Chili and Cornbread

Today was a busy day for me. I have my menu planned out for the month, and was thankful tonight's meal was chili since I could just throw everything together and let it simmer for a couple hours while I finished my baking. I have several chili recipes that I use, but I like the simplicity and little kick of this one. I tend to use a little less meat than most people so please add the amount you prefer.

For this recipe I brown my ground beef (I use about a 1/2 pound but you may want to add more). If there is much grease I drain it off and then add 1/2 a diced onion. After the onion softens I add my seasonings... 1 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic salt, and 4 tablespoons of chili powder. I mix it together with my meat and onions then add 2 1/2 cups of tomato sauce (or I'll puree stewed tomatoes), and add 1 or 2 (depending on how thick or soupy I want it) cans of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles. I then add beans (at least 2 15 oz. cans bean of your choice). I used what I had on hand which was black beans and pinto beans. I also like to toss in about 1-2 cups of corn.

While my chili is simmering I make my cornbread. I prefer a sweet cornbread with a cake-like texture, similar to Marie Calendars restaurant, so I go with...

1 cup cornmeal

3 cups flour

1 1/3 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup oil

1/3 cup of melted butter

2 tablespoons of honey

4 eggs, beaten

and 2 1/2 cups of whole milk

Baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes... sometimes a little longer.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Late last night I received a call from a friend letting me know a brother from church went home to be with the Lord. She asked if I would be able to make "something" to send over. It's the end of the month and my cupboards are looking a little scrawny, but I knew I could whip up something sweet.

I wanted to make several things, but in the end time won out and I only finished Tiramisu cupcakes and pumpkin bread.

To make the tiramisu cake batter I start with a white boxed cake mix. To the dry mix I add 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 egg, 1/2 pkg of instant pudding, and the ingredients on the cake mix box. Basically the reason for the extra ingredients is to extend my batter so I get more cupcakes.

To get the coffee flavor I want in the cake I add 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder (I used espresso which is a little stronger... Also, if you're like me and do not drink instant coffee but prefer fresh brewed... you can run your coffee beans or grounds in the coffee grinder until it's quite fine), 1/4 cup of brewed coffee, and 1-2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur such as Kahlua.

I needed quite a few cupcakes since this was for a "Going Home" memorial service/dinner.

While the cupcakes bake, I whip up my filling and frosting. I use a simple mascarpone filling consisting of an 8 oz. container of mascarpone cheese, 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, and 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur. I place the filling in the refrigerator to chill while I then make the frosting. My favorite frosting for this type of cake is a simple cream frosting (2 cups heavy cream, 1/4- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar) with a little coffee liqueur (2 tablespoons) thrown in for good measure. Since these cupcakes would be sitting out most of the day, and would not be refrigerated, I needed something with more stability that would not run the risk of spoiling or watering from exposure. I used a basic buttercream recipe for these cupcakes, but would still recommend the cream frosting instead.

I then fill a pastry bag with the filling and snip the tip off of the bag. I insert the tip in the cupcake and squeeze about a tablespoon of filling into the cake.

After wiping off the excess filling with a knife, I add a simple swirl of frosting onto each cupcake.

A sprinkle of cocoa powder (a sifter works great to sprinkle uniformly).

And a chocolate covered coffee bean.

And you have a tiramisu cupcake that is good enough to eat.

Which I did!