since 1887: swiss chocolates by frey

i have always been a fanatic for anything chocolate and i tend to not spare the expense when i see something that looks to be of high quality. recently while cruising the aisles of the emporium market at sukhumvit 24 i spied frey's saveur du chili. this is a bar of outstandingly smooth dark chocolate that has been infused with the kick of red chili. i have yet to try cooking with this unique product, but simply nibbling away at it is a treat.
if you are someone who doesn't mind a bit of zip, and tries to not eat too much chocolate when it is within grasp, then possibly this chocolate bar from frey is what you seek. i say this because i find it a bit over bearing to eat an entire bar at once. instead i chip away at it slowly over a period time. a little goes a long way.

i think if melted it would make a great dip for strawberries and bananas, and when incorporated into a mousse or cake frosting would add a layer of unexpected taste.

i recommend that you also browse the frey website as it is designed well and the flash presentation is quite good and interactive. it is in english, german and french, and there is also a good section of recipes too.

their bar with cinnamon and orange is also great.

chili, yes, i ruined it with beans ...

well today we had leftovers, and great leftovers they were. actually, i made a massive amount of the chili last week with the intention of freezing for a later time, so technically, not leftovers, production work that i socked away. it was a re-heat.

in the past i have always made chili from scratch, and i have always used ground beef. this time i bought a great piece of heavily marbled (read: fatty) chuck and sliced into small, not too thin, pieces. i also did not have the time or the inclination to go through the whole bean trip, yes i chose to f*ck it up with beans, so i used canned ones. i have recently discovered the s & w chili beans in sauce, and they are great for when you need a short cut, are lazy or just want to try them. they really are good.

so i sautéed 3 large chopped onions, 3 large diced shallots, 2 chopped japanese leeks (white part only) and way too much chopped garlic in olive oil. While the onions and gar were sweating away i got to rummaging around in the frig and i spied a lonely ‘makhuraa-yao’. that’s a thai eggplant that resembles the long skinny purple japanese ones, but these are green. so i diced it up and tossed it into the pot.

then i added the beef slices, again, more than a reasonable person would use, it was close to a kilo of meat. then i cooked it all until the beef was seared and the fat was rendering off nicely. knowing i was using the pre-seasoned s & w beans, and wanting the finished product to be a bit more heavily seasoned, i added some very good chili powder and ground cumin to the pan and let that jive for a few minutes before adding the wet stuff. now why chili is ground and cumin is powdered, i have no fekkin’ idea, but that is the way they are always labeled, go figure. maybe because one is a chili and the other a spice.

after the spices had melted into the beef, veggies and fat i then added three cans of the s & w beans, one can of some local kidney beans (no sauce, just beans and that viscous water that they are packed in) and two cans of chopped up whole tomatoes in juice. now if you are asking, how big are these cans, they are the ones for suzy homemaker, not institutional sized #10s. OK?

once it is all simmering away nicely, i taste, and then i add freshly ground sea salt, and black pepper, fresh chopped oregano, and one fresh bay leaf. cover, and let it simmer away for a few hours.


while that is cookin’ i make some jiffy brand corn bread in the toaster oven - but first i squirt some good honey into the mix before baking it. i also steam some local thai brown rice in the rice steamer, and grate up some cheddar and some pepper jack cheeses for garnish. the jack cheese cost almost as much as the beef did! will someone please get some of that cheese over here that is reasonably priced.

the first time i served it, last week, that was all we had, this time i added the salad greens and tomatoes. i also threw a big spoon of sour cream on top of it all as i love that stuff with most anything that is tex-mex/Mexican/southern what have you.

oh yeah, btw, this served up 10 very large bowls in total.

this menu below is from the texas state line bar-b-que in atlanta, ga,
the guys who impressed upon me that thang 'bout chilli havin' no beanz.

ain't no restaurant
just a good bar-b-que joint.

if it's to be called texas stateline,
why is it in downtown atlanta?

see! it sez, texas style chili
ruin it with beans - no extra charge