OK, so I’m a day late for Super Bowl Sunday, which, according to my two younger sons should be “National Chili Day”. While I was growing up, my dad was one of those cooks who had certain meals. He made pancakes & sausage on Saturdays and eggs & bacon on Sundays (PopPop still makes eggs & bacon for our kids whenever we visit Sleepy Hollow or he visits Newburyport). And Chili. Chili was our Sunday football game staple, our New Year’s Day open house centerpiece, and still has a place on every buffet table my parents ever set. My dad’s one of those cooks who doesn’t really measure anything, just makes it the same, by eye and taste, every single time.

A friend of mine, who love my dad’s chili and also loved to cook herself, once made her chili for my dad. She wanted him to say it was as good as his. He’s a hard-nosed Irish man who likes things made one way and one way only. He said, “You put garlic in it. You don’t put garlic in chili.” (His reaction was similar when my sister Bridget introduced us to her Vegetarian Chili, which is spectacular, and I promise to share it with you soon.)

When my sister Maureen first moved to San Francisco, one of her roommates was from Wisconsin. When Fred and I visited, they served chili over spaghetti. It didn’t taste much spicier than meat sauce to me. My sister Regina likes to put cheese and sour cream on her chili; I save those for my tacos and nachos. As far as my dad is concerned, once you find something you like, don’t mess with it. And when it comes to this basic ground beef and beans chili, I tend to agree wholeheartedly.

PopPop’s chili

2 lb ground beef (Dad never used lean, I do)
4 cans Progresso dark red kidney beans, drained
2 T chili powder
2 lg onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 T Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco Sauce or Texas Pete’s Hot Sauce (a sentimental favorite because my dad’s name is Pete) to taste
2 lg cans whole tomatoes with juice
salt and pepper to taste

Brown beef, onions, and peppers in large stockpot. Drain fat from pot. Add chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, beans, tomatoes, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Simmer for 2 hours. Taste and fix seasonings if needed. Serve over white rice with corn bread and a green salad (I suppose you could top with sour cream and cheese if you must).

By request

It’s a great compliment when someone requests one of your recipes, but, if you’ve been to three cookouts this month, and been asked for your signature dish every time, you and your family have probably had enough of it. Each summer I like to add a new favorite to my classics so we don’t get bored.

These next couple of days, I’ll post recipes I’ve been asked for recently. If there’s one you’d like me to post, just let me know.

My Classic Potato Salad has a lot of ingredients (my friend Lynne would be very disappointed in me, the list of ingredients should never be longer than the list of directions), but it’s easy—dice, shake, and toss. The Warm Potato and Green Bean Salad (Lynne requests this one all the time!) has several selling points: It’s served warm (great for last-minute plans), it includes a vegetable (almost every gathering these days includes someone avoiding carbs, they can just pick out the potatoes), and it has no mayonnaise (no spoiling in the hot sun).

Classic Potato Salad

1 bag small red potatoes, boiled and diced
1 t onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
2 pickles, chopped
1½ T oil
1 T vinegar
1 T pickle juice
½ c Miracle Whip salad dressing
salt and pepper, to taste
1/8 c Dijon mustard
½ c sour cream
dill and parsley to taste (fresh, if you have it)
basil or tarragon to taste (fresh, if you have it)

Place potatoes, onion, celery, eggs, and pickles into large bowl. Shake condiments in a jar for dressing. Pour over potatoes. Toss salad—shaking in a covered plastic bowl works best. Chill. Top with fresh herbs before serving.

Warm Potato and Green Bean Salad
from The North End Italian Cookbook

2 pounds fresh green beans, tips removed, snapped in half
1 pound new potatoes, unpeeled
2/3 cup olive oil
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
6 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons oregano, dried
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 pinches red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Steam green beans 8-10 minutes, until tender. Drain and place on serving platter. Boil potatoes until just tender. Drain, do not rinse, let cool, then cube, leaving skin on. Add to green beans. Using a large spoon, gently toss beans and potatoes with remaining ingredients. Serve salad at warm or at room temperature.

Brunch, continued

Yesterday I included my Sweet French Toast Strata, but I actually prefer a savory breakfast myself, so I'd serve Bloody Marys or Ruby Red Mimosas, Strawberry-Spinach Salad, and this Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Strata.

Prosciutto and goat cheese strata

18 white bread slices, firm, such as English muffin bread, crusts removed
6 ozs prosciutto, thinly sliced
8 ozs Goat cheese, crumbled
4 ozs Provolone cheese, grated, about 1½ c
¼ c green onion, chopped
1 T dried basil
5 large eggs
2 c milk
1 T Dijon mustard
½ t salt
3 T butter, melted

Line bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish completely with 1 layer of bread, cutting some slices to fit. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly over bread. Sprinkle half of goat cheese and half of provolone over. Sprinkle with half of green onions and half of basil. Top with second layer of bread. Layer remaining prosciutto, goat cheese, provolone, green onions, and basil atop bread. Cut remaining bread into ¼-inch cubes. Sprinkle over top.

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, and salt in bowl. Season with pepper. Pour egg mixture over strata; press down on bread with spatula. Drizzle melted butter over strata. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat oven to 350°F. Uncover strata and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake until center is set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Cut into large squares and serve.

Brunch, the perfect meal

This week the Dunican clan is reconnoitering in Sleepy Hollow, NY, to celebrate Mom & Dad’s 45th wedding anniversary. On the menu for Sunday is brunch, and we like brunch BIG (in part to satisfy our numbers — 14 adults and 17 kids ages 15 to 1; and in part to satify our disparate appetites — picky and not, choco-files and never-ever chocolate-eaters, the sweet breakfast and the savory breakfast). Here’s the menu my sisters and father came up with:

Sweet French Toast Strata
Spiral ham
Baked eggs in ham cups
Hard rolls (that you can only get in greater NYC)
Pastries
Quiche
Cheese plate and rolls
Fruit Salad
Shrimp, Mango, and Apple salad
Blueberry cake or muffins
Sour Cream chocolate chip coffee cake
Anniversary strawberry shortcake
Chocolate mousse cups
Mimosas
OJ
Bloody Marys
V8
Coffee
Tea

For the perfect brunch, I personally think stratas are the perfect brunch food. You prepare them the night before, then just pop them in the oven the day of. Stratas can be sweet or savory. Round out the sweet strata with savory selections hickory smoked bacon and a Caesar salad; or serve the savory strata with sweet maple-cured bacon and Spinach-Strawberry salad.

Here are the two recipes my dad requested of me for this weekend’s celebration.

Sweet French toast strata

2 small loaves raisin bread
1 dozen eggs
1 quart milk
8 oz cream cheese
1 T vanilla extract
1 T cinnamon

Grease 13×9×2-inch glass baking dish. Cube one loaf of bread in the bottom of the baking dish. Slice cream cheese over the bread cubes. Cube the other loaf of bread over the top. Mix together eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat oven to 350°. Uncover strata and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake until center is set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Cut into large squares and serve.

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

12 slices Black Forest ham
12 large eggs
½ c shredded Asiago cheese
½ t salt
¼ t black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. Fit 1 slice of ham into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray (ends will stick up and hang over edges of cups). Divide Asiago cheese among cups, then crack 1 egg into each. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yokes are still runny, about 15 minutes. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using two spoons or small spatulas to a platter.