Tag: chili

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Warmth from Inside Out

By Fran Hill

When I looked ahead at my South Dakota Magazine submission schedule for January, I made a mental note that this week leads up to that really big football game that everyone seems to watch, even just for the commercials. While football isn’t my thing, I do really enjoy the food that goes with those kinds of events, and tentatively planned to share a new dip recipe. Every football party needs a dip, right?

But then the polar vortex happened. Brrr. Subzero temperatures and mind-numbing wind chills covered South Dakota and several other states. Schools and businesses closed as a precaution to the life-threatening cold. The United States Postal Service even disrupted service. Those who had to brave the weather needed layers and layers of clothing and warm, filling meals.

I am putting a pause on that dip recipe and leaning hard into the clichÈ of soup. Soup always warms us from the inside out. Everyone needs a few simple, tried-and-true soup recipes in their arsenal of menus, and I am here to add another that is perfect for this cold weather.

White Turkey Chili starts with a base of onion, garlic, celery and carrot and omits the tomato of traditional beef chili. Ground turkey is super lean and yields to the flavorful green chilies, cumin and cayenne. A pinch of cinnamon provides a depth for the soup, while firm cannellini beans increase the heartiness. I topped my bowl with a squeeze of lime, some crumbled queso and chopped cilantro. Cornbread makes a great side dish to round out a meal that can counter even the coldest polar vortex days.

White turkey chili lacks the tomato of traditional chili, but retains the spice and warmth.

White Turkey Chili

(adapted from AllRecipes)

olive oil

1/2 of a medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground turkey

2 (4 ounce) cans green chilies, chopped

2-3 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon steak seasoning

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon flour

4 cups chicken broth

3 cans (15 ounces) cannellini beans

In a heavy pot, heat olive oil and sautÈ onion, carrot and celery. Cook and stir until onion is translucent and carrot and celery are tender. Add the garlic and ground turkey. Break up the turkey into crumbles and cook until browned. Stir in the green chilies, seasonings and flour. Cook a few minutes until seasonings are fragrant and flour has coated meat mixture. Add broth and cannellini beans to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes to meld flavors. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. (Serves 4-6)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their three dogs ranch near Colome.

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Wessington’s Chili Wars

By Bernie Hunhoff

Pie bakers and chili makers are very different sorts. That’s plain to see in Wessington every July at the town’s annual Fun Day.

The festivities include a pie contest and a chili cook-off.”Some of the ladies won’t share their pie recipes easily,” says Lana Dannenbring-Eichstadt, a board member of the Wessington Development Corporation that sponsors the events.”But the pie contest is very polite, and there’s often some humor — like the time a mom entered a beautiful sour cream and raisin pie in her son’s name.” Confusion always makes for good-natured fun.

But the chili cook-off?

Dannenbring-Eichstadt winces.”The guys are pretty much out for blood in the chili competition,” she admits.”Poor Cowboy Jim has entered his pineapple chili as long as I can remember, and he keeps changing the recipe, or at least the name. He gets so mad each time he doesn’t win; last year he even went after some of the judges, who happened to be my two sisters and a niece.”

She’s referring, tongue-in-cheek, to Jim Major, a fellow board member and local promoter of Wessington. Majors have been raising beef at the northern edge of the Wessington Hills for 125 years. Jim has been perfecting his pineapple chili recipe for only a fraction of that time, but he admits he’s getting impatient with the outcome of the cook-off.

“I don’t know whether it’s because my chili sits at the end of the table and the judges have had their taste buds ruined by the beans, or just what it is,” he says. But he’ll be back this July.

The basic ingredients of Jim’s Hawaiian Chili include his wife Ruth’s canned tomatoes, homegrown beef and imported pineapple. No beans. That might be enough of an omission to warrant disqualification by some judges, but Major believes in pineapple.

One of Major’s top competitors is Lester Moeller, a St. Lawrence hog farmer who has been tinkering with a pork sausage recipe for some 40 years.”I started making chili for the kids. It’s a great protein source. I experimented with a lot of different things. That’s the thing about chili, it’s hard to hurt it.

“Now I mix a pound of pork sausage with a pound of deer burger, and mix it together with tomatoes, onions and I do use beans,” he says.”Add your spices and there aren’t many leftovers, let’s put it that way.”

Moeller, an erstwhile promoter of pork, is a past president of the state’s pork producers. When Hurricane Sandy hit the Atlantic coast, he and his wife Rosemary flew to New Jersey almost before the winds subsided and spent three days grilling pork loins and bratwurst for the victims and disaster workers.

Despite their persistence, neither Moeller or Major has yet won the Wessington cook-off. Nor has Duane Casavan, a Wessington beekeepper who brings a crockpot flavored with his own honey.

Dannenbring-Eichstadt says another regular competitor reportedly”sneaks some chocolate” into his recipe — a trick frowned upon, apparently, but not outlawed.”There’s also a Cowboy Chili, a Hula Chili and some other popular repeats. And then there’s always that friendly debate over whether real chili has beans or not.”

That won’t be settled at Wessington, where the judges are more locally focused on pineapple, venison, pork and honey.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the July/August 2014 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117. This year’s Wessington Fun Day is July 16. It includes a 2.5K color walk & run, a parade at 10 a.m., softball and bean bag tournaments, a car show and the chili and pie cookoffs. Everyone gets to sample the pies and chili. Proceeds support the Wessington Development Corporation.

JIM’S HAWAIIAN CHILI

4 lbs browned ground beef

1 green pepper, cubed small

1 yellow pepper, cubed small

1 small can jalapenos

2 20-oz cans of tomato sauce

2 20-oz cans of diced tomatoes (or four quarts of home-canned tomatoes to replace the diced tomatoes and sauce)

2 20-oz cans of pineapple tidbits (drained)

4 cloves chopped garlic

2 T chili powder

2 T cumin

Salt and pepper

Cook altogether for 3 to 5 hours. You might add one bottle of dark beer an hour or so before serving. This is a crockpot-size quantity fit for a cook-off and community feed.

LESTER’S PORK CHILI

1 lb of fried pork sausage

1 lb of fried deer burger

1 large sauteed onion

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 cans of chili beans (may substitute kidney or black)

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp salt and pepper

Chili powder to taste

Mix all ingredients in crockpot and let simmer until hot or longer (for better flavor). Serve hot, makes enough for at least six hungry men. Leftovers can be frozen for later meals. Nice to microwave for quick meals.

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Our Zucchini Cook-off

By Katie Hunhoff


Zucchini overwhelmed the little garden in the backyard of our South Dakota Magazine headquarters in downtown Yankton in 2010. We stopped watering it as soon as we realized what was happening, but still the zucchini proliferated. Despite the lack of respect or water — and being rudely tread upon as we tended to the tomatoes and onions — the zucchini continued to grow.

We gave it to the neighbors until they would no longer answer their doorbells. All of our staff and their extended families were compelled to take a cube or two every day. As one reader commented on our website (where we’d advertised free garden produce), two never-watered zucchini plants will suffice for a family of 15. And we had four plants. Four well-tended plants.

Zucchini soon piled up on office tables, inboxes and file cabinets. I had been eating zucchini at every meal for over a month when our editor suggested a zucchini cook-off to use up some of the reserves.

There was just one rule for the contest. Anyone could enter but you must get your zucchini from the magazine garden. First prize? You guessed it: a summer supply of zucchini.

The contest was first met with some grumbling. Several staffers claimed to dislike zucchini, most of all Roger, our humor columnist. He is not a fussy eater, but never takes a bite of food at the office in the summer months without asking if zucchini is involved. Roger had a bad experience with zucchini bread some time ago and still hasn’t forgotten.

Zucchini recipes can be hit-or-miss. The high water content (about 95 percent) can potentially result in a mushy mess. So expectations were low, to say the least, on the day of the zucchini cook-off.

All six entries smelled good and looked tasty. More importantly, they were declared delicious by one and all. Mock its reproduction capacity if you must, but zucchini’s flavor enhances everything from pasta dishes to chocolate cake, plus it adds Vitamin A, Vitamin C and potassium and is high in fiber.

Plucking the flowers from a zucchini plant will slow growth, but I’d consider curbing our zucchini production this year to be wasteful — especially with so many good recipes to make. The flowers themselves are an expensive delicacy in some cultures. But if you do harvest the flowers, you’ll still have plenty of zucchini for the little known”Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night” holiday. Yes, this is an actual observance, held on August 8. If only we’d known about that last summer.

Every one of the zucchini dishes submitted by staff and friends was a hit, so we declared them all winners. Trying to award a”first” seemed irrelevant when everybody was enjoying seconds. Here are some of the recipes.


Zucchini Brownies

Submitted by John Andrews, Departments Editor

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, mix the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.

To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.


Zucchini Cake

Submitted by Ruth Steil, Business Manager

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in greased 9×13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.


Zucchini Chili

Submitted by Jana Lane, Circulation Manager

27 oz can chili beans in sauce
15 oz can black beans drained
16 oz can kidney beans drained
1 lb burger cooked and drained
2 cups grated zucchini
1 quart canned tomatoes with juice or 28 oz. can
1 cups canned tomato juice
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 1/2 tablespoons cumin
2 1/2 tablespoons dried cilantro
2 teaspoons paprika

Add all ingredients to a 6-quart Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for 40-45 minutes.


Lemon Zucchini Cookies

Submitted by Andrea Maibaum, Production Manager

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or 1 teaspoon lemon rind
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and lemon extract. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Mix in zucchini and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool and glaze. Makes 30.


Zucchini Bread

Submitted by Michelle Andrews

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup salad oil
2 cup zucchini, peeled and grated
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup nuts

Combine sugars, eggs and oil. Beat well. Add zucchini and vanilla. Sift and measure flour. Sift with salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir into creamed mixture. Blend well. Add nuts. Pour into two greased and lightly floured large tin loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes.


Italian Zucchini Pie

Submitted by Katie Hunhoff, Managing Editor

2 tablespoons butter
4 cups thinly sliced zucchini
1 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 eggs, well beaten
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1 can (8 oz) crescent dinner rolls
2 teaspoons mustard

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and onions; cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in parsley flakes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano. In large bowl, mix eggs and cheese. Add cooked vegetable mixture; stir gently to mix.

Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 10 inch glass pie plate, 12×8 inch (2-quart) glass baking dish or 11-inch quiche pan; press over bottom and up sides to form crust. Firmly press perforations to seal. Spread crust with mustard. Pour egg mixture evenly into crust-lined pie plate. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Improving with Age

Hill City’s heralded winemakers trace their heritage to 19th Century Mobridge

By Katie Hunhoff

Prairie Berry Winery relocated from Mobridge to Hill City in 2004. Larger tanks let Sandi Vojta experiment with wines and begin the fusion label, which blends two fermentations into another style of wine.

Sandi Vojta became a fifth-generation winemaker at the age of four when she experimented with yeast and fermentation. Her dad would take her out to pick chokecherries for wine, tying a piece of twine with a pail attached around her waist so she could pick berries with both hands.”But my favorite part was, and still is, getting the fermentations started; getting the first smell of the fruit’s potential.”

“It has been a way of life. It’s just who I am,” she says. Neither she nor her father has copied a recipe for the family wines.”Instead, we used a taste of the wine that he grew up with. When he made his wine he was trying to replicate that taste, so that is what I tried to do with my wine,” she says.

The winery won a double gold medal at the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its Brianna wine in the white hybrid category. The Brianna grapes are grown at Lewis and Clark Vineyard in Yankton. Their wines have been winning awards at prestigious wine shows for years.”It’s awesome because people are paying attention to the state of South Dakota, and it’s great for our entire state’s wine industry,” Sandi says.

Prairie Berry currently makes about 30 varieties of wine — including the popular, funky Red Ass Rhubarb. The Hill City winemakers are branching out into new tastes, including a fermentation made from West River prickly pear to be released this fall. Vojta has a flavor vision of what she wants to accomplish with each new wine.”Sometimes I feel like I nail it the first time around. For others, I feel like I’m just getting closer to the vision with each release. I’m always trying to make things better. I’m never content.”

Perfect Pairings

Sandi Vojta’s parents taught her how to make wine and how to cook.”We grew up eating a lot of chili, and mom often followed it with steamed apple dumplings,” she says. This dumpling recipe is her mom’s, and the chili is”pretty close to what she used to make.” Vojta chose these recipes as perfect pairings for her Buffaloberry Fusion, Gold Digger and Crab Apple wines.

White Bean Chili

Pair Vojta’s chili with Prairie Berry’s Buffaloberry Fusion wine.

Serves 2 – 4
Paired with Prairie Berry’s Buffaloberry Fusion wine

1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup no-salt added crushed tomatoes (not drained)
4 tablespoons canned chopped green salsa
1 cup water
1 cup canned Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
Juice from 1/2 lime

SautÈ onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and cumin in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, green salsa, water and beans, and bring to boil. (If desired, add 2 ounces cooked ground turkey or diced chicken breast.) Simmer 10 minutes, and serve with lime juice on top.

Steamed Apple Dumpling

Try Prairie Berry’s Gold Digger or Crab Apple wine with these apple dumplings.

Serves 6 – 8
Paired with Prairie Berry’s Gold Digger or Crab Apple wine

2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 quart boiling sweetened apple sauce

Bring the applesauce to a boil in a non-stick Dutch oven. Sift together the dry ingredients, rub in the shortening with fingertips keeping the mixture coarse. Moisten with the milk, mix, turn onto a floured board and pat to one-half inch thickness. Shape with a biscuit cutter and place in the boiling apple sauce.

Cover tightly and boil 20 minutes. Additional sugar and cinnamon may be added to the boiling applesauce if desired.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story is revised from the May/June 2011 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order this back issue or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.