Black Bean Chili & Homemade Tortillas

Cooking has been SUCH a blast recently! When I first got married, I was dreading learning to cook. Seriously. I was afraid of my abilities and scared that I would burn everything and mess it all up. But, I've gotten over that, just went out there and tried it, and now I love cooking (sometimes). I love following recipes. That's the difference between Tony and I. I like cooking when I can measure the ingredients, when cooking is planned and easy and works the way it is supposed to! This is why I like baking so much.


Tony, on the other hand, likes to add different ingredients and change them and experiment with temperatures and tastes.


This is not how I cook. :) But I love being married to him. His ability to go with the flow and take risks and be adventurous is something I need and will always have him for. I love this about him!


All that to say, my cooking experience, confidence, and ability is growing. And I actually like being in the kitchen now! I want to share my easy, fun recipes with you. I hope this helps all my friends who are future wifeys out there. I promise: you can do it!


This has been one of my FAVORITE recipes: it's black bean chili! YUM. I made this on the stove but you could also put it in the slow cooker as a throw-in-the-crockpot and go recipe!

Black Bean Chili

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Optional: Cumin Seed, Red Pepper, Paprika, Tobasco Sauce, Minced Onion, Garlic Powder

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; cook onion and garlic until onions are soft and less white/ more clear. 

2. Add turkey and cook, stirring, until meat is brown. 

3. Stir in beans, tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, basil and vinegar.

4. (This came from Tony's help): Taste the chili and add the following ingredients until you achieve the taste and kind of spicy you want:  Cumin Seed, Red Pepper, Paprika, Tobasco Sauce, Minced Onion, Garlic Powder. If you like it really spicy: add more red pepper, cumin, and tobasco sauce.

5. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer (bring to a steady bubbling temperature, a continuous bubble not a boil) for 60 minutes or more, until flavors are well blended. (Or just put in the crockpot on low when you leave for work in the morning!)

Now, for our next recipe! Seriously, I cannot rave enough about this recipe- it's amazing. So, Tony and I LOVE tortillas and anything you make with tortillas: enchiladas, tacos, breakfast burritos, you name it. And ever since we started cooking together, we always buy tortillas at the store.

That has CHANGED FOREVER. NEVER BUY TORTILLAS ANYMORE EVER! Trust me- once you try making this recipe, you will never again buy them. These tortillas are so easy to make and absolutely delicious. I will use this recipe for any meal I want to make with tortillas now.

I got this recipe from an amazing cookbook called: Homesick Texan, by Lisa Fain. I changed it a bit. You can visit her blog for yummy Tex-Mex recipes at http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/.

Flour Tortillas

Some keys to this recipe: 

1. Patience. You have to give the dough time to rise! It makes them taste better. It takes about an hour for the dough to be ready to cook.

2. They are best made fresh for your meal (not stored for the next day).

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter (shortening or lard can work too)

1 cup water

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Place the butter and water into a pot on medium heat and cook until butter has melted.

2. In a bowl on the side, stir together flour and salt. Pour in the melted butter mixture and stir until a loose ball is formed.

3. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes until the dough is smooth.

4. Divide the dough up into 8 (1.5 inch-2 inch) dough balls, put into a mixing bowl, and cover. Let the dough rest for an hour. (It's tired and needs a nap).

5. After an hour, take each ball out and pat out into a 4 inch circle. Use a rolling pin to to roll into a thin 8 inch circle. Don't overwork the dough.

6. In a cast-iron skillet (if you don't have one of these, get one pronto! They are a must for cooking I have come to find), cook each tortilla on high heat for 30 seconds on one side, flip it, then cook for 1 minute on the other side. It will puff a little bit. Flip it again and cook for 30 more seconds. 

7. Place cooked tortillas in a basket or bowl lined with a cloth to keep warmer!

Serve and enjoy :) Mmmmmm..... YUM!

I even eat these plain with just a little butter! Make this recipe now. You will not regret it. 

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