Daily Archives: September 11, 2006

Crock pot chili

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My wife is an outstanding cook. I’ve been trying to lose twenty pounds, but I can’t seem to do it. I’m convinced it’s all this delicious food she makes.

One of my favorites is her chili. She never makes it the same way twice, but every time it’s delicious. Lately she’s been making it with lower fat, but I haven’t noticed. I still stuff myself silly. Here’s the latest version:

  • 1½ lbs. ground turkey
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cans of tomatoes (28 oz.) – 1 diced, 1 crushed
  • 3 cans of beans (15 oz.) – pink kidney beans, white kidney beans, black beans
  • 4 tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 4 bay leaves
  1. Brown meat
  2. Cook chopped pepper and onion until soft
  3. Put all ingredients in Crock Pot on low for 4 hours

I enjoyed this latest concoction yesterday while watching the NFL’s opening Sunday. There were an awful lot of upsets yesterday, which screwed up my picks in the office pool, but, an afternoon spent watching football, eating this delicious chili, and enjoying a tasty pilsner is an afternoon well-spent (even if my Giants shot themselves in the foot).

Good Beer, In a Can

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Who said you can’t have good beer in a can? Certainly not Oskar Blues, makers of Dale’s Pale Ale. The hardest thing to get use to is drinking beer from a can again. (I say again, ‘cause in college, this seemed to be the only way to drink beer, if you could call it that.) I suggest, however, you don’t. Pour it in a glass to get the full aroma and taste that it has to offer.

dales-pale-ale_sm.jpgThe can itself is quite convenient. You can toss them in a cooler of ice and not worry about glass breaking, and they get cold very quick. They also protect against sunlight which can skunk a beer pretty quickly and minimizes oxidation which may add cardboard like off-tastes.
 
So how does it taste? Like I said, it’s good! It is good, but I’m not going bonkers over it. The first thing I noticed when I opened it is that it didn’t sound like opening a Bud Light. There was no “psssssssfffffft”, but that makes sense, as it is appropriately carbonated. It is very coppery in color and was very cloudy. The malt aroma is more pronounced than the hops, especially for a pale ale. The hops come through in the taste strongly, with a nice bitter taste.

It is good overall, but there is something that I don’t quite like about it; but, I can’t seem to put my finger on it. It has almost a slimy mouth feel and I still can’t come up with the words to describe the background taste, but it is something I’ve tasted before in my home brews. For a packaging that promises the best way to package beer, I seem to think it failed in my case.

Oskar Blues also makes Gordon and Old Chub in a can. I had the Old Chub about a year ago and remember liking it a lot. I think this beer definitely deserves a second chance at this year’s Oktoberfest.