Sunday we drove down to Niagara to chop down our Christmas tree. We started this tradition last year for something new to do; we found this family tree farm close to two restaurants we love and decided to make a day of it — tree chopping and lunch! We decided to go to Treadwells in Port Dalhousie, a lovely restaurant where the Dad is the Chef and the son is the Sommelier. We’ve been several times and we’re never disappointed; I had the French Onion Soup which I would highly recommend, JT had the lobster club — very decadent with the duck fat fried bread! My good fried Barb recommended the restaurant about 4-5 years ago — which is a perfect segway to the Crock Pot Chili we just made because it’s Barb’s recipe!
Our New Christmas Tree
Barb just started blogging and her latest blog post was of the Crock Pot Chili; what a perfect meal — the wonderful aroma wafting through the house, welcoming us upon our return with our tree! Please check out Barb’s blog Profiteroles and Ponytails. I’ve know barb for almost 20 years now, we met at my very first job, KPMG in their National Marketing department. Barb was a writer and I was the Senior Manager in the Design Department. We’ve not worked for KPMG for many years now, but we’ve been good friends ever since. Barb has always loved cooking and this blog is the perfect succession to her passion. Please do pay her a visit, she knows all about my blogging ‘friends’ and is excited to hopefully meet you!
The chili is pretty much to Barb’s recipe, with a few minor alterations as I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand. I only had 300g of ground beef and turkey, so I added chopped Chorizo so that we could get 4-6 meals out of it (I’ll freeze it in batches of single servings so we can have a quick lunch on the weekends we’re too busy to cook). I also didn’t have canned beans, so I used 1 cup of dried Navy Beans; and because they had to reconstitute while cooking, I added 2 additional cups of stock to the pot. I also used home made tomato sauce, made with the tomatoes from our generous neighbours to the north. I added some mushrooms because I had them and they needed to be used up. The chili turned out quite delicious, richly flavoured with all spice, cocoa and chili powder. We served them in our little single serve Le Creuset casserole pans, topped with the delicious cornbread topping. I dolloped some non-fat Greek Yogurt with the chopped green onions on top. YUM! Thanks Barbie!
Barb's delicoius Crock Pot Chili
Kitcheninspirations 
[…] went Christmas tree chopping on Sunday (you may recall we did this last year too), I probably shouldn’t have gone, but I really, really, really wanted to. And it was […]
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That is for sure, a beautiful looking tree. Would love to see a photo of it all decorated. When I was growing up in NZ we used to go to the forest and chop down a tree but I haven’t found anywhere in Sydney where I can have that fun. Would love to give my children that same experience of choosing and chopping their own tree.
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Hey Charlie Louie, thank you. I have a decorated version in my blog from Monday or Tuesday. There aren’t very many places in Ontario to cut your own tree, it seems that the tree farms can make more money selling to the nurseries and not the general public. It’s too bad because it is a really fun adventure.
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I last went out to cut a Christmas tree with a friend and her family at least 15 years ago. It was a fun day out … lunch, shopping, hiking out to find the perfect tree, cutting it, then the long drive back in the dark listening to Christmas carols. 🙂
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Hi Maria,
We also did this 25 years ago with my Mom, my brother and his new wife; we came back to our house for much needed hot chocolate and dinner. It was such fun.
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Your individual mini casseroles look just beautiful Eva. I’ll have to give that idea a try — the girls would love it!
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Thanks Barbie, the recipe was perfect for our day. We were both very impressed with the flavours. I was going to freeze the batch tonight, but JT said he would love to have it for lunch tomorrow too@ Kudos to you. Loved it! Thank you.
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Eva – the day sounds delightful and the restaurant…yummy! The chili sounds delicious and I’m going to head to Barb’s blog and say hello! Thanks and I hope you’re having a GREAT day!
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Thank you Ann. It wasn’t all healthy food, but it sure was tasty! Than ks for checking out my friends blog, I truly appreciate it.
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What a yummy and comforting recipe! And I love that you served it in small individual crock pots! They look so elegant! 🙂
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Thank you Manu. I love using my mini crocks, so adorable! I’m really a sucker for those types of things:-)
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That chilli sounds amazingly good! And duck fat fried bread for a club sandwich? I am so intrigued by that! 😮
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Lorraine, you should get them to invite you to Ontario to do a review! The duck fat was a tad over the top, but tasty none-the-less!
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” even though $40 is a bit pricey, it may be worth for the free shipping…they are not light!”
Well, if I ever have the money to blow, I’ll think about it. 🙂
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You’re right, Maria, I paid a quarter of that price! I’ve seen replicas at kitchen type stores; if you don’t heat them, they should work for presentation!
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It’s not a very good idea to read food blogs at this time…I am so HUNGRY looking at the crock pot chilli!
Can’t wait to see your decorated X’mas tree!
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Thanks Angie, I know what you mean, I’ve been looking up Christmas cookie recipes and I could easily eat a dozen cookies right now!
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I don’t think that I ever seen chili presented in such an appealing way. I know I couldn’t have done that. 😉
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Thank you Jed, that is a lovely compliment. I wish I had added the little lids in the background, I simply forgot. To be honest, the chili was even better today when I had it for lunch.
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I love chillies – it’s amazing how a dish so simple in name and idea and yield such a vast number of variations. You could probably spend a lifetime of eating chilli 3x a day and still not have tried all the variations people come up with!
This one looks great and I just love the “all-in-one” cornbread on top… awesome idea 😀 I have some little Le Creuset “cocottes” too (I think that’s what they’re called), but mine are a size smaller.
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Hi Charles, you’ll have to give me the name of the kitchen store you go to in Paris so I can check it out when we’re there next year. I’ve not made chili for quite some time, and I wanted to introduce everyone to my friend Barb, so it was the perfect opportunity.
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Absolutely, though I have to be honest and say that after checking things out in real stores I often buy the product on Amazon because it’s so much cheaper. After finding my “de Buyer” saucepans I wouldn’t buy any more in stores… Amazon is about €20-€50 cheaper per pot! There’s a fun chain of stores called “Bruit dans la Cuisine” and also a very nice store near the Champs-Elysees, although the name escapes me right now…
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Charles, I generally find Amazon expensive, particularly the shipping. I was trying to buy a Max Burton commercial induction burner on Amazon and the shipping was about half of what the cost of the burner was; I found the same thing on ebay in California and they only charged $40 for shipping! I do like the product reviews on Amazon, though.
Thanks for the tips for the kitchen shops.
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I was just thinking of starting up a batch of crockpot chili, too. And, like you, I’ll make far more than I need and freeze the leftovers. A hot bowl of chili or steaming bowl of bean soup are the perfect antidotes for the cold days that are sure to come.
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I totally agree John. The chili and some crusty bread, very tasty!
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I’d go for the duck fat fried bread alone. Great tree too!
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Thanks Greg, the duck fat fried bread was very tasty. My mom used to make duck at least 4 times a year and she would save the rendered fat. Back in those days we would slather it on bread and a little salt. It makes me a bit queasy to even think about it now, let alone eat it.
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My parents briefly raised ducks and I was the recipient of about half a dozen. I used to save the clarified fat and send it back to them so my mom could fry their potatoes in it. I still have a small container in my freezer and am saving it for an extra special dish. But what? 🙂
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Thanks Jessica, I corrected a couple of typos, hope you don’t mind. The little casseroles are one of my favourite presentations. This is very strange Jessica, your comment just disappeared! Sorry about that, I certainly did not mean to do that.
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Love your tree, Eva, and I’m a chili hound, so wil go and check out your friend’s blog and this recipe as it looks so tasty in your photo!
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Thanks Betsey. It was very enjoyable, I hope you like it too!
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Wow! Do you realize how good that chili looks in those cute little bowls! What’s better is it’s from the crockpot! I love it!
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Hi Jessica, thanks for your comments. I fixed the typos…you did mean good? I loved the aroma when we came in yesterday!
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Those LC casserole dishes ARE cute … but not $120 for the set of 4 cute. 🙂 I’ll have to find a set of onion soup dishes to serve my individual chili in.
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Thanks Maria, I bought them in the LC outlet in Illinois, they were $12.50 each (they are ceramic, not the cast iron)! For onion soup, my favourite are the Emile Henry lion head bowls. I got them in a lovely little kitchen store in Niagara-on-the-Lake, I think they were less than $20 each. You could get the knock-offs, but be careful because the pottery may not be tempered; one of our food stylists mentioned that she had one explode in the microwave!
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I was looking at the stoneware ones covered with an enamel finish … which are supposed to be microwave safe according to the description. Adding the $20 for shipping and another $20 for duty which Amazon charges right off the bat, the price really set me back when I did a fast search.
http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Mini-Cocottes-Cookbook-Cherry/dp/B002MAQ68Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1323109513&sr=1-2
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Wow, that is pricey. If you just ordered it from LeCreuset and they shipped USPS you may not even be charged duties or taxes. It’s kind of hit and miss. If you know anyone going to the US to a LC outlet, you should asked them to pick you up four, as I mentioned I think I paid $12.50 each!
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Turns out amazon.ca has the individual mini casseroles … $40 CDN each. 🙂
http://www.amazon.ca/Creuset-Stoneware-8-Ounce-Cocotte-Cobalt/dp/B000EWZCDY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323113204&sr=8-2
But they ship it for free. 🙂
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Maria, even though $40 is a bit pricey, it may be worth for the free shipping…they are not light!
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I love le creuset pans!!!! I’ve been begging Mike for one for Christmas for a while now. 😉 I haven’t seen these individual ones before. They are just too darn cute. The chili looks like something Mr. N and Mike would LOVE. They are big chili fans. And you know, I just might enjoy it too. It looks very comforting and warm. I love the Christmas tree pic too Eva – it looks like such a fun way to spend a day!
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Thanks Kristy. I usually go to a Premium Outlet mall in Illinois where they have an outlet Le Creuset — http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=63 — it makes it much more affordable, Le Creuset is to heavy to buy on line and ship! We chose a much smaller tree this year and we’ll be decorating tonight. I’ll blog about it this week. Have a great week.
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