Tag Archives: spicy

HURRICANE HALEY’S HELL FIRE CHILI

So many exciting things happening guys!  I don’t even know where to begin.  There has been so much going on that I don’t know where to begin or how to keep track.  The main thing is this… I’ve been putting this brand new kitchen of mine to work, that’s what I’ve been doing!

I’ve pretty much got it all complete and organized and fully operational.  I say that one thing is my favourite, like my Inspiration Cabinet, (as seen in the photo above) and then I turn around and I’m overjoyed by another part of it.   A lot to take in and I’m just so appreciative.

I can’t wait to finally show it off!  You will be the first, I promise!  I’ll post all the reveal pics here before anywhere else

Do you ever just want to try something because it looks good?  Even if you might not even like it? Each grocery trip to Superstore I am enticed by the wall of peppers!  Red Thai chili peppers, Scotch Bonnets, Habaneros, all of them, GLORIOUS!  Can I even handle that kind of heat?  The Habanero sauce I buy in Mexico is so hot I only use a few drops on tacos and such….  I’ve never had a need to buy these cool peppers.  Easy problem to fix.  Create a need for them!  Spicy Chili seems just perfect for this autumn weather!

Time to get chopping.  Soothing, relaxing, therapy… chopping veg.  I know i’m weird.

Start the base of this lean turkey chili, with some onion ang garlic.  Yes that’s right, it’s more ground turkey.  So much better for ya and you really wouldn’t know the difference.  This is one big stock pot loaded with tantalizing tongue flavours.

Add in the celery and the mushrooms and let it all cook until the celery is super tender and the mushrooms lose a lot of their moisture.

I would have used fresh mushrooms but one of the good purposes of chili is to use up some of that stuff that you bought a while ago, even tho it wasn’t on your shopping list. You bought it just cuz it was on sale…multiples of whatever it was?  Oh come on, I can’t be the only one who does this.  If they are staple products then it’s all good because they’ll get used.  Besides its way easier to shop in your pantry than it is to have to put a bra on and go to the grocery store, am I right?

Once you’ve sauteed the onions, garlic, celery and mushrooms add in the cooked ground turkey.

Ok I’m standing in front of all the magnificent colourful peppers in Superstore, trying to make my selection for this chili.

I opted for a package of 3 large Anaheim Peppers, which are mild-med on the hot scale and a package of hot habanero peppers to really give this a kick.

I assure you that yes this would be considered a chili that’s more spicy or hotter than most but I still don’t think it’s like HOT HOT.  I don’t know…. I’m writing this blog at 5:15am, about 7-8 hours after the chili finished cooking…. up all night due to drinking coffee while chef’n it up, perhaps the peppers infused more and I’ll find the chili too hot when I go for another bowl the next time… I’ll have to see, and chances are I still will be in the drafting phase of this post.  For sure will let you know what happens.  See, this is the fun part of trying out new things.  Experimenting, it’s like a little science project for me.  I know for fact that my chipotle dip I make for pizza and potatoes and chicken is way hotter the next day and even hotter the following.  The longer it sits, the more potent it gets.  Now that I’m typing this I’m almost sure it’s going to to be wowzers hot tonight.  hahaha.  Good, it will live up to it’s name.

K DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES!! I REPEAT, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER.

Wear gloves when handling these peppers.

I’ve now burnt myself extremely bad for the second time while dealing with peppers like this.  You might think you’ll be ok or that you’ll be able to handle it but geez, if you’ve never had peppers burns, then just trust me.  Don’t touch!

The oils will get into your skin and no amount of soap and water really works, it’s been over a day since I prepped all this stuff and my hands are still burning even though I really only handled the outsides of the peppers.  I’ve gotten fairly decent at de-seeding and de-ribbing peppers.

I think I wiped down the counter and then rinsed the cloth under water and then the juices rinsed over my hands… Not too sure what happened.  But everything burned, my face got blotchy and swelled up, and I still light my tongue on fire if I suck on one of my fingers to try to soothe the pain… UGH!  How did I let this happen to me again….?

I even used another really cool kitchen gadget.  I’ve had these little do-dad, thing-a-ma-jigs for years now but since I was packed up and working out of that damn temp. kitchen, I wasn’t able to see things.  And lord knows I’m a visual person.

Everything up here in the new kitchen… the “Cooking With Hay” kitchen, has a home and is easy to find and easy to get to.  Convenience!!! I feel like I’m always in a commercial or an actual cooking show.  I’ve had no drawers to put utensils or knives or anything for that matter into.  Haha, oh #firstworldproblems, shut up Haley.

Check out the Typhoon, it’s a dual curved blade with 2 handles, so you rock it back in forth and it minced my habanero peppers into such a fine chop, I was more than pleased.  Although, I’m not really sure if chopping hot things really fine makes the dish more hot than if they were in bigger pieces, you know?

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No culinary school for me.  I’d like to go to learn the basics and fundamentals of cooking.  Whats right and whats wrong.  More so just to inspire me to do more.  Try more.  Be more brave to try newer things and to use some new techniques or more challenging skills.

Always hungry for more, food and knowledge, yet also so dysfunctional that the thought of it all makes me shiver.  Where was I…. chili… right…

From the pantry, I found a can of sliced jalapenos, and a can of diced green chilies.  I also used a whole sweet green pepper.  All 3 of those beautiful Anaheim peppers and about 5 habanero peppers.

Now, remember, REMOVE the seeds and the white ribs, WHILE wearing gloves, AND not touching anything.

I calculated exactly how much of everything I used for spices and what not and the flavour and spicy factor was spot on so unless you want your face to sweat off, stick to this.  If you want the heat that you’ll feel the next day… maybe add 1 or 2 more habanero peps, you bad bad thing you!

You can also increase the chili powder or cayenne as well, if you want it hotter, but the point to this chili is the 4 different types of beans used and the 5 different varieties of peppers.

And OH BOY does it ever look good all mixed together.  the colours of the beans and peppers!  Wooo HOOO!  I love it!

K enough talking about them.  Add them to the onion turkey mixture.  I hope you’re using a big pot as this will make a fair amount.

Don’t forget to add in the best ones!!!!  Eeeek  so excited. I only added this one spoon of habanero at first…. I’ll be honest.  I wanted to test the waters.  I eventually added it all in ha ha yassss!

Mix up the dry spices and add them to the pot.  Again it may not look like much but I swear, the flavour is there and then some.  I added a small amount of beef soup mix to give it some depth because ground turkey can be quite bland and not very exciting.

Foods like turkey breast, that are high in protein, help you feel fuller longer and help maintain healthy muscles.  Please note I said turkey breast, just because it’s turkey doesn’t mean it’s healthier than a beef burger or something like that.  It all depends on how much dark turkey meat is included.  I like to use strictly ground turkey breast.

Stir it all up and let it simmer on low for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often.  This will start to draw out the juices of the peppers and infuse all that nice spice into the meat.

Emptying out my cupboards for this dish… I had 2 large cans of diced tomatoes and a large can of Italian San Marzano tomatoes. I put all 3 cans into my food processor and let it go until it was a nice smooth tomato sauce.


Now pour that into the pot, stir in a small can of tomato paste and give it a good stir.

Bring it gently to a slow boil.

Then reduce the heat back down to medium to simmer.

Mom adds in a can of baked beans to her chili and I copied her.  Add in all 4 types of beans.  The dark red Kidney beans, the white Cannellini beans,  Pinto beans and a can of baked beans.


Again, mix it up and bring it up to a boil.

Reduce heat and let it simmer for about an hour

Voila!!

I couldn’t help myself and dug a spoon into this right away… And then again and again.

Whatever, don’t judge me.  It was for me anyways, I had no houseguest.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese and please enjoy some Hurricane Haley’s Hell Fire Chili.  Turkey Chili made with 4 types of beans and 5 types of peppers!  Hell yes!


HURRICANE HALEY’S HELL FIRE CHILI

INGREDIENTS
♥ 4 T. OLIVE OIL
♥ 1 LRG. ONION, DICED
♥ 4 CLOVES OF GARLIC, MINCED
♥ 2 CANS SLICED MUSHROOMS
♥ 4 STALKS CELERY, THINLY SLICED
♥ 2 LBS. LEAN GROUND TURKEY BREAST
♥ 1 SWEET GREEN PEPPER, CHOPPED
♥ 3 LRG. ANAHEIM PEPPERS,
♥ 5 HABANERO PEPPERS, MINCED
♥ 1 SM. CAN SLICED JALAPEÑOS, DICED
♥ 1 SM. CAN DICED GREEN CHILIES
♥ 3 T. CHILI POWDER
♥ 1 TSP. CUMIN
♥ 1 TSP. OREGANO
♥ 1 TSP. SALT
♥ 1/2 TSP. SUGAR
♥ 1/2 TSP. GARLIC POWDER
♥ 1/2 TSP. BEEF SOUP MIX
♥ 1/4 TSP. CAYENNE
♥ 1/4 TSP. PAPRIKA
♥ 1 SM. CAN TOMATO PASTE
♥ 3 LRG. CANS DICED TOMATOES, BLENDED IN FOOD PROCESSOR
♥ 2 CANS RED KIDNEY BEANS
♥ 1 CAN CANNELLINI BEANS
♥ 1 CAN PINTO BEANS
♥ 1 CAN BAKED BEANS IN BROWN SUGAR

DIRECTIONS
IN A LARGE STOCK POT HEAT 3 TBS. OF THE OIL OVER MED-HIGH HEAT
SAUTE ONIONS AND GARLIC
ADD IN CELERY AND MUSHROOMS AND SAUTÉ TILL TENDER
IN A SKILLET HEAT THE REMAINING 1 TBS. OF OIL AND COOK THE GROUND TURKEY
ADD TURKEY TO ONION MIXTURE
ADD IN THE PEPPERS AND THE SEASONINGS
GENTLY COMBINE AND LET SIMMER OVER LOW HEAT FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES, STIRRING OFTEN
ADD IN TOMATO PASTE AND BLENDED TOMATOES
BRING UP TO A GENTLE BOIL AND THEN REDUCE HEAT
ADD IN THE BEANS AND MIX IT UP
ONCE AGAIN, BRING UP TO A GENTLE BOIL AND THEN REDUCE HEAT
SIMMER FOR ABOUT AN HOUR OVER LOW HEAT. STIRRING OFTEN


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Blackened Seasoning

Hi guys, I posted some pics of the Blackened Salmon and Blackened Fish Tacos to my Cooking With Hay Facebook page, and the requests came in for the recipe. As well as the request for me as your personal chef. Thank you for that! It actually is much easier to make the food than to blog the recipe… just in case you were curious. LOL so much time spent running a photoshoot and a kitchen at the same time. I love it tho and anxious to spend more time doing it. The balance between stoning the front of the fireplace and installing bathroom sinks… or blogging…. its a tough one….

I’m quite pleased with the photos from recent photoshoots. I’m working partially upstairs while I can get the good natural daylight and partially still down in the dungeon, errr, I mean, basement. Natural daylight makes for much more appetizing food pics. Less shadows and more true to life colouring of these meals. After all, we taste with our eyes and our noses before the food even hits our tongue or tummies.



I’ve laid out all the ingredients that I used to make the Blackened Seasoning, on this fancy bamboo KitchenAid cutting board that Hubby came home with for me! *SMILES* This is the seasoning for the Blackened Salmon Tacos and Blackened Fish Tacos that I’ve been mentioning. (Blog posts to follow guys!)

I pulled this from a website a while back, I haven’t altered anything except that I use whole wheat flour instead of white flour. It actually just adds to the crispy factor we’re going for here! Yummy


Don’t confuse T (tablespoon) for TSP (teaspoon)!!
Oh come on, like you haven’t done that before.

The original image said 2 T. Chili Powder… LOL its got to be 2 TSP. Teaspoons
I made the same error when I first made Butter Chicken. That was a hot hot hot meal. Great tho. Just a real kicker that’s for sure.

BLACKENED SEASONING

♥ 2 T. FLOUR (I use whole wheat)
♥ 2 TSP. CHILI POWDER
♥ 1 TSP. PAPRIKA
♥ 1 TSP. BROWN SUGAR
♥ ½ TSP. ONION POWDER
♥ ½ TSP. GRANULATED GARLIC
♥ ½ TSP. CUMIN
♥ ½ TSP. CAYENNE
♥ ½ TSP. SALT
♥ ½ TSP. PEPPER

Mix together well. Store in an air tight container.


↓ This made enough to do a big slab of salmon or 4 large cod fillets. If you’re doing more you may want to double this recipe. Or to save you some prep time on the next go around, make up a big batch now.

↑ I made one batch of this seasoning and mixed it in this shallow plastic container. All ready to go so I can just lay the piece of fish or meat or whatever it is that you’re going to use, onto the seasoning.
This works great for everything, even prawns and scallops. Try it out and I hope you like it.  I’ve made it 3 times this July.  Cuz it’s that good.  LOL yum!


Blog Post with recipe and pics COMING SOON!

Blog Post with recipe and pics COMING SOON!

Blog Post with recipe and pics COMING SOON!

Blog Post with recipe and pics COMING SOON!

Blog Post with recipe and pics COMING SOON!

Blog Post with recipe and pics COMING SOON!



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Love Haleykins❤️


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Slow Cooker Butter Chicken ~possibly healthier?

I’ve been staring at a jar of Blue Label PC brand Butter Chicken cooking sauce, that has been sitting on my pantry shelf for a while now. I’ve tried it before, and the flavor is great and it’s supposed to be a lighter, slightly healthier sauce, but I don’t like using store bought sauces, dressings, dips etc. Also, while on the family camping trip last weekend, my brother in law had some given to him so the idea was there. Needless to say, the time has come to try something new, and Butter Chicken it is!

I found a recipe on a website called Half Baked Harvest, and it’s supposed to be a healthier version of Butter Chicken. Is it? I don’t know? I’ve never made it to know if this is less fattening than the norm or not. But i’m going with it. I used fat free greek yogurt and light half and half and as well, lite coconut milk, so mine is even healthier! 🆒

Hubby loves curry, always annoying me with “make some curry stew” or the ever popular, “try making a stew with curry” and on and on and on. I don’t like stew. Almost like soup but… it seems… I don’t know, soggy?! This dish is one that I know we have both enjoyed before and it should please his craving taste buds.

Anyways, I know now, that he is satisfied with his curry cravings, because he told me that I HAVE to mention in here that it was the best ever! He even didn’t mind the extra bit of spice which I will explain later.

I don’t pay him to say these things… but he does have to live with me and he does live by the rule “Happy Wife, Happy Life”. So I leave it at that.
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Now let’s get down to the good stuff shall we!
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Who doesn’t love yummy warm breads? I do! Especially naan. Look at it up there! Let’s face it. we all like meals like this just so we have something to go with the naan am I right? Now I did BUY the naan, rather than making it, because I’ve discovered that trying one new thing at a time seems to work better than multitasking new things. LOL. Oh I am getting hungry again just typing this out. I am looking forward to leftovers tonight. Ugh, I despise the term leftovers but I always cook enough to have leftovers. I will now go by the term ReHeats when referring to…. well you know, Dinner-ReHeated. 😉

SLOW COOKER BUTTER CHICKEN
Possibly on the healthier side

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt
1 (400ml can) lite coconut milk
1/4 cup light half and half
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 Premade Homemade Garlic Ball, or 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons garam masala
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons curry paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into large bite size cubes
1 small onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter
White rice, cooked
Naan bread

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl combine the yogurt, coconut milk and cream.
Then add in the tomato paste and ginger
Add in the garlic and all your spices and mix it up good.
Spray your slow cooker or crock pot with cooking spray or grease it up with some olive oil.
Next, sprinkle the onions in the bottom.
Then layer the cubed chicken over top the onions.
Pour the yogurt and spice mixture over the chicken, cover the chicken completely with the sauce.
I cooked mine for about 5 hours on high in my slow cooker.
Stirring it about 4 times.
Serve this hot, over fluffy rice and warm naan.
Sprinkle it with a bit of fresh cilantro.

HERE IT IS IN THE WORKS
I just love my camera for this. Now if only I had a few extra hands…
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I used chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, obviously, but a friend suggested thighs as they don’t get as dry, however I’m going with the healthier route, and well… that’s what I had in the fridge. 😊 Cut them up into large cubes. Go with fairly large bite size pieces because in a slow cooker, meats will break down as they are tenderizing during the slow cooking process.
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This tub of yogurt nearly cost me my life. Don’t doubt for a second that the kitchen is a dangerous place because it is!!! I could not get that damn foil seal off the tub of Greek yogurt. I ended up hacking into it with a butter knife and even that didn’t go through very well. Butter knife slipped off and almost got me the stomach. LOLOLOL It’s a dangerous life as a cook I know, I know. Haha
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In a large mixing bowl combine the yogurt, coconut milk and cream,
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Then add in the tomato paste and ginger (packaged, I know, but otherwise so much gets wasted in this house as I don’t use ginger that often)
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Add in the garlic and all your spices and mix it up good.
**Please take note, the picture above**
See that big pile of dark red spice… Ya that’s Cayenne pepper. .. A whole tablespoon of it and you’ll notice in the recipe above, it should only be 1 teaspoon. My god was it spicy. My lips are still numb. But hubby seemed to not mind. LOL. My gawd!
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I used a wisk.
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Spray your slow cooker or crock pot with cooking spray or grease it up with some olive oil.
Next, sprinkle the onions in the bottom. Be sure they are fine diced. You shouldn’t have chunks of onion in the end.
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Then layer the cubed chicken over top the onions.
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Pour the yogurt and spice mixture over the chicken and be sure to cover it completely. Hubby likes it saucy and then you have a reason to eat more naan. 👍😉
I cooked mine for about 5 hours on high. Stirring it about 4 times.
Serve this hot, over fluffy rice and warm naan.
Sprinkle it with a bit of fresh cilantro.
DIG IN 🍴
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If you have a good Butter Chicken recipe that you would be willing to share with me please post me a link or put the recipe in the comments. Thanks so much!

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Love Haleykins
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