Special posting -My award winning chili

On a brisk and murky Sunday, while watching my BFF Thomas Brady lead his New England Patriots to a monstrous victory i got the urge for something hearty and warm to eat for supper that night. So i thought to myself, do I want to go out?  The response was "No, i am not made of money!" , then i thought, is there any leftovers in the fridge i could heat up, "I found nothing pre made, worthy of this craving....not even a Hot Pocket (mmmmmm Hot Pockets ! )

Then inspiration hit me, and like Isaac Wayne Newton when he invented Gravity.  I said, 'Kevin you get your buns in that kitchen and you make your award winning chili!",  and so i did. 

The ingredients are simple, and are as follows;

3/4 pound of Ground Beef (80/20) 

3 spicy Italian sausages (pork) uncased

4 seeded jalapeño peppers (chopped as your preference)

2 cloves of garlic (crushed and then diced)

White bermuda onion, i like to chop about little more than 1/2 a cup worth. ( my motto in life is you can not have enough onions) 

1 cup of black beans

1 cup of kidney beans

1 cup of chopped tomatoes 

1 and 1/2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

1 tea spoon of sea salt

2 tea spoons of black pepper

1/2 cup of black coffee

1 and 1/2 table spoons of light brown sugar

1 table spoon of cayanne powder

1 dash of Frank's Red Hot sauce  ( i put that sh#t on everything) 

I like to start with a large sauce pan, and a nice amount (2 tablespoons) of olive oil (extra virgin, like Kim Kardashian ) let that sit for 2 minutes to get the oil hot and the bottom and sides of the pan nicely slickened. Them i add my garlic, another 2 minutes and i add my peppers and onions. I like to sweat my veggies and get them nice and soft. Then i add my meat, beef 1st then the add the 3 uncased sausages.  

I like my meat to get nicely browned before i do anything else, so after 7-8 minutes of cooking i will then start to slowly add my remaining ingredients. The tomatoes next to help get some juice into the pot, to help cook the beans.  Then i will add the black and kidney beans, stir that up nice so the flavors of the garlic and onions start to mix with everything else.  From there i will add the Worcestershire sauce, and the coffee. Then i add all my seasons 1 right after the other, the salt, the pepper, the light brown sugar, the Franks red hot and the cayanne powder.  At this point, i give the all the ingredients a good stir, getting everything mixed together.  Put the cover on the pot and let the magic happen, by waiting and letting the chili cook away for about 1 1/2 hours.  

Let the chili sit for a while, at least 30 minutes. Then serve with some shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some nacho chips or a spoon.

I hope you enjoy this as much as i do. 

Have a good night and stay safe in this dreary weather.

Kevin M. Boyle  I

Day 23 Breakfast at the Mad Hatter Cafe in Weymouth

 the menu

 Breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese, bacon on wheat toast) with home fries w/peppers

 2 buttermilk pancakes

 Hungry-man Breakfast ( 2 sausage, 2 eggs, grilled english muffin, 1 slice of ham, 2 pieces of bacon, with homefries w/ peppers)

This is a restaurant that is owned and operated by a friend and neighbor. I am saying this outright so there is no accusation of favoritism, however a great meal is a great meal and it must be discussed. 

So let me start by saying that this is a quaint restaurant, the owner is also the man cooking the meals in the kitchen. He really knows his way around a kitchen. The restaurant was very clean , and homey. The staff friendly,attentive, and very good about refilling coffee mugs ( and to know me, is to know how important that is to me) 

The hungry-man breakfast is what i had, the eggs were cooked perfectly, which to me is nice and runny yolk. The sausages , were fantastic. They are from a local butcher shop and some of the best breakfast sausages i have had, and thats saying something.  If you have read this blog in the past, you know i am not a fan of home-fries normally, but again i must say these were quite tasty. I kept eating them, instead of just moving them around like i normally do. The grilled english muffin was cooked just right, a lot of places under cook them and they are just awful, but these were very good. 

The breakfast sandwich was very good too , very filling.  The pancakes were light and fluffy and served nice and hot...nothing worse than cold pancakes ( ok there are some worse things, but i am trying to make a point). 

So to get to the meat & potatoes of this review, the Mad Hatter Cafe is highly recommended to anyone looking for a great breakfast with reasonable prices.

So have a great night and a great meal.

Peace KMB

Day 22 Dinner at Sea Dogs in Woburn with friends

the menu for Sea Dogs

 Pumpkin ale with a shot of vanilla vodka

Fried pickles with spicy mayo

Fish Tacos ( with guacamole,pico de gallo, fresh cabbage curtido, cilantro and lime )

Pan seared Scallops ,with sauted spinach,creamed corn, leeks and pancetta

 Pumpkin raviolis with sauted spinach, brown butter , pine nuts

 Stout Beef stew with Beef Short Rib, Root Vegetables, Yukon Mashed Potatoes..

 

 Chorizo crusted Haddock Sweet Corn Chowder, Sautéed Spinach, Spanish Chorizo..

 

 Steak Tips, green beans and mashed potatoes 

This meal was at a brew pub in Woburn called Sea Dogs. I have had their beer in the past and never knew they had a restaurant. The beers were very nice, as this is a micro brewery they don't serve the normal Bud, Miller , Coors options, they sell only their own beer. I had a pumpkin beer with a sugar/cinnamon dusted rim, and then a 2nd pumpkin beer with a shot of vanilla vodka in for flavor. This was quite nice, although i am not a vodka fan so the aroma of vodka when you bring the glass to your mouth is a little distracting. My friends tried a few different flavors so they allowed me to sample theirs, the blueberry ale was delicious, and had a nice light flavor to it, i also tried a clementine flavored beer, which had a beautiful aroma, but i wasn't blown away by the flavor, i didn't get a srtong clementine taste.

For appetizers, we had the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Bok Choy, Shiitake Mushroom, Crushed Peanuts, Spicy Peanut and Chile Dipping Sauces, the fried pickles with spicy mayo and the Fried Calamari

Banana Peppers, Sweet Chili Glaze. W e also had  BLT Potato Skins Shredded Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce, Vine Ripe Tomatoes, Sundried Tomato Sour Cream.  All were fabulous, and very flavorful, i am a huge fan of lettuce wraps so these were a great treat. 

The calamari was terrific, and i loved the sauce it came in.  As much as i love calamari , its one of those things i don't order very often, so i really enjoy when i get the opportunity to have some.

My entree was the fish tacos, these were just lovely. The fish was talapia and it was a generous portion of fish that was cut up into 3 pieces , 1 for each taco. But it was the right amount of fish per taco. This meal i have come to love because its filling but not something that will leave you feeling bloated after, sometimes you eat a sandwich and you are feeling sick from trying to finish what you ordered. I finished this, and was full, and not uncomfortable.  My dinner comrades, all seemed to enjoy their meals, especially Tony who had the Chorizo crusted haddock, he made a point of telling me how much he loved his meal. The steak tip dinner, looked cooked perfectly and and had a generous portion of potatoes and green beans on the side. The pumpkin ravioli's looked fantastic, and the fish and chips dinner was hands down the largest portion of fish i have EVER seen given at a restaurant. My friend Linda seemed to enjoy it quite a bit too (sorry i missed a picture of it, it was a foot long i swear) .
The beef stew was ordered by 2 people and 1 felt they could have given more gravy with the stew, as it was kind of dry but the other thought it was perfect just the way they got it.
Overall , this was a restaurant i probably wouldn't get too very often, but if it was an option i would definitely come here again. I thought the prices were reasonable for food and the portions were excellent. The wait staff was very friendly and gave some helpful suggestions.

Thats all for now, have a great night and a great meal.

Love
Kevin M. Boyle I


http://www.seadogwoburn.com/woburn_new_menu_web.pdf

Day 21, Dinner at Wahlburgers...Now its about that time, to bring forth the dinner and the dine.

French Fries $2.95

Onion rings $2.75, The Melt $7.95

 BBQ Bacon cheese burger

chocolate Frappe $4.65 (the small cup) 

 Our Burger  $6.25

Well on bank holidays where i get a day off from work, i love to go shopping(usually furniture, or Bed, Bath and Beyond) So on this past Columbus day, i went to the Hingham shipyard, and after shopping til i nearly dropped i got a little hungry. I had dined at other restaurants in the Hingham Shipyard, but i wanted to try someplace new.  So i had a good vibration, and went to visit Wahlburgers; i had heard some ok word of mouth but i like to get my own opinion from the horses' mouth. 

Overall, i wasn't incredibly impressed with Wahlburgers. The menu is pretty small, 1 page and it doesn't have a full menu feel to it. The burgers weere tasty, but when you order a burger thats all you get. If you want fries or onion rings, you pay for them separately. I don't mind going ala carte at Morton's steakhouse, but at a burger joint....sorry thats pretentious, give some friggin sides with your meals.  The burgers were tasty enough, but really nothing more spectacular than a burger from BK or Chilli's (FYI, i  <3 Chilli's )

The fries were too $$ but they were tasty enough, lightly salted.  The onion rings were dreadful, i don't see the point to shoe string anything with food, but shoes string onion rings (made with red onions) are just wrong on so many levels. They are very lightly breaded and just not worth the $2.75,  one good selling point, is they don't give a skimpy order. 

The BBQ Bacon burger had avacado and jalapenos, but i think they were a little thrifty on the jalapeños. The melt should have been renamed the Mess, as i have never seen a messier hamburger. The wax paper that came on was practically see through after.  The Frappe...sigh ...the frappe, was very tasty, and nice and thick the way i like it...BUT, having said that for $4.65 it should come a little bigger than a coffee cup. Not worth the price for the size. 

So having said all this, would i rush back to Wahlburgers....i would not, they just don't have the Right Stuff...baby.  Uh oh uh oh...the Right Stuff

Have a great night, and a good meal.

Kevin M Boyle

http://wahlburgers.com/our-burgers/our-menu/

Day 20 Dinner at Amrheins South Boston

 *The Cowboy Steak 27

16oz. Prime N.Y. Strip with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Butter

Potato Skins 7

Topped with Cheddar Cheese and Crispy Bacon

 Filet Mignon tips with pappardelle noodles, red peppers, onions in a mushroom demi glaze.  $20

Tonight we went to Amrhein's in South Boston for my dad's birthday dinner....well this is normally a place i enjoy (especially their Sunday brunch which is excellent, omelet bar AND eggs benedict , forget about it ! )  However this is evening was not one of their better nights, but in their defense this restaurant knows how to handle a bad experience for a customer.

Our waitress was excellent, she kept checking on us if we needed more drinks, while continuously telling us our meal should be right up. Then when she went to check 1 more time, came and told us our meal would be a little longer due to an error with the placing of the order to the kitchen.  Instead of not telling us what was going on , she was honest and very apologetic which i appreciated and even gave us a free drink. My mom found something that made her happy when she was talking to the bartender, about her wine she learned they offer 1/2 glasses and don't charge full price which some places do (Venezia in Dorchester)

My dad had the 16 oz steak with blue cheese and caramelized onion butter, which he requested medium, but it was brought quite well done. The waitress apologized profusely and immediately took the meal off the bill, which i thought was a very nice touch considering he was still able to eat the whole steak. Also since i was taking him out to eat , i still get credit for treating even though his meal was comped. Win / win

Mother had some potato skins which she loved , she said they were cooked perfectly and had a good amount of spud left in the skin.  I know what your thinking , dad gets a 16 oz steak and all i get my mom was a lousy potato skin BUT to know my mom is to know if the woman has a saltine at 11:00 AM then she won't be hungry again til the next day. When she will then have a 2nd saltine. 

I had the filet mignon tips, with noodles in a mushroom demi glaze...it sucked, it was  beef 

bourguignon, only because they said filet mignon they were able to charge me $20. The steak was tough and fatty, and the peppers weren't cooked enough.  So i was disappointed because i was planning on ordering the lobster pie, but decided to go with a dinner special.

Now even though this evening went horrifically wrong, you will definetly find me going back to Amrheins again, as this bad meal is not the norm there,  also as i mentioned in the opening statement...love their Sunday Brunch, in fact anyone wanna go to brunch soon?  I'll meet you there.

Thats all for now, so have a great night and a great meal.

xoxo

K M Boyle

http://amrheinsboston.com/dinner/

DAY 19 Dinner at Campanella's

Garlic bread with cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers

The Menu

 Fettucini with alfredo, chicken, zucchini, carrots,broccoli and peppers

 chicken , penne fradiavlo

So on tonights adventure i went to a new place for me, Campanella's  in Braintree. This was a treat as i was taken here as a belated birthday dinner by my friend Andrea.  Campanella's is an old established Italian restaurant , the decor seems to be from the 70's but yet the place has a nice homey atmosphere. The staff was very attentive and always brought me refills on my ginger ale, but yet didn't make us feel rushed as we sat there chatting and googling our names to see what pictures came up. 

We started off with salads each, good size portion. Then ordered some garlic bread with tomatoes, cheese, and cucumbers. Loads of flavor, and even the cucumbers were a nice touch, they actually worked with the tomatoes and cheese.  

We both had the same order "Create your own pasta" i had fettucini with a very light alfredo sauce , chicken and loads of veggies. Way too much zucchini (yuck) but it was a much light sauce than most people make, not too heavy.  Andrea had the chicken fradiavlo with penne, normally a spicy dish but this just had a little kick. The portions were very generous for both of us, and we couldn't finish our meals which even though i am not a fan of places giving too much food, i hate when you are finished eating out and am still hungry after. 

I would recommend Campanella's to anyone looking for a decent Italian meal on the south shore (and its much better than Abbodanza's in the North Shore).

Thats all for now, have a good night and a good meal.

Kevin Boyle I

http://campanales.net