Baked Chili and Boston Brown Bread

I don't know about where you live, but we have had the most ridiculously mild winter this year here in the Midwest. The unseasonably warm weather is nice, sure, but eating chili when it's above freezing just seems...wrong. Well, it was below freezing the other day, so I decided to make baked chili and some Boston brown bread. It was a first for both, and I was very pleased with how they both turned out. And, more importantly, so were Mr. K and MIL-K (my mother-in-law). The Boston brown bread is a sweet, dense bread ...almost cakey...and it complements the tang of the chili beautifully.

First up, the Boston Brown Bread:

Wicked awesome.

What You Need

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used "Better for Bread" flour...either is fine)

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup dark or light molasses (I used blackstrap molasses. I don't know if that's the same thing, but I've gotta work with what my small-town grocery store has available.)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 tsp. salt

What You Do
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix the two flours, cornmeal mix, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. Pour in the molasses & buttermilk and mix it all up.

Seriously, how cool is this picture?! I love my iPhone.

4. Fold in the raisins. At this point, the consistency of the dough looks pretty disgusting. Trust me, though, the bread turns out awesome.

See? Gross.

5. Pour the dough into the greased loaf pan.

6. Bake until the center of the bread is firm to the touch, about 45-50 minutes.

7. Let the bread cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then remove and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

While the bread is baking and making your kitchen smell AMAZING, let's r-r-r-r-oll that beautiful bean footage with...

The Baked Chili

What You Need

1 can (15 oz.) light or dark kidney beans, drained & rinsed

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained & rinsed (I get the kind in the Mexican food aisle...they have chilis and spices added in for extra flavor)

1 can (15 oz.) baked beans (don't drain or rinse these!)

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

1 pound ground beef (as lean or mean as you like)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Chop up the onion & mince the garlic.

So pretty!

3. Brown the beef, onion & garlic over medium-high heat, give or take 10 minutes.

4. Mix the beans, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce and salt together in a 3-quart casserole dish. (If yours is broken, like mine is, a 2 1/2 quart casserole will do...be warned, it might bubble over a little, but it'll work).

Somewhere, Jake Bush is drooling...

5. Drain the beef mixture and add to the beans in the casserole dish.

6. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes.
7. Serve with Boston brown bread and enjoy! For extra yummies, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and add a dollop of sour cream. Mmm-mmm-good! (It's an homage, Campbell's, please don't sue me.)

Delish!

If you try any of my recipes, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments!

-Mrs. K

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