Deadline for entering the January Monthly Mini Contest is fast approaching. Please send your favorite pudding recipes to MP1203, Daily Press/The Times-Herald, 7505 Warwick Blvd., Newport News 23607 by Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Meanwhile, we’ve gotten many responses to requests from readers. After months of searching, we’ve finally found a recipe for brick chili for Glen Bumgarner of Poquoson – and a source as well. We may be slow at times, but we never give up!
Brick Chili, by the way, is a spicy ground beef and onion mixture bound together by a thick roux (a cooked flour and fat mixture) then put into a loaf pan or similar shape. When the mixture cools, it holds together and can be sliced. (It looks like a very dry meat loaf.) To make chili from the “brick,” simply cut off the amount desired, then heat it with tomato sauce and water until the consistency is right. You may also add beans and whatever else your taste buds dictate.
Evidently, although brick chili is now elusive in this area, it has been on the market in many places for some time. I spoke with people who used to live in such diverse places as California and Louisiana, and they said brick chili was commonly sold there in grocery stores. Kathie Beda, of Smithfield, wrote to say that she has bought it at the Farm Fresh in Smithfield. But I called and the meat manager said they no longer have it. However, Beda was kind enough to share a recipe for brick chili given to her by her sister-in-law, who made it regularly for the deli of a grocery store in Denver.
In my search for the chili, I called the Gourmet Market in Newport News. Store chef David Manning said he hadn’t heard of brick chili, but when I read him the recipe Beda had sent, he was enthusiastic about wanting to try it. To make a long story short, he did, and it’s now for sale at the market, at 12490 Warwick Blvd., for $2.78 a pound. I bought some for a spur-of-the-moment dinner one night, and I think it’s delicious. Manning suggested I add only one 15-ounce can of herb tomato sauce and one 15-ounce can of water to the pound and a half of brick chili I purchased. It was a fast dinner indeed.
If you’d like to make your own brick chili, here’s the recipe Beda sent. The finished product will last a good week or more in the refrigerator, or divide the brick up and store part of it in the freezer for future use.
BRICK CHILI
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered or fresh garlic
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 to 1 3/4 ounces paprika (to taste)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon oregano (optional)
2 or 3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 ounce pure chili powder
1/2 ounce cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or more, to taste)
1/2 pound suet
3/4 to 1 cup flour
Mix together all but the last 2 ingredients in a large sauce pan or stock pot and cook until meat is almost done. Set aside.
Grind the suet. Cook it over medium heat and stir in -1 cup flour to make a thick mixture. Cook until the suet and flour mixture takes on a dull appearance and is no longer very greasy-looking.
Stir the suet mixture into the ground beef mixture and continue cooking until the meat is done and the mixtures are well blended. Pour the mixture into a mold or loaf pan. Cover and refrigerate. Slice off as much as you need as a base for chili. Heat it and add tomato paste and beans, or whatever, to taste.
We’ve recieved lots of recipes for the starter for the Friendship cake as requested by Rosalind Cabler of Hampton. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to send those in. They will be published in next week’s column, so be on the look out.
We’ve also recieved lots of drop cookie recipes for Marjorie Merritt of Newport News. This was sent by JoAnn Panuska of Newport News.
CHERRY DROP COOKIES
1 package Duncan Hines Cherry Supreme Deluxe Cake Mix
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 tablespoons water
2 eggs
Few drops red food coloring, if desired
1 cup chopped nuts
Quartered maraschino cherries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend cake mix, oil, water, eggs and food coloring, if desired. Stir in nuts. Drop from a teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Top each cookie with a quarter maraschino cherry. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Cool on cookie sheet for about 1 minute, then remove to rack to finish cooling.
Send your recipes or recipe requests to Reader exchange, Features Department, MP 1203, 7505 Warwick Blvd., Newport News 23607. Please include your full name and daytime phone number for recipe validation. Recipes WILL NOT be printed without this information.
