Where have I been?

Heya folkies,

I've been meaning to revise that hello line, I'll see what I can come up with next time. In any case, I've not forgotten about my duties here, there has just been so much going on!

To be honest, my health has been taking priority. I've had to deal with a lot this year, dealing with MS has been a real challenge these past few months, and I've not had a lot I could post. I did get some work done with my cast iron that has been in the lye bath for months, and I'll get some good photos of those soon.

There isn't much to say about the chili stuff right now. I am doing my best to come up with some new stuff for it, likely something to do with Mole, and some hot sauce as well.

I wish I had more to say about things, but I am afraid I'll have to ask you to be patient until I have dealt more readily with this current health crisis. My best to you all!

-Kim

Just Tonight's Dinner

I love Cast Iron, as you know, so I made tonight's dinner in cast iron. It is a seasoned hamburger that I cooked like a steak, by searing on both sides and then cooking in the oven for a few mins, then letting it rest, then cooking it a little more through on the stovetop.

I've prepared this one with spinach leaves, white onion, and an Árbol Chile Mayonnaise made of freshly ground Árbol Chiles, nested on Sourdough Bread. Here's a photo:

There is more happening with the Chili Company, more on that later, though. I'm making some videos, and I also update the facebook page as much as I can, which isn't as easy as it sounds, but I am doing so! :) I'm also starting the website, though right now I don't have anything but a placeholder there. If you want to see the placeholder, visit: http://www.mdcchili.com. 

See you next time! :)

-Kim

Mar De Cortês Chili Co.

Hi everyone!

I know its been ages. It feels like ages. But I do have news for you! Not a lot of content to this post, but some news. I know I mentioned my visit to the Chicago Food Film Festival in my last entry. What I didn't tell you is what has occurred since then:

I've started up a facebook page as a startup spicy foods business called Mar De Cortés Chili Co. You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/mdcChili and will learn a lot of nifty things about my projects.

This is a startup site. I have no idea how long it will take me to actually get the small business off the ground, with all the things that are involved with building a food business, like food handling permits, finding a commercial kitchen to use for health code reasons, getting my sanitation certificates again, and finding a means to jar/bottle things and sell them.

I plan to start out at Farmer's Markets with some basic things: Chili, Salsa, and Hot Sauce. Yes, that's right, I've started to make hot sauces! Go figure! Of course my first venture into hot sauce was a semi-sweet ghost pepper sauce, which you'll read about and see more of on the actual site.

Really, with this entry, I am mainly announcing this to you all so that you can go visit and learn more, and please share share SHARE! :) I'm a little less sporadic posting there than I am here, but as this site is more about general cooking than specialized cooking, I don't want to flood this blog with things more appropriate on MDC.

Please visit and like and share! For those of you who use google+, the link is:
https://plus.google.com/118197242320852580992/videos

Please enjoy, and give me all the feedback you can through those pages! :)

All my love,

-Kim

So what have I been up to? Oddly enough, I'm doing well in this down season. I got to go to the Chicago Food Film Festival as a V.I.P. thanks to knowing one of the film makers, who did a great film on New Mexico's Chile Growers and the economy and attitudes about continuing the farming of these most excellent chiles.

I got to meet Lee Ann Whippen from Chicago Q restaurant, and of BBQ Pitmasters fame, and sample some of her amazing bbq.

I ended up going for the last 3-4 days of the festival (I can't remember when it ended... but the post-film parties and tastings were terrific, even for someone like me, with social anxiety. I found some safe space and managed to do ok, and we didn't stay too long at the parties.

This year I also went to a "Friendsgiving" get together that our friend Sarah puts on each year, and I made my salsa from the previous year, which again was met with high acclaim. (Sorry I don't have a photo of that!) I also tried out a new recipe, and made some tomatillo & ghost pepper hot sauce that came out absolutely amazing. It was popular, and people were surprised that they could taste the fruitiness of the peppers in the hot sauce.

Also, I used the leftover turkey from thanksgiving to make some southwestern turkey stew (it wasn't quite chili, but it was good!) that turned out well.

In any case, that's what's been going on with me. Its been quite an active down-season. Sad to say, though, I'm not likely to make it to many, if any, Chili Cookoffs this year. Finances and lack of transportation have made this a hard year, never mind that the partner and I have recently just barely got over a nasty cold, and I haven't had a chance to renew my ICS membership due to finances. Ah well, I'll be even more prepared when my next opportunity arrives. :)

Here are some photos to enjoy. 

FoodFest VIP Badge: 

Fireotter's Ghost Tomatillo & Roasted Pepper hot sauce:

And that southwestern turkey stew:

Enjoy!