended. Add milk, oil, vanilla and eggs; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Fold in boiling water with a spoon or rubber spatula. (the batter will be very thin and runny) Pour into cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For frosting: with electric mixer, beat together melted butter and cocoa powder until combined and smooth.  Add milk and vanilla, beat until throughly mixed.  Now add powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

Cool cupcakes completely before frosting!

Frito Chili Pie

I found this recipe on Eat Cake for Dinner.  The original recipe is from Pioneer Woman and it's a really delicious homeade chili recipe served in Frito bags.  I've never seen this before and I thought it was such a great idea.  I was already planning to make chili for dinner so I opted for this version and it was a HUGE hit.  The kids and my husband really loved it although none of them would take more than one bite out of the bag, which is the fun part! They all just dumped it out into a bowl and mixed the fritos in with their chili.  After dinner was over I looked back at the Pioneer Woman's recipe and realized that I forgot to add the shredded cheese.  Honestly, it wasn't missed at all.  The chili is so good on it's own and aren't the fritos fattening enough? ;) I also substituted black bean for the pinto beans because I LOVE black bean chili.  I thought the chili was fairly spicy but no one in my family including the kids said a word about it being too spicy so I kept quiet.  I think this is a must try chili if you haven't found a really good chili recipe yet.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 can tomato sauce

1 can of Rotel tomatoes and chiles

1 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 cup water

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons masa or fine ground cormeal

Preparation:

In a large stockpot brown ground beef until no longer pink.  Drain excess fat.  Add in tomato sauce and Rotel tomatoes and chiles and mix to combine.  Now add oregano, salt, cumin and chili powder and mix well.  Add 1/2 cup of water to pot, stir and cover.  Let simmer on low for about 30 minutes.  Uncover pot and add drained and rinsed beans (add additional water, up to 1/2 cup if chili looks very thick).  Recover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.  Mix masa with a little water, it should look like a grainy, wet paste.  Pour into chili and stir to combine.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

To serve:

Turn Frito bags on their sides and make a slit across the bag using a scissor.

Spoon chili directly into each Frito bag.  You can use a basket to keep them upright.

                                                                    Serve and Enjoy!

Linked to Cast Party Wednesday

Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos