The 30 Worst Frozen Foods in America
JeanMarie Brownson: A Kettle Of Homemade Chili Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving
JeanMarie Brownson, Tribune Content Agency
I make grilled short rib chili when the weather proves warm enough for the grill sentry. In the fall, a harvest of vegetables inspires a meatless chili. Early on in the year, during the winter, this lean version, based on chicken and butternut squash, helps us stick to healthier resolutions.
Chile — red, green, fresh, dried or powdered — provides the principal flavor component. For long, slow-cooked chilis, I chose dried pods of deep red, richly-flavored ancho and bright guajillo chiles. For green versions, I use roasted hot and sweet fresh green chiles. For fast cooking kettles of red, chili powder made from ground dried red chilies, seasonings and salt works well.
Read labels when selecting a chili powder — avoid those with preservatives, msg and artificial flavors. I seek out local chili powder blends when possible. If your blend is spicy, start with the smaller addition in the recipe below. You can always spice things up, but it's difficult to tone down a pot of chili. If the spice gets away from you, add more canned beans to compensate.
People are also reading…As with any protein purchase, buy the best available. I look for responsibly-raised chicken — without antibiotics in conditions suitable for quality of life. To raise chicken this way means it costs more at the meat counter. I think it's worth it — for flavor, for the earth and to make a statement with my purchases.
For ground chicken, you can make your own in a food processor from a combination of boneless skinless breast and thighs. I like a ratio of 50/50 for leanness with moisture and flavor. Partially freezing the cubed meat will make it easier to grind in the food processor.
If purchasing ready-ground chicken, opt for a version that is minimally processed and at least 8% fat. Keep all ground meats thoroughly chilled up to the time of cooking. Ground turkey or lean ground beef, or a combination, works in this recipe as well.
Frozen diced or refrigerated diced fresh butternut squash make cooking speedy. If using fresh butternut, cut in half at the bulbous end. Peel the long neck portion and cut it into 3/4-inch slabs, then cut the slabs into 3/4-inch cubes. For the bulbous portion, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and peel it. Cut into 3/4-inch slices and then into ¾-inch pieces.
Customize the chili to suit: Stir in sliced fully cooked chicken chorizo or andouille sausage before seasoning with salt, if desired. Use black beans in place of white beans. Swap out half of the butternut for small cauliflower florets. Diced green chiles can be added along with the tomatoes for heat, flavor and color.
Leftover chili keeps well in the refrigerator for several days. Or freeze it packed into small containers for up to a few months.
Chipotle Chicken, Butternut Squash and White Bean Chili1. Heat oil in large 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken. Cook and stir, breaking up any lumps, until chicken is no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in chili powder, chipotle and cumin; cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in butternut squash, tomatoes, undrained beans and tomato paste. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partly covered, stirring often, until butternut squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.
3. Season with salt; heat through. Serve hot in deep bowls with garnishes.
(JeanMarie Brownson is a James Beard Award-winning author and the recipient of the IACP Cookbook Award for her latest cookbook, "Dinner at Home." JeanMarie, a chef and authority on home cooking, Mexican cooking and specialty food, is one of the founding partners of Frontera Foods. She co-authored three cookbooks with chef Rick Bayless, including "Mexico: One Plate at a Time." JeanMarie has enjoyed developing recipes and writing about food, travel and dining for more than four decades.)
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Doctor Claims Thai Restaurant Employee Mishandled Ultra Spicy $11 'Dragon Balls' And Left Her With 'permanent' Injuries
She's turning up the heat.
A California doctor who alleged a Thai food dish was so spicy she suffered "chemical burns" on her throat is taking the case to a jury trial — as new details emerged that could land a restaurant employee in hot water.
A jury will determine whether a mega-spicy appetizer known as "Dragon Balls" served at Coup de Thai in Los Gatos caused neurologist Harjasleen Walia "permanent bodily injuries," siliconvalley.Com reported Wednesday.
In a lawsuit filed last year, Walia claimed the chicken-based dish scalded her vocal cords and esophagus with fiery flavors "unfit for human consumption" — before pinning the blame on a worker who allegedly accidentally added too many peppers to the balls of meat, according to court papers.
A lawsuit over the spicy Thai dish "Dragon Balls" is headed to a jury trial. Marti L./Yelp"A new employee who prepared the dish made an error and added additional peppers, rather than reducing them as requested," Walia, of San Jose, claimed in a November court filing.
A judge this week set a jury trial for August 25 that's expected to last roughly a week, the outlet reported.
After biting into the eye-watering $11 app — which features spicy chicken meatballs made with green onion, cilantro and chilis — Walia felt her "mouth, her tongue, her throat and her nose burn like fire," according to the scathing suit.
She scrambled to ease the painful sensation with a milk-based drink to no avail, notes the lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County in July 2023.
A new worker at Coup de Thai in Los Gatos is accused of adding more peppers — rather than less — to the dish. Google MapsRestaurant staffers should have been trained to serve Thai iced tea or "some other dairy-based product" to customers with bad reactions to "spice intensity" — but there were none of the beverages on hand, according to the suit.
Instead, Walia was forced to chug "an entire glass of coconut water and more water, but the burning did not subside," the lawsuit states.
Walia knew the dish — made with Thai "bird's eye" chili peppers — was spicy but asked the server to have a more mild version prepared for her on July 15, 2021, according to the lawsuit.
A manager at the restaurant later told siliconvalley.Com the appetizer can't be made "mild" because the chilis are cooked inside the meatballs.
Keep up with today's most important newsStay up on the very latest with Evening Update.
Thanks for signing up!The peppers can range from 50,000 to 250,000 heat units — hotter than cayenne peppers but not as fiery as habaneros.
Walia's lawsuit also targets over two dozen individuals, including her server, chefs and other employees who may have "influenced, designed, prepared, or participated in creating" the dish.
"Harjasleen Walia was poisoned, made ill and burned necessitating medical care," the lawsuit states.
"She incurred permanent injuries and will forever be damaged to her body. These consequences are the direct result of defendants serving to her foods unfit for human consumption."
Walia is now seeking compensation for medical expenses along with lost income and damages totally more than $35,000, according to court papers.
Coup de Thai appears to cater to foodies who love spice, billing its itself as a "true revolution of your senses."
A rep for the restaurant didn't immediately return a request for comment from The Post Wednesday.
Border Report: In Baja California, Getting Out The Overseas Vote
Tucked behind the hillsides that rise between Rosarito Beach and Ensenada, the small open-air market at La Mision features stalls with used clothes, tables of dried chilis and a stand of colorful fruit drinks. That's where I found Joan Lucci and Anne Porter last Monday, by a folding table with a poster that read "Yes We Can Vote from Mexico."
The two women are among several hundred U.S.-expats living in and around La Mision, a coastal village located about 45 miles from the U.S. Border. Since July, they've been focused on a singular mission: to make sure friends and neighbors in the area–those who are U.S. Overseas voters–are able to register to vote and request their ballot in time for the Nov. 5 election, no matter which U.S. State they call home.
"The process is different in every state and can be different from county to county," said Lucci, who moved to Baja California four years ago from New Mexico. "It's been quite a learning experience."
With low turnouts, overseas voters have long been overlooked by U.S. Political campaigns. But interest has grown as polls show razor-thin margins between the top presidential contenders–Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. Just a few thousand votes could tip the scales in key battleground states.
Lucci and Porter are volunteers with Vote from Abroad, an arm of Democrats Abroad that helps overseas voters worldwide with the process. The group, which assists voters no matter what their political affiliation, has eight chapters of varying size across Mexico. Baja California's small and newly established chapter is the only one on Mexico's northern border.
"It can be pretty onerous for a lot of people to go through with this process," said Hope Bradberry, Mexico country chair for Democrats Abroad and head of the San Miguel de Allende chapter in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. In areas with large numbers of retirees, voters often need help with issues such as how to find the ballot sent by email from their county's registrar of voters.
"I say, 'Can I look at your phone?' And then in less than five minutes, I'm like, 'Here's your ballot," she said.
In recent weeks, overseas voting has been a hot topic. Trump has accused Democrats of preparing to cheat through overseas voting, though experts say that scenario is virtually impossible. Republicans have filed lawsuits seeking to disqualify some ballots from overseas.
But U.S. Voters have been casting ballots from abroad for years. Since 1986, all U.S. Citizens living outside the country have been entitled to vote in federal elections – whether members of the U.S. Military or private citizens. The first step is registering and requesting an absentee ballot through the Federal Voter Assistance Program.
The potential is large – the Federal Voting Assistance Program estimated that some 2.8 million citizens living overseas were of voting age in 2022. The largest numbers were in Canada, Britain and France. Mexico, with some 90,000 potential voters, ranked seventh, behind Israel, Australia and Japan.
James McCann, a political science professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, conducted a survey of U.S. Citizens living in Canada in 2022 and it showed "many said they were deeply interested in American politics," though only about 25 percent were registered to vote.
A key reason is that political parties and other groups have not focused on getting overseas residents to register and cast their ballots in the same way that they have done domestically. "Think of it as a lot of untapped civic potential outside of the country's boundaries," he said.
Across Mexico, Vote from Abroad volunteers have helped 9,000 voters request ballots this year, Bradberry said. Since September, the San Miguel de Allende chapter, which operates out of an office, has helped close to 1,000 people.
Baja California's new chapter, which started outreach efforts in July in La Mision and the community of Punta Banda, has helped about 200 people so far, Lucci said.
A major challenge is the fact that they have no office and have had to carry out outreach efforts at makeshift outdoor stands, without Fax, reliable phone service or electricity. At La Mision last Monday, Lucci was relying on her cellphone and laptop to contact various county registrar of voters offices as she helped guide individual voters who stopped by.
For all the hurdles, "I feel like I'm doing something that promotes democracy," Lucci said. "This has been a very stressful season and time, and it's a great way to channel that energy in a very positive way."
In Other News Gay nightclub owner murdered: Friends and employees of Omar Guido Chavez, the owner of a popular LGBTQ+ nightclub in downtown Tijuana gathered at the club on Sunday in his memory following his murder earlier this month. Chavez, owner of the Sodoma nightclub, was found dead in the trunk of his car two days after his disappearance on Oct. 16. State officials say they found a "narco message" beside his mutilated remains. Two suspects are in custody. A prosecutor said last week that there was no evidence linking his murder to a hate crime. (Zeta, San Diego LGBTQ News, The Bay Area Reporter)
New Tijuana police chief: A longtime official with Mexico's former intelligence agency, CISEN, Juan Manuel Sánchez Rosales assumed the reins of Tijuana's police department earlier this month. Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño told reporters his new chief was recommended by federal authorities. During his campaign, the mayor had said he would appoint Julian Leyzaola, the former police chief, to the position. Leyzaola will instead serve in an advisory capacity. (El Sol de Tijuana, Zeta)
Mexico's new president visits Baja California: Nearly a month after her inauguration, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum visited Tijuana and Rosarito Beach on Saturday. Sheinbaum toured the San Antonio de los Buenos sewage treatment plant. During her visit, she also promised to build 50,000 new homes in Baja California and said her administration would guarantee residents access to drinking water. The president did not publicly mention public safety issues, a top concern for many residents. (San Diego Union-Tribune, Voz de la Frontera, Reforma, Punto Norte)
Remembering slain journalists: Journalists murdered this year in Mexico will be remembered in Tijuana with a "Day of the Dead" altar to be dedicated Friday at the state cultural center, CEART, in eastern Tijuana. This marks the third consecutive year that Tijuana journalists are installing an altar to protest the slayings and demand that the killers be brought to justice.
San Diegans weigh in on "border crisis": As the Nov. 5 presidential election fuels rhetoric about the U.S.-Mexico border, the San Diego Union-Tribune's Alex Riggins and Alexandra Mendoza interviewed more than two dozen San Diego County residents from Jacumba to Otay Mesa to San Ysidro.
Indefinite immigration detention: Growing numbers of people who have won their cases in immigration court are remaining in detention while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeals the judges' rulings, Kate Morrissey writes in Capital & Main.
PedWest partial closure continues: The opening of the PedWest pedestrian entrance at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in 2016 was seen as a game-changer in reducing border wait times, adding more inspection lanes to process pedestrian border crossers between Tijuana and San Ysidro. Yet it's been four years since it's been fully operational, reports Gustavo Solis of KPBS radio. "And there is no sign of its reopening any time soon," he says.
Books, coffee and jazz: KPBS's Matthew Bowler profiles Libros, Cafe y Jazz, a unique bookstore in Tijuana off the beaten path that is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
World Design Capital: Champions of a Tijuana cultural initiative known as Callejon Rio Bravo are preparing to present their project at the World Design Capital's Exchange Pavilion on Thursday from noon to 6 p.M. The project involves the conversion of a largely abandoned alley off of Bulevar Agua Caliente in Colonia Revolución into a cultural and educational space. Thursday's scheduled events in San Diego include poetry, dancing, ranchero music, and other activities intended to evoke the spirit of the alley, said Adrian Gamboa, director of CZ GREEN, a nonprofit that has been spearheading the effort.
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