Bestie Guest Post--Prepare Yourself for Americana

This morning I received an email. It was from one of the Besties.You may remember them from the Inondations de Paris. They both live in Austin, our former home before all the European madness ensued.
My lovely friend wrote a guest post for us. Mon Mari, who happens to be travelling again this week, is in our beloved Austin. And he arrived just in time for the Superbowl.This post is about how the Besties fed and entertained Mon Mari, American Style. And as I read this I realize how different it is here in France...there are no green chiles just knocking around, nor are there refried beans, chipotle salsa, Fritos, or chile powder. And she doesn't specify the cheese, just shredded because if you live in the US and are making a Tex-Mex 7-layer bean dip you know you should buy shredded Monterey Jack or maybe spice it up with a Pepper Jack. Il n'existe pas!
Man....I really want a chili dog!

Guest Bestie

 While Le Pere is on work travel, I am serving as a roving correspondent and poor fill-in for Mama's cuisine extraordinaire.

As he arrived on American soil the day before the great American football fete—the Superbowl—we decided we needed to go all out and really lay on what is best—and some might argue worst—of American classics. And although I am not qualified to claim it due to my birth in Yankee country, it even smacked very closely of Texas classics.

On tap for the evening:  7-layer dip, chili, chili dogs and brisket.  There was a rogue jezebel sauce appetizer thrown in because I had some left over from Christmas and it’s one of Aidan’s favorites so it was our homage to her in her absence.   So here, in all the gory details was our meal:

7 layer dip:  this was no open the jar, pour in one layer, open another jar and repeat. This involved actual cooking. 

1.       The first layer was refried beans heated and stirred with Cholula.  For those of you outside of Texas (and my husband who DESPITE his native Texan credentials doesn't know) it’s basically Mexican Tabasco that is found in just about every restaurant in Texas. (Apparently, Bennett is from the ketchup side of Texas)

2.       Then a layer of green chiles and cilantro.

3.       Sour cream with lime zest.

4.       Black beans cooked with cumin.

5.       A layer of chipotle salsa. 

6.       Guacamole with a bit of salt and diced tomatoes.

7.       Shredded cheese.

Following this we had chili….with no beans of course because that would be un-Texan. Indeed.  

1.      Grind in food processor pork tenderloin and flank steak until meat is in small chunks but not ground. Mix with ground bison or buffalo.

2.       Create a spice mixture of ground ginger, cumin, garlic powder, instant coffee, paprika and chili powder.  Roast in bottom of large stock pot until it smokes.  Remove from pot.

3.       Add 2 diced yellow onions and 4 garlic cloves.

4.       Add meat mixture to pot onions and garlic and brown for about 10 minutes.

5.       Add in spice mixture, a few drops of liquid smoke, beef stock and 1 beer.  (Note: I have decided that I don’t really like liquid smoke, so in the next go-round, I’ll probably add some chipotle with adobo sauce instead for the smoky flavor.)  I also added in a rind of parmesan cheese to cook through the whole thing.

6.       Cook for a few hours until really yummy

Kristin

Our partner in crime (Kristin) decided to really take the delectability up a few notches with hot dogs. And while she learned that Whole Foods does not sell Fritos thus robbing us of the classic Superbowl treat—Frito Pie—we were quite contented by one amazing chili dog. Which we both sucked down with gusto despite the lack of a Tastee Freeze nearby (but that would be John Mellencamp who is not from Texas, so it was okay).