Put on 'em cowboy boots, it's chili time!

There is this one thing I am confused about. Is chili Mexican or Southern cooking? I guess the two are intertwined and inspired by each other so that there is no need to give one or the other the credit for this wonderful dish. Wherever it's from, chili is a wonderfully comforting dish! I have a handful of chefs and cookbook authors that shine a little extra bright in my food sky, and one of them is Jamie Oliver. A few years back he published his book Jamie's America, recalling his trips through this diverse and colorful country. In one chapter he had a recipe for a "Cowboy chili", full with the deep and heavy flavors of smoked paprika and coffee. Of course he'd cooked it in a cast-iron pot over a wood fire and served it to some hungry ranchers. I bet he wore a flannel shirt and cowboy boots while making it too, in order to make a bit of a show (it became a TV-series too). I do own a flannel shirt, but unfortunately I don't think a wood fire in my apartment would go well with the tenant and the only hungry person I had to feed was myself, but yesterday I cooked up a chili worthy of having Cowboy in it's name anyway. Wonderfully deep flavors and easy to make, this dish will hopefully speak to the cowboy I know you have living deep down inside you!

You may be skeptical about having coffee in food, but trust me that in the case of chili it lends a great roasted, robust and earthy flavor. I used a fairly weakly brewed coffee (I live in the US after all...) so if your coffee is very strong you might want to substitute some of it for water. Simply add a bit a time and taste as you go. When you're satisfied, add water if needed. When it comes to the smoked paprika, this can vary greatly in smokiness. I've realized that the bran I use has quite a mild smoke flavor and I therefore used the larger amount. So depending on your paprika and how smoky you like things, add a bit at a time of this too.

2 big servings (I may not be a rancher, but I eat as one)

1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp. cumin
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. coriander
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. chili flakes (more or less to taste)
400 g crushed tomatoes
2 dl coffee (quite weak)
1 tbsp. dark syrup or molasses
1 dl sweet corn
2 dl cooked beans of your choice
1 bell pepper
Salt & pepper

Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Heat a skilled to medium heat and add a lug of oil. Add all the spices and fry for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the onion and garlic, lower the heat and sauté until the onion is soft, for about 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile cut the bell pepper in pieces, whichever shape and size you prefer. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for at least 20 minutes under a lid, so that the flavors can mingle. Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve the chili with some cornbread (recipe is on its way!) or rice or grains. Eat with your cowboy hat on.

Painting with allspice and caraway

I have for a long time been interested in Middle Eastern and North African cooking. I love how these cuisines are densely packed with flavors. Learning how to combine all the necessary spices is like learning to paint. Like making different shades by mixing different color, you can bring out all the nuances of flavor by combining spices in the right way. In cooking this kind of food, I still feel like a novice though. Like the art students sitting at museums making sketches of the big masterpieces. But the more you practice the better you get. This time I used chickpeas and pearl couscous as my canvas in a stew spiced with allspice and caraway. The couscous is cooked in the stew making is almost risotto-like. Make sure to use pearl couscous (moghrabiah) and not the fine kind. You can also substitute the couscous for grains, although this will increase the cooking time. Serve the stew with flatbreads and garnish with mint leaves, pomegranate seeds and roasted nuts.

(Turns out that I need a bit more practice with drawing Middle Eastern patterns and designs too. Sorry about the not so beautiful picture for this recipe. Trust me in that it's worth trying despite that though!)

You can use canned chickpeas. In that case, use about 2 dl and add them to the couscous and onions together with the other ingredients that make up the broth.

Two big servings (or small ones with leftovers)

1 dl dried chickpeas

8 dl water

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

½ + ¼ tsp. allspice

2 tsp. salt

½ yellow onion

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp. caraway seeds

1 dl pearl couscous

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. lime juice

Salt and pepper

Soak the chickpeas over night.

The next day, drain the chickpeas and add them to a pot together with the water, ½ tsp. allspice, the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and salt. Bring to a boil and allow the chickpeas to simmer until they’re tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion and chop the garlic. Heat a pan to medium head and add a good lug of oil. Add the onion, garlic, remaining allspice and caraway seeds to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes union the onion has started to brown. At this point, add the couscous and flour and fry for another 2 minutes. Pour the broth and chickpeas in the pan and let simmer under a lid for about 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the pearl couscous is cooked through.

Serve with pomegranate seeds, mint leaves and roasted nuts.