Chili
A couple years ago we had a dinner party that was straight out of a movie. Great people and great conversation out under the stars at our home with twinkling lights everywhere. We ate and drank well into the night. Everyone felt it the next day. It was sort of epic.
One of the thoughts that came out of that event was a feeling of family and friends, food and wine, laughter and love. We wanted to replicate that as often as possible and although we do have a two or three big dinner parties a year, more often it’s the Sunday Supper we adore.
Sunday Supper is very specific. It’s clearly on Sunday and usually at 4:00p. Invites are very difficult to come by and guests are matched up for compatibility. We rarely cook during the week so Tere likes to pull out all the stops on Sundays. She’s made many a fine meal that I will do my best to document going forward as they are usually repeated every so often.
Recently, I asked for chili. It was getting colder and the weather made me want to hunker down and snuggle under a blanket and watch random television. Chili seemed appropriate. Tere found this chili recipe at Epicurious and it is excellent. I ate it for a week straight and probably suffered a few consequences because of it. The chili is worth it but the Lime Crema (aka lime creme fraiche) is what makes this chili amazing. Do not overlook the simple sour cream and lime because it’s so good, you’ll want to bathe in it.
Chili requires cornbread. I don’t know exactly why but it does. Tere’s a bit fancy so she went all out the first time and made corn muffins from a Bouchon bakery mix from Williams-Sonoma. It was good but I’m simple and really just wanted regular corn bread. The second time she made chili, she went for “regular” corn bread and made this one she retrieved from Whole Foods. It was good too but I really just wanted the old stand-by from my childhood. You know the one - in the blue and white box? Yes, Jiffy mix. On the third try, she finally found it and I had the cornbread muffins that made me happy. Sometimes, comfort food means feeling like a kid again.