Housekeeping: I have not been keeping up with format changes in WordPress and the result is that many of you can no longer make comments. I am working to fix this glitch and, given my technical and digital expertise, expect to have everything back to normal before the next presidential election.

January 19 – January 25, 2026

Monday:                  Chicken and Cabbage Salad with Miso-Sesame Dressing (no picture, but above you can see how much snow we got by looking at what Andrew calls the Weber Grill ‘Fez”. And yes, I should have taken out the screens by now.)

Tuesday:                  Ultimate Steak Chili

Wednesday:          Mini Meatloaves with Potatoes au Gratin

Thursday:                Dunnings Dinner

Friday:                      Shrimp Scampi with Crostini

Saturday:                Onion and Sausage Pizza

Sunday:                   Labriola’s Meatballs in Vodka Sauce with Olive Oil-Fried Bread

Ultimate Chili (with Beans)

I almost never put the featured recipe in the headline of the post, but the only other headline I could think of was, “Hey Tex, Put Some Beans in That There Pot.”  I just couldn’t do that to you – although, of course, I just did.  But at least it isn’t the headline of the post.

Pittsburgh, indeed, most of the country has been in a deep freeze for some time.  These conditions call for wood fires and comfort food and there is nothing much better than sitting around a wood fire, dining on chili while huddling with your honey.  Well, we weren’t huddling and we weren’t sitting around a wood fire, but we were near one, and my honey loves chili, and it’s really not possible to eat chili while hugging someone, so ust what are you suggesting?.

I had seen this beef forward recipe cooked by the manic Jeff Mauro on the Food Network and had been drawn to it except for the segment where he says that in ‘authentic’ Teas Chili there are no beans.  Not putting beans in the chili means that you’re eating steak with tomato sauce.  And while that can be very good, it’s not substantial enough – doesn’t have enough texture and ingredients for a comfort food. 

And while I’m not sure that ‘authentic’ Texas chili doesn’t have beans, I am sure that I don’t care how they cook their chili in Texas – I just care about cooking good food for SWMBO and sitting by her side while our pipes freeze and our heating bill soars. 

If you have a honey – or just some good folks to invite over – build a nice fire, serve this chili and have a good night.

The Ultimate Steak Chili

(adapted from Jeff Mauro)

Timing:                                           2 hours, 25 minutes

Ingredients:                                            6 servings

4 lbs. chuck eye roast, trimmed of excessive fat, cut into 1-inch pieces

(I could not find this cut, so we used a mixture of sirloin and top round)

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 teaspoons dried ancho chili powder (regular chili powder is fine)

1 tablespoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoons sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 jalapeños, ribs and seeds removed, diced

1 cup, crushed tomatoes

2 16 oz cans of cannellini beans, drained

6 cups hot beef stock, plus more as needed

2 limes, juiced

Tortilla chips or corn chips, sliced avocado, sour cream, chopped onion or scallion for serving.

Prep:

Trim and cut steak and season with salt and pepper, dice onions and jalapeños, mince garlic and measure out spices and warm beef stock.

Cook:

Preheat a large Dutch oven over medium-high (or a little lower), add the oil and the beef in two batches and cook until beef is browned on each side – about five minutes per batch.  NOTE: You want some space between the pieces of beef so that they caramelize, not steam.

Remove each batch of beef as it cooks to a platter.

Reduce heat to medium and add the chili powder, cumin, paprika and oregano to bloom in the oil – about a minute.  Now add the onions and season with salt and pepper and sauté until translucent, maybe 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and jalapeños and sauté until fragrant – maybe 30 seconds.

Now add the crushed tomatoes and the beef stock and put the seared steak back in the pot.  Lightly simmer, partially covered, until thick and rich – this will take about two hours.  For the last 10 minutes, add the two cans of cannellini.  Adjust the seasoning and add more stock if too thick.  Finish with lime juice – or garnish with lime wedges and serve with accompaniments (see list above).