Category Archives: Cooking

George Schils Photography. Also see the main photo page.

Cooking, Photography

Chili with fresh farmer’s market vegetables

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Here are some pictures that correspond to a chili that I made several months ago, during the summer. It was a Saturday and I had just bought many fresh ingredients, such as kale, Swiss chard, onions, and banana peppers from the farmer’s market. When I got back I made a fabulous chili discussed more below.

There is a nearly endless variety to the kinds of chilis you can make. I put just about anything in. Nearly every chili I make is different in some wah. During the summer months when the ingredients are available from the farmer’s market, my favorite things to put into chilis are chopped greens, such as kale and Swiss chard. The meal shown below has both kale and chard. Putting a few slices of (Kraft singles American) cheese is also great for chilis, and another fantastic variation would be to put in a can or two of cream of mushroom soup in place of the tomato sauce and beans. Adding a chopped garlic clove always helps, too. (I did not happen to have one at the time of this cooking.) I frequently “spice up” chilis, and the dish below has some chopped red banana jalapeno peppers; this warms it up nicely. I also spice up chilis with several chopped hot Thai chili peppers.

The chili shown below has chopped fried vegetables consisting of:

  • two kinds of onions
  • kale (purple)
  • Swiss chard
  • red banana peppers
  • mushrooms

There is nothing in this chili here that is high in cholesterol or unhealthy (that I know of). Putting in a few slices of cheese or a can or two of cream of mushroom soup would add an interesting taste but would diminish the health aspects.

See many nice pictures of this chili

Cooking

Nice roast with lumpy mashed potatoes

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I cooked a roast a while back and did not record a lot of details, but there is a picture of it below.

The meat was a little overcooked, but still tasted great. (I was probably busy blogging and did not check the meat as often as I should have.)

I never peel potatoes. I leave the skins on when making mashed potatoes. Of course I scrub them first. The potatoes aren’t mashed real well (I’m not a good masher), and you can see the butter and milk on them, along with the brown potato skin. To me, lumpy mashed potatoes taste just as good with the meat.

Cooking

December pork chop dish

I have never made a pork chop casserole before. Indeed, I have never made pork chops before either. They were on sale at the grocery store, so I embarked on another one of my fantastic forays into uncharted cooking territory.

I cooked this meal at around 300 degrees for just under 3 hours. Begin with pork chops, and chopped onions and potatoes. When it is near being done, mix in a can of seasoning soup and add a few slices of cheese. The meal sure tasted great!

  • I cooked it in an oven for 2-3 hours. But you can also microwave the dish, and this takes 15-20 minutes if you’re in a hurry. I did this the next day, and this same meal, cooked in a microwave, was also fantastic.
  • There were no special seasonings other than the cream of mushroom soup and the cheese. The cream of mushroom soup is one of the best seasoning ingredients you can find.

Read more on pork chops – including many nice photos

Cooking, Crude Notes

December end of millenium beef roast

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An End of the Millenium feast of feasts.

yes I boast
yes I roast
yes, I toast
to my animal roast

This is a December holiday meal that I made, thanks to the local grocer. Sirloin tip roasts were on sale for around $4 to $5, and adding the cost of onions, kale, and soup, one could boast a holiday meal like this (or even blog it) for around 6 to 8 bucks. It’s expensive, but it’s the holidays.

Continue reading December end of millenium beef roast →

Cooking, Fine arts, Photography

A chili with chopped vegetables, Bush beans, and sauce

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Here is another chili that I made fairly recently. Yes, the gourmet hamburger guy strikes again. I have blogged chili’s before and I plan on trying to record the better chilies I make. They are all a little different in some way. So get used to being bored to death with chilies.

I chopped some onions and kale for this dish. I am big on kale because it is healthy for the eyes. I try to fry in olive oil.

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Here is a tomato sauce from the local grocer, shown with other ingredients. This time, for the beans, I am using Bush’s “Grillin’ Beans”. This adds an interesting and zesty taste that is different from chili beans. I’m the “bean guy”, and I use all sorts of beans in chilies. This bean choice gives a nice taste. Hamburger shown below was on sale.

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Fry the hamburger. Pour off the fat.

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The veggies are coming along nicely.

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Well, after pouring off the fat from the fried hamburger, mix in the vegetables and beans.

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Then comes the tomato pasta sauce.

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And the final meal tastes incredible!

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Cooking, Fine arts, Photography

My first chuck roast

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This is the first chuck roast I have ever made and I am even writing a cooking column on it. It also has been around 20 years since I have made mashed potatoes. I ventured ahead and tried to make a masterpiece of a meal for relatively little money, and generally things were successful. I had olive oil on hand but had to go out and get some corn starch for the gravy.

Here meat is on sale marked down substantially. The chuck roast here is $2.38 / pound.

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Chop some vegetables and stir fry them in olive oil.

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Here they are coming along nicely.

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Shown below the meat is coming along nicely. Put in a little water as it cooks. Here I put in a little too much water. The runoff from the meat is for the gravy. Pour this runoff into a cup, skim off the fatty oil if you can, and then mix in some corn starch for a tasty gravy and for thicker substance.

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The potatoes are cut and boiled until soft. Then pour in some milk and use a masher to mash. I did not have any butter, but it is better to mix in some butter also.

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The final meal is shown below. Of course one cuts away the fat from the meat. The mashed potatoes  were a little lumpy, but for me this was still a great accomplishment.

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Cooking, Photography

A healthy vegetable sandwich on high fiber bread

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The picture below shows a sandwich that I made about a half a year ago. (I am a bit slow in getting some of my photography published.) The sandwich is on high fiber bread and I poured vegetable oil on the bread instead of butter. This is about the healthiest oil that you can get. Then there are a few leaves of raw but washed Kale. This is high in lutein and is good for the eyes. Then I sliced an onion and put on some sliced cucumbers and put on some alfalfa sprouts. This is about the best sandwich I have ever made. I normally do not eat this well. The pickles are making my mouth water now as I write this and I bought them on sale.

The olive oil adds a nice taste. The sandwich is quite tasty and very healthy.

Ironically after eating a super healthy meal like this, the next day one finds oneself eating a cheesy pizza and it almost nulls out the health effects.

Vegetable sandwith
Vegetable sandwith
Cooking, Photography

A September omelet with greens and peppers

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I don’t eat eggs really a lot but some eggs are probably considered healthy, and eggs can supply a form of lutein which is good for the eyes. Other ingredients here, such as the green “leafy” Swiss chard, is also good for the eyes. When I eat eggs I try to work out hard on my bike. I think cholesterol is a lot like putting “nitro” in a car engine: If you put it in your system, you should not just drive to church at 5 mph, but should try to push it a bit. I don’t know if I am right about this.

The ingredients were all obtained at the Madison farmer’s market.

The dish, pictorially depicted below, is an omelet that I made sometime in September 2009. I chopped some onions, jalapeno peppers, and some Swiss chard, and then pan fried in olive oil. It is really colorful and it a nice photo! Then mix in three eggs. The omelet was really good.

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Cooking, Photography

A chili with chopped vegetables

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This post begins a series on fine arts. I plan on publishing photos and techniques for some of my cooking.

Here is a chili I made recently.

Begin with some Swiss chard, two jalapeno banana peppers, some green stem onions, and mushrooms. Chop them as shown and fry them in olive oil in a pan. Then fry some hamburger. Mix in some chili beans and a tomato pasta sauce, and you have  a wonderful chili. The jalapeno peppers add a nice spicy zing to the dish. The photos below tell part of the story.

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The peppers were bought at the local farmer’s market. (Madison’s farmer’s market is one of the best in the nation.) They are organic, so I included the seeds with the chopped peppers. This makes the dish warm to hot. You can feel the slight burn of the peppers on your hands after you have finished eating!

The final meal was fantastic! I like hamburger and there is a lot you can do with it.