Italian? Malaysian? I've got it, Mexican?  

These were all answers I received when I asked my friends what they thought my favourite type of food was to cook.  They were somewhat shocked when I stated...American!  Don't get me wrong, I love to cook all of the above and over time I have been inspired by all of these foods as well as many others.  Alas, when I need to pull out a dish which I can make without thinking, it's dishes which I have discovered through American influences that are my go to recipes.

I know what you're thinking now, what kind of American dishes could possibly compete with classical Italian, French, Spanish dishes etc.?  Well, a hot creamy macaroni cheese can be heavenly.  A bread roll filled with succulent steak, topped with fried onions and melted cheese are the main ingredients for a satisfying Philly cheese steak sandwich.  Then there is the cajun influence which encourages yours truly to knock up an amazing jambalaya.  Yep, all of these may well have been influenced by immigrants landing on American shores but it is on these shores with which the dishes can now call home.

Whilst visiting the state of Michigan (in fact this is the only state I've visited in the U.S.) I was given a cookbook about the legendary dishes of this fair land.  During my many change of addresses, this book has been lost or lies sitting in a dust covered box somewhere, but there is one recipe from this book which has become a tried and trusted success.  In the book it was called Superbowl Chilli, but I'm more of a fan of the sport with a round football, so I prefer to call it World Cup Chilli.  It has been made during the last FIFA world cups and when the 2014 World Cup kicks off later this month, it will again be made by the bucket load.

World Cup Chilli

Ingredients

Rice Bran Oil (its one of the good oils)
750g Minced Beef 
750g Minced Pork
2 Large onions finely chopped
2 sticks of celery finely chopped
2 large peppers (capsicum) finely chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground oregano
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 bottle of beer/lager (you can drink the rest whilst making dinner) 
1 tin of canned tomatoes
1 tin of baked beens
1 tin of kidney beans
1 beef stock cube
Salt and Pepper


Construction
1, Heat the oil in a large 5ltr cooking pot or something of a similar size.
2, Fry the beef and pork mince until brown, don't worry if it sticks slightly to the bottom of the pan, this all adds to the flavour.
3, Pour the cooked meats from the pan into a bowl and put to one side. Now fry the onions until they go clear and slightly brown.
4, Add the celery and peppers to the cooked onion and continue to cook until the celery begins to soften.
5, Add all the spices to the onion, celery and pepper mix.  By cooking the spices now, you are releasing all their goodness.
6, Add the meat to the pan and mix together the spice vegetables and meats.
7, Pour in the beer/lager and cook until the liquid has evaporated.
8, Now add the tomatoes and beens to the pot and bring to the boil.
9, I like to crumble the stock cube straight into the pan at this point.
10, Allow the chilli to now cook on a low heat for about an hour, be careful to not let the sauce stick to the bottom of the pan. The sauce should be thick and delicious before serving.


And this my friends is how you make a chilli fit for a world cup match with your mates. There are two ways I serve this up; with steamed rice or made into delicious nachos!  

Which destination of my far flung travels does this tasty gem come from?  Well how many of you have heard of Sutton Coldfield? 

Sorry, I'd love to be able to tell you that I learnt of this delicious mince dish from ancient monks in some lost mountains of China, as incredible as that would be, I have to confess that I first tasted this meal at a Chinese restaurant in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.

What made this so special, was the fact that I was in a restaurant with my parents, yet I could eat my food with my fingers.  The delicious mince is best served on a crisp piece of lettuce, rolled up and stuffed into your mouth...without losing a finger.

You can pick up pretty much all the ingredients from your local supermarket, however, I'd take the opportunity to make a trip to an asian supermarket to not only get better quality ingredients but will most probably be cheaper. 

What you'll need (this feeds four) -

1 iceberg lettuce (we've tried other lettuce and iceberg is best)
500 g minced pork (you can use chicken)
1" cube of fresh ginger diced finely
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 spring onions (scallions) chopped finely
1 celery stalk diced finely
1 (220 g) can water chestnuts chopped roughly (don't leave these out, key ingredient)
1 tbls dark soy sauce (the light stuff won't work as well)
2 tbls oyster sauce
1 tbls dry sherry (the alcohol burns off so its safe for kids)
1 tsp white sugar
1 tbls sesame oil

Knocking up the meal -

Prepare the iceberg lettuce to begin with by carefully breaking the lettuce up leaf by leaf.  Discard the outer leaves (two at most) and then carefully wash each leaf, you want to keep the leaves whole and in tact as these will be your plates later.

Now mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, dry sherry and sugar in small bowl and put to one side.

Add 1/2 tbls of sesame oil into your wok (frying pan) and heat until smoking slightly. Add the garlic, ginger, and spring onions, fry until they start to colour.  Now add the minced pork (or chicken) and cook until browned. Remove this mix from the pan and save in a bowl.

With a little sesame oil, add the key ingredient to the wok, the water chestnuts (do not substitute with chestnuts of any other kind).  Fry for a minute or so and then add the celery, cook for a couple of minutes, you still want crunch from the water chestnuts and celery.  Now add the special sauce you made earlier.

Allow the sauce to reduce a little, five minutes max and then add the pork back into the pan.  Fry until the mix becomes dark and sticky...but not burnt.  Your deliciousness is now ready.

Serve up the pork mix in a bowl, hand out the lettuce leaves and watch your guests enjoy scooping up spoonfuls of the pork, rolling it up on the green stuff and taking bites.  The groans of enjoyment will be enough conversation.

We all have them, a favourite meal which takes us back to our childhood, reminding us of days when meals would miraculously appear before us.  Well here's mine, a meal which as kids, my sister, brother and I would often have on a Saturday whilst Mum was at work...Cheese Beanos.  I'm thankful to my stepdad for introducing me to this simple pleasure, as this meal has sustained me through many an end of month panic, counting down the days until the next pay cheque arrived.

I know what you're thinking, it's just beans on toast with a bit of cheese on top, but believe me, there is an art to making good cheese beanos, which I think I have finally perfected and feel ready to share.

First things first, the bread.  We're encouraged by all foodies, nutritionists and TV ads to steer clear of white bread, but you really need good thick slices of the white stuff for this (the pic above contradicts this, as nine grain bread was used and although it was fine, it just wasn't as good).  Now the beans.  You would think that any old baked beans would suffice, as you're going to cover them in cheese anyhow? Well I've tried various varieties, both in Blighty and down here in New Zealand and I just keep coming backing to good old Heinz, maybe it's just what I was bought up with and a stickler for tradition.  In all honesty, you can probably get away with using any brand (just don't say I didn't warn you lol).  Lastly, the cheese.  You can't beat a good strong cheddar cheese, as the sharpness goes brilliantly with the sweet baked beans (yep, they are sweet, as much sugar as a glass of coke I'm told), however, as long as you choose a cheese that melts well, just have a little experiment to find out what you think works best.

OK, so heres the basic ingredients (enough to feed two hungry people).

1 Tin of Baked Beans (which ones did I say?)
4 Slices of Bread (the white stuff)
1 Handful of grated cheese (one that melts well)

The quickest way I've found to heat the beans is to put them in a bowl, pull cling film over the top and throw into the microwave for a couple of minutes. Alternatively, go old school and heat up in a saucepan.  Whilst your beans are heating, put your bread under the grill and toast one side.  Once the bread is golden, turn over and toast the bread until slightly crispy, do not allow to colour.

When ready, remove the toast from the grill and pile the cooked beans on to the lightly toasted side, the reason being, if you use the well toasted side, when you put the loaded toast back under the grill the outside edges will burn before the cheese has melted. Evenly spread the grated cheese over the beans.  An adult option here is to put cracked pepper over the top of the cheese before placing back under the grill.  Wait until that cheese is nicely bubbling away and then thats your meal ready.

Now keep this a secret, as I've not declared this to my stepdad yet but there has been somewhat of an evolution of this delicious meal.  My lovely wife suggested the addition of a fried egg on top would be a good idea. Initially I thought a call to the local loony bin was in order, but, ever one to take ideas on board, I did in fact try this new addition.  I didn't realise it would be possible to improve perfection, but it appears you can, with an egg.  If you go for this addition, quickly fry up eggs when you're cheese beanos are close to being ready.

And that my friends, is an introduction to just one of our household favourites.  Perfect for a quick meal for the kids, when you're down to your last fiver or need something to get you over the night before.