Those baked eggs look amazing, I defintiely want to give that a try.

Re: bread - I love the sliced multigrain as well as the whole wheat sourdough sliced breads from Bread Alone, but I’ll agree, there’s nothing like a Balthazar baguette, and I have loved the various Amy’s breads I’ve tried. I can’t say I’ve had any Eli’s breads - I’ll have to check them out!

As for the chili, I don’t really have a recipe, per se - I start with the same basic ingredients for a standard batch, which is one large onion, diced and sauteed in a tablespoon or so of oil until soft, 2 peeled and smashed cloves of garlic, and a pound of ground beef, crumbled and cooked until it loses its raw color. I add my first amounts of dry seasonings next: 2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon each of chipotle powder, ground cumin and coriander, and 3-4 tablespoons of my husband’s homemade chile powder. I stir those through the meat and onions, caramelize a tablespoon or so of tomato paste in a hot spot and stir that in as well. After that, I add a 14.5 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes (reserving the juice) and break those up a bit before adding two cans of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed. I add some kosher salt and the juice of half a lime, lid it up and let it cook for at least half an hour over medium-low heat, tasting from time to time to adjust my seasonings. I usually end up adding more cumin because I love the flavor, and I often up the heat factor by adding some hot pepper sauce (our good friend Ed’s Evil Hot brand is my favorite). And that’s pretty much it! I think it turns out slightly different every time, and I’ve substituted ground chicken or turkey for the beef, and black beans for the kidney beans with good results.

I also have been lurking for a few months and love your blog. Your chilli looks amazing - and I have had a look but cant find a recipe - do you have one I could have at all?

Many thanks,

Carrie

I’ve been lurking for a few months and just wanted to say congrats on your great blog (and your thoughtful cooking). As a fellow farmer’s market devotee, I have to ask you about Bread Alone. My husband and I do buy from there out of convenience while shopping, but it can’t hold a candle to Amy’s or Eli’s or Balthazar, IMO. Would love to know your thoughts.

Kalyn - Thanks! My base recipe can be found here. For my Thanksgiving version, I omitted the tomatoes and instead added two eggs, a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream, a bit of finely chopped Coppa, some fresh thyme, salt and pepper to my two buttered baking dishes, then topped them with the finely grated cheese. They took about 12-15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.