Over the Top Chili with Corn Bread

You may remember that on Super Bowl Sunday I made Over the Top Chili and Poppers.

As I mentioned, I was the only one who actually had more than just a taste, and I enjoyed it enough that I really thought I should make it again so others in my family can give it a try.

I think this is now my favorite way to make chili.

I got out the Dutch Oven on Tuesday and made it again.

For a side, I also made corn bread.

This time, the meat I picked for the chili was a combination of ground chorizo and some ground beef I had left over from burgers I made over the weekend.

Over the Top Chili and Poppers

So ... on Super Bowl Sunday, after my famous Super Sunday Fun Run B-Race I made some food for us to eat while watching the game.

Of course, you know I had to make it outside on one (or more) of my grills.

It's become a tradition that I make Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers, and of course my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) demanded that I do it again.

So, that was a no-brainer. Happy Wife. Happy Life. (nothing rhymes with husband)

Lately, I've seen various posts on online BBQ forums of people doing "Over the Top" Chili.

And ... until this recent trend, I had never heard of such a thing.

But, it is pretty simple, and I thought I'd give that a try as well.

Glop

On Sunday, I had planned on getting a Chucky on the Weber Kettle in the morning to use in pulled-beef sandwiches for dinner.

But, I totally forgot until a little later in the day when I wasn't sure I'd have enough time to get it pull-apart tender.

So ... I decided to save it for our Mardi Gras dinner (Tuesday, which is the next time I was "scheduled" to make dinner).

So, I needed something fairly quick to make.

I actually had a loose plan and ingredients to make an Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake for Fat Tuesday. For some reason, my wife and kids have traditionally wanted breakfast-for-dinner on Mardi Gras. I find this weird, but generally I play along with their wants.

Whole Chicken in the Dutch Oven

So ... remember Another Whole Chicken in the Vortex?

At some point I realized that I could basically do the same thing in a cast iron Dutch oven.

So ... fairly recently I gave it a try.

It was a snowy work day back in January. 

I placed the Dutch oven down on the charcoal grate and place lit charcoal around it. 

The chicken went on the Beer Can stand up in the middle.

You can see what I mean in the following pictures.

Basically the same as in the Vortex ... only in the Dutch oven.

Mothers' Day Kettles

This past Sunday was Mothers' Day.

My wife's parents were visiting so we had two mothers in the house.

My older son also came home from college.

The two mothers decided they wanted grilled ribeye steaks for their dinner, which at our house means I had to cook.

As I generally reverse-sear my steaks, the 6 ribeyes fit just perfectly around my vortex on the 26 inch kettle.

In order to get sides done, I needed to pull out both of my Weber Kettles, and do the sides on my 22 inch.

The main side I made was the dish I made for Easter, Pecan Smoked Potatoes Au Gratin. I also grilled some corn.

Pulled Pork Shepard's Pie

Remember a few weeks ago I made Brisket Shepard's Pie? It turned out awesome.

At the time I mentioned that I would probably like to try a pulled pork Shepard's pie at some point too.

Well ... I had some frozen left over pork butt in my freezer that I decided to put into Shepard's Pie this past weekend.

Brisket Shepard's Pie

Last time I made brisket, I vacuum sealed and froze most of the point.

See Superbowl Brisket.

Since then, the brisket point has been sitting in the freezer waiting for an opportunity for me to use it in a relatively quick meal.

This past weekend, my wife and kid wanted to go out and watch The Batman, and as it is a long movie, I knew I wouldn't have a whole lot of time in the afternoon to prepare dinner.

I thought a Shepherds (Shepard's) Pie would be something good to make with left-over brisket.

This is something I thought would be great to prepare in the morning and just pop on the Weber Kettle for an hour or so.

So ... Saturday morning, I made some mashed potatoes, and heated up the brisket in a gravy with onion and corn.

Pecan Smoked Potatoes Au Gratin

We received a Honey Baked Ham as a gift this year.

My kids had already told me that they wanted Ham for Christmas dinner, and I decided to just heat up the gift ham.

The ham came with various sides, some of which we prepared with Christmas dinner, but my wife told me she wanted "real" Au Gratin Potatoes.

So ... I made some.

As I rarely cook inside, I decided to cook my Au Gratin Potatoes on one of my Weber Kettles with a little Pecan wood to add a little smoke flavor.

As far as I remember, this is the first time I've ever made Au Gratin Potatoes. I googled recipes and decided to use one I found on All Recipes as a starting point.

Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew

In Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake, I mentioned that at my work, we have this "Friday Breakfast Club". People on one of my teams take turns bringing in breakfast for the rest of the group every Friday.

Recently, one of my people brought in what he called "Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew".

I really liked it and thought it would be a good thing to make to help me use up left over smoked meat.

This past Saturday, my family wanted to go to Saturday night church (I was out-voted as I usually am).

When we go to church on Saturday night, I try to make something I can throw in the Crock-pot. And it seemed like a good opportunity to try this "Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew".

Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake

So .... at my work, we have this "Friday Breakfast Club". People on one of my teams take turns bringing in breakfast for the rest of the group every Friday.

It is a good deal. Everyone's turn comes up once every two and a half months. And, we get homemade breakfasts every Friday.

Fun stuff.

When it is my turn ... the house tends to smell pretty amazing in the morning and The SheppyBrew Beer Model gets a little jealous. I try to make it again for her over the next few days.

Last Friday was my turn to bring in food. And so Saturday I made some more for my wife.

Of course ... I never actually make the same thing twice ... so I had to change it up a little bit the second time around.

Here is (basically) the recipe I used to bring in to my co-workers. Note ... I doubled the recipe below so that I wouldn't have to worry about running out.