Tag Archives: food photography

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, 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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