Wild Mushroom Chili (What Makes Chili Chili?) and Party Poopers

Thanks for all the good wishes for my upcoming journey! It is cold, snowy and icy here, and windy enough that our thermometer blew off the wall and our heaviest ladder blew down. But as far as I know, we are not in line to get overly pounded by the forecast superstorm down here. I put out the hope that everyone up in Nome will be safe.

Huge storms like this, and the smaller ones last week, with their power outages and downed trees, are a reminder not to take anything for granted. Planning makes life so much more manageable for me, but so much of planning assumes that things are going to go a certain way, which they may not. I intend to remember that this upcoming week, as I prepare to travel away from here, with the long, sometimes treacherous drive to Anchorage and a couple of tricky flight connections to make.

Speaking of changing plans, Phil and I were headed to a party on Sunday night. It was the 'Chili Cook-Off' party, and I was pretty proud of my creation. We arrived, and Phil took one look at all the cars parked around the house, on the street, down the next street, and turned the truck around and drove us back home!


Party poopers? Maybe, although probably no one missed us, there were that many people there. Introverts? Well, I certainly am. Phil wouldn't ordinarily answer to that description, but he has a streak of it.
Noise-phobes? Why, yes indeed. A major deterrent was the thought that we wouldn't be able to hear anything that anyone said in a throng that size. Phil also remarked that the home in question only had one bathroom, which would likely be permanently tied up. I was surprised that he thought of that, but it was a good point.

I was slightly disappointed, and I was upset about the unnecessary gas consumption from driving. But I was also soon glad to have the evening clear to get some work done. And I'm grateful for the encouragement: I wouldn't have made this chili without the prompting, and I think it's a good one!

Honestly, though, it may not really be a "chili" as most people think of it. I wasn't raised with chili, so I don't have a stereotype of it in my mind. To me, this is chili because it utilized lots of chili powder and beans. Not it? OK. But it was really good, whatever you want to call it.

Wild Mushroom Chili (or What You Will)

1 cup dried wild mushrooms soaked in two cups boiling water

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tablespoon crushed chilis

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 cups cooked pinto beans (or one can)

1 cup cooked adzuki beans

2 cups mixed vegetables

While the mushrooms are soaking in the water, saute the onion and garlic in the coconut oil, and add the ginger and spices. 

Put the mushrooms and water in the crockpot with the beans. 

When the onions are translucent, add the onion mixture to the crockpot. 

Cook on low for 3-4 hours

Add the mixed vegetables and cook for another hour.

It feels funny to me to be using mixed frozen vegetables--it seems like such a shortcut. But it is winter here.

When we got home from our snowy abortive ride to the party, this was delicious and warming. The wild mushrooms give it a great texture and flavor. 

Have you ever left a party before you even arrived?

Ways of Being Our Best - A Spectrum of Compromises and Some Cooked Food

I am very fortunate that I have always been a free agent in my mother's kitchen. Since I was a teenager or maybe younger, she's always been very gracious when I've swooped in and taken over, although I think I'm better at failing to make a mess nowadays!

In my last couple of posts, I've been talking about staying well-fed to avoid blood sugar catastrophes and emotional nightmares, which is apparently far from a no-brainer from me and can be very hard to do! Staying at my parents', it was pretty easy for the most part: but a couple of times it helped me to break my general rule of trying to eat very conservatively, very little different from my normal foods, while traveling. I probably ate slightly more cooked food, although not every day.

Generally, I'm so much more at ease not being strictly 100% raw: that state of restriction was actually somewhat pathological. It definitely fed my eating-disordered tendencies rather than my body, and I'm sure that all the stress about 'are these nuts raw?' 'what temperature were those raisins dried at?' was harmful to my body too. I don't worry about those minutiae anymore, because I don't think they constitute the big picture in health. Raisins, dates, pistachios in southern California are exposed to temperatures well above 115 degrees just sitting on the tree, let alone when things like raisins and prunes are dried on the ground in the sun, and tropical fruits ditto. Berries in northern climates withstand very cold temperatures and maintain life force. It's not a black and white thing. And as for cacao, I had noticed before, and definitely noticed again with my recent raw cacao taste tests, that non-raw cacao doesn't affect me as badly as does the raw kind. Both kinds definitely impact my adrenals in ways that I can feel directly, but the raw cacao does so more immediately and more intensely. Last week in Anchorage I ate some veggies simmered in a coconut curry when we were at a Thai restaurant with friends, and felt much better satiated than if I'd obstinately insisted on merely getting one of their salads minus all the dressing, tofu or meat.

So, it's all about compromises and figuring the best way to be my best!

Back in London, I did make all kinds of beautiful raw goodies - mentioned the cilantro (coriander) chutney and lemon-cauliflower that I made before, and a beautiful marinaded cauliflower/purple kale/shredded carrot/green apple salad with a spicy cashew dressing...

One night I also made a no-sugar raw pie, with almond-hazelnut-flax-stevia-coconut oil-lemon zest crust,  and a cashew-lemon-stevia filling, thickened with a little agar...

...and further thickened and sweetened by some coconut milk powder, just like I used for my kefir, that I found at the Indian shop near my parents' house. Even with only stevia and no xylitol, the pie was really delicious and was well-received.

I used the coconut milk powder in a cooked dish that I made that I was very proud of. It was a curried coconut dal with eggplants (aubergine) and later also zucchini (courgette). Both these vegetables were salted for thirty minutes and then rinsed well before cooking. I used a mixture of mung dal (split mung beans) and urd beans (which I'd never tried before: tiny beans with a great, nutty flavor and solid texture). Soaked both of these overnight. While they simmered on the back burner, I melted coconut oil, added mustard seeds, coriander seeds, a little cumin and cayenne, and sauteed the sliced eggplant and onion...

Blended up some coconut milk powder with warm water and some turmeric and ginger, and added it...

Added the beans, and also a couple of cardamom pods (you can see them in the photo): probably my very favorite spice...

 ...and let simmer for a while so that everything was soft and infused with flavor. The eggplants were so succulent and giving, the beans still had texture and so much flavor; the coconut/cardamom/spicy combination was just delectable.

Then, a couple nights later, I took it to the next level with the leftovers. I sauteed the zucchini and another half onion in a little more coconut oil with some more of the same spices, added more coconut milk, mixed it together with the leftover eggplant dal, and baked in the oven!

This was so delicious I couldn't believe it! The baking married the flavors even more, and browned the top for an extra treat.

My tummy was happy too: what a great way to make a compromise!

But I think that my compromises and general kitchen presence are accepted most of all because of my willingness to fix foods that I don't eat. The night that I made the above goodies, there was a desire for apple pie as the 'real' dessert, with a hankering for an apple pie with a custard topping. I told my mum that I didn't have time to make the pastry from scratch but that if she could provide that, I'd take on the rest of the pie. Fortunately, she had some pre-made short pastry in the freezer. I got to work marinating apple slices and chopped dates in lemon juice, brown sugar and spices, blind-baked the crust, baked with the apples until browned and made stovetop custard meanwhile... Put all together and warmed through before serving:

Not the most beautiful presentation ever, perhaps (and I'm not the best photographer either) but it was definitely a hit and well-enjoyed, and considering how last-minute it was and that I did it all by nose and instinct, I think it went quite well!

How far will you go in compromise?
Sending love...