Chipotle Bison & Sweet Potato Chili

I'm not sure which is more enjoyable: coming home to dinner cooking and the kitchen smelling like a chef has been slaving away all day, or dipping corn bread into a warm bowl of chili bite after bite, and watching the snow float to the ground through a window. (For gluten-free, this is my go-to corn bread; For grain-free corn bread, try this recipe).

This chili recipe is becoming a regular in our household. It's the kind of dish you want to serve yourself when the night is cold and a sofa with a pile of blankets awaits. It's the kind of dish you serve to guests for the first wintery game night of the season, or the first scary movie of October. 

With chipotle peppers in adobo, this chili is a "solid medium," at least that's what about four of my friends told me after they were about half way through their bowls. It's not a chili for those that can't handle the heat, but it's not going to light your mouth on fire (to me, this means I'll still be able to enjoy eating it--I can palette spicy food, but when it comes to a meal I'd really rather just sit back and taste it). 

This dish feels superbly fall-like to me: summer produce, like tomatoes and chili peppers, meet winter produce, like sweet potatoes. It's a dish to serve when the weather just starts to turn, and you pull out your first sweater, but nothing is stopping you from cooking it through out the winter, too. If we were football watchers, this would be our football dinner. (We're not.)

For a strictly Paleo version of this chili you'll have to skip the black beans. You can experiment with adding something in their place, but it's not necessary. Instead of cheese on top, serve bowls with slices of avocado. (Ok, the avocado thing sounds like a really good idea all around, so I'm going to go ahead and say everyone should do this, regardless of cheese consumption). 

Chipotle Bison & Sweet Potato Chili

Published October 24, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 20 active minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground bison
• 4 ounces chipotle adobo sauce
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes 
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon coriander
• Salt & pepper 
• 1/2 - 1  teaspoon cumin
• 2 cups bone broth
• Optional garnish: cilantro, shredded cheese, and sliced jalapeños

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to your slow cooker and stir, breaking meat into small crumbles. Set to “medium” setting, and set timer to 8 hours.
2. After 8 hours, serve in bowls. Garnish with cheese, minced cilantro, and sliced jalapeños.

Artichoke & Provolone Soup

This soup is California to me. It is first and foremost, a reminder of the road trips my mom and I would take down the Californian coast when I was a kid, and the soup she always told me has her favorite: Artichoke Provolone. Of course, almost all of artichokes sold commercially in the US are grown in California... it's climate is just sublimely artichoke-y. 

There is a part of California that has always been subtly homey to me; My grandparents owned a small farm in the northern part of the state for most of my life, and I would visit over the summer to chase the chickens around. There were always plenty of hugs. My grandmother and I would play solitaire in the dated kitchen. Sometimes we would walk to the grocery store or go to the swimming pool. The days were bright and our kitchen was full of warmth.

When you take canned artichoke hearts and you blend them into a creamy soup the result is surprisingly bright. There are notes of acidic lemon, the nuttiness of the artichoke and the full, creamy body of the soup itself, thanks to a healthy heaping of cheese and potatoes. It is bright, and full of warmth. 

My last trip to California started as a business trip but ended very personal with a visit to my grandmother in the hospital. As luck would have it, I was waiting for inspiration to write and share this recipe on that very day: a bowl of artichoke provolone soup was exactly what was needed. 

Artichoke & Provolone Soup

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

If you love artichokes, this creamy soup is a must-try.

Serves: 8   |    Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 33 ounce jar of artichoke hearts (I get this by the 2-pack at Costco)
• 1 pound white potatoes (3 medium sized)
• 4 cups broth
• 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
• 1 white onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• Salt & pepper
• 1 cup shredded provolone (3/4 for soup, 1/4 for garnish)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Optional: More artichokes for garnish
• Optional: More cream for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter over medium heat on the stove. Dice onion, and add to the pot. Mince the garlic, and add that as well. Stir. Cook until onions are translucent.
2. Meanwhile, peel and dice the potatoes. Add diced potatoes to the pot, then add artichokes, and a few cracks of salt & pepper. Pour broth into pot, and cover. Bring to gentle boil. Cook until potatoes are tender all the way through: about 10-15 minutes (test them with a fork occasionally).
3. Working in batches, transfer soup to a high-speed blender and puree until smooth (I use a BlendTec , which is really good at getting all of the artichoke pureed. I’ve also tried with an immersion blender, and it works but the artichoke does not get blended as well).
4. Return soup to pot. Stir in cheese and creamy, allowing the cheese to melt as you do. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, topped with additional cheese, a drizzle of cream, artichokes, and a crack of fresh pepper.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Autumn Vegetables

Update: This recipe was updated with new images and a few recipe tweaks on 11/9/2018 to make it better than ever! I’ve been slowly updating images on old recipes because I’ve learned so much about photography in recent years!

Phew. 

After searching for over a year, we finally moved to a new home! My emotions are a mix of excited for the months ahead and--if I am being honest- exhausted. It's true the move was tiring: packing up and hauling everything to a new place is always an ordeal, but we had great help from friends (thanks!!) which made it feel more like an adventure. The truth is, it was looking for a home that was the ultimate exercise in patience, convincing myself that even after a year of visiting at least a hundred properties, something would come up. Not only would something come up, but somehow, someway, we'd be lucky enough to move there. (No one tells you quite how exhausting it will be). 

Now that it is done it is almost unreal, as if none of it ever happened and we've been here all along. We made a lot of compromises over the last year, decided what we really want. Coming to peace with hard decisions is never easy, but I'm not one to dwell. Personally I've always thought that worrying about the un-changeable is a painful waste of energy. Instead, I prefer to see my mark and make the most of it, determining my next play. 

What helps is cooking up a storm, and filling the air with home scents like pumpkin pie and autumn stew. 

This autumn stew is like a traditional beef stew — simmered slowly with broth and wine, bay leaves and thyme - but also calls for winter squash (I used butternut, but kabocha or red kuri would work, too!) which gives it a fall touch. Especially in late fall, when the weather is brisk (the high today was 41°F!).

I find that more beef stews go well with Pinot Nior and this one is no exception! Plus, made in your slow cooker, it’s easy-going.

I do all my chopping in the morning before heading to work, and put everything in the removed stainless steel pot of an Instant Pot. Then, when I get home I take the pot out of the fridge and put the pot back in the Instant Pot, place the lid on, and set the timer for 4 hours. We head to gym, run errands, all that jazz, and get home to a flavorful meal. (P.S., you can cut the cooking time a bit short (30-45 minutes) if you get home before the 4 hours is up. Just check to make sure the beef is cooked through! The last hour does let the flavors mingle and does really soften up the beef, but some evenings you just run out of time. Obviously if you’re able to start the pot at 1 or 2, it’s a mute point because it’ll be done cooking before the sun goes down.)

Serving with warm mash potatoes or a piece of crusty bread is spot on.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Autumn Vegetables

Published October 17, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 4 hours

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Ingredients:

2 pounds beef chuck, cubed (ask your butcher to dice it for you if it is not already diced)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 yellow onion, minced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 cup wine

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup beef or chicken broth

3 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 small winter squash, peeled and seeded (butternut, kabocha, kuri, etc)

1 tablespoon Italian herbs (or, a mix of dried thyme, rosemary, oregano)

2 bay leaves

1 pinch fennel seeds

Several dashes salt & pepper

Optional, to serve: minced parsley

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of your Instant Pot or slow cooker on the Sauté setting. When the oil is hot, add diced onion, minced garlic, and celery and sauté until onion is translucent.
2. Add cubed beef to the pot, allowing it to brown on the edges. Stir every 2-3 minutes to brown each side.
3. Pour in the wine, diced tomatoes, and broth, and add the chopped carrots and squash. Add herbs, spices, salt and pepper and stir.
4. Place lid on Instant Pot and set to “Slow Cooker” setting. Adjust to “high” and set timer for 4 hours with the vent in the sealed position.
5. When timer goes off, open pot and laddle into bowls. Top with minced parsley and serve hot.