Hey, hey everybody!
Good morning and welcome back to Sunday Gravy!
Well holy fucking goddamn hell everyone. We made it!
It’s a wrap, motherfuckers!
Season goddamn 9 is officially on permanent record now.
Every year right after the Owl I have this mixed sense of dread and excitement because I know I’ve got some serious work coming up and my ass better get to cookin’. As always Sunday Gravy is a labor of love where I get to reap the benefits by eating delicious food as well as getting to learn quite a few new foods, techniques and cooking methods.
I can say without question that my cooking skills improve exponentially with each season of Sunday Gravy. It’s always cool to be throwing down an ad lib meal and I find myself using a trick or ingredient that I featured in one of my episodes. I get to carry that with me from here on out too.
As per usual for the final episode of the year I like to hand out a couple of awards.
Let’s start with BEST FOOD PORN SHOT.
Of shit yes. That’s from our Khachapuri! episode. I will be making and experimenting with this bastard throughout football season for sure.
Next we have the MOST FUN HAD WHILE WRITING AN EPISODE OF SUNDAY GRAVY award.
This one was easy.
The day we did the Hot Wing Gauntlet Challenge.
That was awesome. I’m still pissed I didn’t get another hotter level of sauce. Next time.
And since this is my blog I get to cheat and split the winner for BEST OVERALL DISH because it was way too close to call. Each of our two winners have officially entered into my standard “I will cook this shit forever” meal rotation.
First we have…
With a big hat tip and hearty thank you to 2Pack for sending me this wonderful cooking pot.
I can’t begin to tell you how simple and fucking delicious this is. When I served that on the pork chop?
I had to swap out my undies.
HOLY GOD! Incredible. Amazing. Just make this dish people.
Next winner…
You’re probably thinking “Beef stew with some wine? Really? Best dish this year?”
Yes. Fucking absolutely goddamn right!
Only next time I’m cooking this shit and letting it rest for about 3 days in the refrigerator before serving. (Just like the fucking recipe says dumbass!)
Notice something similar between these two winners?
Simple, minimal, classic.
These will both dwell in my kitchen forever.
One last award.
I’m going to call this one the HOLY SHIT I HAD NO IDEA I COULD FUCKING DO THAT! award.
Envelope please…
LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING ENGLISH MUFFINS! HOLY SHIT! BEST GODDAMN ENGLISH MUFFINS EVER!!!!
And they were easy to do too!
It was a really fun season, folks. The two times that I made Chinese/Asian food just blew me away too. My Chinese food skills are elevated as fuck now and I owe all of that to Sunday Gravy.
Yep, it’s been a blast.
However!!! My ass also gets worn the fuck out by the end of the season and it is most definitely time to tap the fuck out and watch some motherfucking football!
WOOOOOO!!!!!!
I thought today’s meal would be a fun one, and it was!
You all know this recipe, many of you have probably tried this recipe and many more look forward to reading this recipe annually because it means it’s Superb Owl time.
I can personally say that the reason I am here on our lovely little internet spot was a direct result of Drew Magary. In our Kommenting days he was known on the mother blog as Big Daddy Drew.
Drew? This one if for you.
/pours out warm flat beer
//opens cold fresh delicious beer
Today we are making Drews’ chili!
Let’s let Drew give us the tale of the tape!
recipe by Drew Magary
“FOR THE CHILI:
2 pounds ground beef or chicken (make sure it’s a fatty percentage; too lean and it turns out all dry and crumbly and you will be less than a man)
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz. can tall red kidney beans, drained
1 16 oz. can corn, drained
1 can beer, any kind
1 16 oz. can chicken broth
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fennel seed
2 tbsp cumin (add more at end if necessary)
2 tbsp chili powder (add more at end if necessary)
1/4 cup white vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Ashes from a joint (optional)
Lotta Frank’s Hot Sauce
2 glugs olive oil”
And away we go!
Let’s get a gander at our vegetation.
I wanted to cook this recipe exactly as outlined. No cheating and no substitutions despite my brain just fucking screaming at me “One goddamn jalapeno?!? That’s all?!?!”
I stayed true to the recipe. Basically.
Now get busy with that shallot!
As Drew says every year “Shallots are the thing that make restaurant food taste like restaurant food.” Or something along those lines.
Pour in your oil and get the chopped vegetation into a pot.
This will cook for 5-8 minutes or so until the veggies have sweated down and the onion is translucent.
Time to introduce the meat players for this dish.
I went half ground beef (80/20 ratio) and ground pork (85/15 ration) since I like the combination of the two meats.
Get that into the pot.
I’m pretty fucking sure your asses have browned some goddamn ground meats before so do that.
Now for our hardware.
You got your crushed tomatoes and stock, the corn and the beans. I followed direction and dumped everything into the pot
The software!
If you’re like me and looked at that tablespoon of fennel seed and thought “Holy shit, that’s a lot of fennel seed” don’t be stressin’. It works just fine in this application. Oh yeah, the liquid smoke is definitely critical here. You WILL notice its presence in the finished dish.
That meat should be browned by now.
Since the original recipe did not mention any drainage of fats at this point, there was no drainage of fats at this point.
Get the tomatoes, corn, beans, chicken broth, beer and vinegar up in there.
A true frothy pour of beer.
Spices join the party next.
Now, Drew mentions “Franks” hot sauce specifically but my only variation was, I’m a Red Rooster hot sauce kinda guy.
The flavor is very, very similar so I didn’t think it would change the outcome. Besides, that’s a big fucking bottle of Red Rooster sauce already on hand. I’ll save a few bucks thank you kindly.
Slap a cockeyed lid on the pot and start the simmering.
When the chili starts bubbling, reduce the heat to low and let the motherfucker go.
Let it simmer on low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.
Let’s get a look at the 2 hour mark.
That’s starting to get there. You can see the sauce tightening and reducing down in volume. It smells fantastic too.
It smells so fantastic that after smelling it for over 2 hours and then realizing I needed to let this go ANOTHER 2 fucking hours…
I improvised.
Shit man, I was starving over here! Besides doesn’t a good chili, like a good stew or mother sauce get better the next day?
I ended up refrigerating overnight and serving the next day.
Let’s get a look.
There you go. You can see the proper density, the chili has condensed down and NOW you can dip a chip in there and the chili will stick to that chip thereby announcing that we are, indeed, ready for chili time.
Grab a bowl and get busy.
Start with a little diced onion.
I like red onion in my chili but you do you.
Cheese it up if you like, grab some Fritos and a beer and get busy.
Drew mentions sour cream many, many times but I kept it classic.
Get a closer look.
This is rich, hearty, savory, you really get the liquid smoke and damn this is tasty. The Fritos just fucking work with chili, man. Maybe it’s because my dad always did his chili this way.
Hell yeah. Let’s grab another bowl.
If I’m being honest here, this stuff is really, really good but I personally need to kick that heat up quite a bit.
Hey, I stuck to the recipe and used the single jalapeno. Trying to be all faithful and shit!
For the second bowl, let’s bring in an old friend that we met earlier this year.
Remember this fucker?
Yes sir. You know what? This sauce is fucking delicious. I’m going to buy another bottle when I finish this one.
Oh shit! Now we’re talking!
And with that….
Foreplay is over people. Bring on the real fucking…FOOTBALL!!
I want to once again thank everyone for following along this year. It’s you that keep me doing this and I appreciate every one of you
As an annual reminder, Sunday Gravy much like Request Line and the mock drafts are some of our offseason features that are here specifically to carry you good folks along during the dreadfully awful NFL offseason and to give you just the slightest glimmer of something to look forward to, and keep you focused on our humble site here.
Thanks to all who have been here all along and welcome back to our in-season readers. Good to see you all again.
Our very own Scotchy will be filling this Sunday timeslot for the next several months with his world renowned game day previews and his ideas for addressing homeless issues in Northern Ontario.
Enjoy them while they last.
As of now I do plan on being back in February for Season 10 but life is a fickle motherfucker and we’ll play it by ear.
Best of luck to your team unless it’s the Packers or the Q-aaron led NY Jets.
SKOL MOTHERFUCKERS!
PEACE!
The overriding theme of this weekend is that Wazzu and Niiiiiiiice Beaver are gonna run train on the rest of the Mountain West.
Until Year 3 or so, when the 75% budget cuts start kicking in.
Wazzu needs that money to pay the legal bills for their former anti-vax coach
Perhaps one could suggest a kickstarter?
Co-signed by John Stockton!
Good thing there’s so much open space to contain all that #CriticalThought!
Currently 74 and sunny. The walk on the harbor was incredible and I just had a bacon cheeseburger from one of the local spots that was damn tasty.
So I did in fact have a cheeseburger in paradise.
Serious (if odd) question. Anyone here have an issue tasting spicy food more than a year after COVID? I’m asking, because I inadvertantly ate most of a jar of habaneros with my dinner and according to my wife, they’re actually quite potent (and not duds like I thought).
I never lost my sense of taste but I know others that have. I have heard of some long term cases.
Is it just spicy foods? Can you taste regular foods?
Everything but spicy and even that seems to be intermittent I know several people that have issues with tasting salt/sugar, but I’m curious if anyone else has a problem with spicy.
That’s interesting. I have heard of selected things that people can’t taste anymore. Like they can taste some things but not others.
You’re probably lucky that spicy stuff is what you can’t taste. As long as it doesn’t burn coming out…
I’m not a good judge since my heat tolerance is ridiculously high.
That may be a good problem if you like Indian food.
Empty Nest Update:
The oldest is on his way to Kingston, the younger lad is in Quebec with his camper. The wifey swam out to the middle of the lake with me, asked me to make her a massive sandwich (a thing I did for the boys) and insisted that we have a bonfire later. It’s not a perfect transition but I couldn’t hope for better.
I’ve said it before but when the youngest left, the transition was weird. I had been responsible for raising my girls forever then…
After a few weeks it’s the greatest feeling ever.
The quiet is such bliss.
First thing I did was take guitar lessons.
Well that was second after the drinking.
I’m still in the “do nothing” phase. Hippo is not exactly a self-starter.
One of my favorite parts was not having to ask, “What does everyone want for dinner?”
Never again.
I’ll have exactly what I want.
Fantastic picture. Reminds me of all the perspective doodling I did at a young age.
I think they’re closed.
This place is famous, I think. In four days I’ve never seen a soul near it.
That was in “Gran Torino.”
Well, they never specified what it’s famous for, did they? Perhaps it’s world-renowned for its effectiveness in laundering money from illicit activities? Or perhaps for producing the most horrific cases of the shits known to science?
That’s because it’s not Ham Season!
You can only eat ham in months without an ‘r’ in them. Like oysters, but reversed.
Ruh-roh*, if going by the Ukrainian telegram segment.. .the Ukries are running out of people. Odd that for a country that repeats with increasing hysteria that their casualties are light (despite the mushrooming graveyards and tonnes of ever increasing bribe rates for avoiding the draft) they tweaked the definition for “fit for service” yet again. Ah, and the cokehead in chief is rumoured to be on a whirlwind tour of the EU to convince our politicos to extradite military-age refugees.
*I’m starting to think that the unofficial assessment (since no one wants to think that we’ve got that much blood on our hands) of them having reached 1mil KIAs is “optimistic”
Um…okay. DJ 3000 and Petunia’s sources are telling them a substantially different story. Sure hope they’re not hooked on hopium.
Decent news sources (regardless of conclusions) are hard to find in this. Continuing to hope for the best, but I have zero hope left for this world.
Yeah, but a million KIA? That’s about as many combat deaths as the U.S., the U.K., and France suffered combined during the entirety of WW2. Let’s be realistic.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war
Let’s put it like that – the hastily done extensions for the major cemetaries in Ukraine (for a conservative 650k graves) they did last year and are doing another round of extensions for an additional 1.5 million (to be done by the end of next year). Also, if they weren’t running out of people, they wouldn’t be breaching the subject of mass deportation of military age males from Europe, since it’s bad optics + most of those people escaped after paying a serious sum of money (depending on when they escaped – 5 to 10 grand apiece), so “people with ways and means” (or desparate enough to somehow find the cash). And of course, I’ll repeat myself, the most damning is the compressed training cycles – if you aren’t trying to compensate for insane casualties, you never, EVER touch those. Not because of humanism, but because the efficiency of those replacements is way lower, which means more casualties you’ve got to make up in a hurry….
If you look up the number of Russians and Ukrainians killed in WW2, a million in a little less than two years is nothing.
Yeah, plus this is the first more-or-less full up “war” against near-peer nations (in quotations, because the Ukries never actually declared on the Russkies and still transit their gas and oil to Europe) since Korea, where the two sides had (excluding civvies) 2.5 million or so dead in 3 years.
Yeah, finding a news outlet in the West that has even a half-decent representation on what’s happening seems about as likely as Clipboard Jesus suddenly showing up on an NFL roster and leading that team to consequtive perfect seasons. The Ukries’ unified ministry of truth isn’t that much better, but at least you can read within the lines on that. The Ruskies’ is slightly better (they replace the Ukries’ blatant lies with lies of omission) and telegram (and independent outlets on both sides) providing the most unfiltered look at events.
I seriously hope the death toll isn’t as horrendous, but the truth of the matter is that such mountains of dead were to be expected, given the insanely shortened training cycles* we had to implement for their “best and brightest” (the ones sent abroad for “NATO”-grade training) so they could prepare their fabled couple of “assault” corps.
4 weeks from civvie to “combat ready” is basically just insanity, since you can’t instill even basic military habits, let alone proper unit tactics and real weapons profficiency. For context – the US goes for 12 weeks (or so) of initial basic training, before people get shunted to various specialized training tracks with “standard” infantry getting another 12+ weeks of training. Instead, we’re sharting our 28-day wonders (with way less actual hands-on training) for specialized slots too and yet everyone’s going full Pikachu.gif when they see the Ukries’ “NATO” brigades lose 30% of their combat strength before even reaching the jump-off points.
Seems inevitable that UKR would lose without a lot of outside involvement. If Putin wants it, he’ll get it unless the rest of the world intervenes.
I just hope both sides have fun.
The real war was the friends we made along the way
World War II is still the best war ever. It really set the bar high for topping it.
The Vietnam War was the best war because of the (not really though) surprise ending.
Plus, we got some really good movies and books outta it.
‘Hell in a Very Small Place’, about the French fuck up at Dien Biehn Phu, (sp?), is a fantastic book.
“Those wogs will never get artillery up those mountains; let’s go ahead and seize the low ground!”
In all fairness to the French, uhh…. the idea behind the battle was sound. Namely, to draw out the Viet Minh for a set-piece battle to break the back of their armed resistance. Unfortunately, the Frenchies didn’t anticipate how well motivated and equipped the enemy was, with the end result being what it ultimately was.
Amusingly, that’s the second time in 15 years the Frenchies managed such a monumental fuckup of the same type, with the first being the Fall of France in ’40, where the Maginot line did what was required of it and channeled a German offensive through Belgium (after all, why fight on your own soil, when you can fuck up the neighbours’ instead :D), until… uhhh it turned out that the uncrossable Ardennes were very much crossable 😀
I know! I remember when Ho-Chi Minh surrendered right after we nuked Hanoi. “VV-Day” we called it; everyone tossed onions in the air in celebration and then we landed on the moon. That’s why our gasoline has always been so cheap and other countries don’t have telephones. Of course it helps that God is an American citizen.
“The Harry Turtledove is strong in this one.”
-Xenu
Just finished Charles Frazier’s “The Trackers” – damned fine novel. My parents’ home town of Asheville has produced some mighty powerful artists this century.
Ben Shelton just hit two 149 mph serves in a row.
Unlike Henry Ruggs III, who hit two with a 149 mph swerve
HE’S A RIKKIS RAIDERS!!!!!
Sorry Don T, just didn’t work out for you guys this time. If it’s any consolation Napoli lost last night too so Marika is sad along with you.
“Hey, I stuck to the recipe and used the single jalapeno. Trying to be all faithful and shit!”
But what about the ashes from a joint? That is NOT optional, people. Very necessary.
I didn’t have any papers. A little flower may have found its way into the chili pot.
You are a hero! I would have added more jalapeno myself. Never forget that Drew is brain damaged.
… Well, that was unexpected. Mostly because the last score update I got from BBC was for 1-2, but .. a win’s a win, even if ManUre’s loss means wifey is angsty 😀
Also g’evening folks
I call all foreplay Fergie Time because I can’t get it up without hearing the Black Eyed Peas
The King’s Finest prevail, and Jesus was triumphant against the Red Devils, just as was foretold! Time for a celebratory Sunday Roast!
Sweet! Who are we roasting? Horatio again?
Surprised Taylor didn’t hand the Arsenal bench 4 more yellow cards and add 17 minutes of time.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a flag to fly.
.
The water pistols were at maximum pressure today.
Lesser Footy breakaways are amazing.
I love it when you see goals scored according to the Rex Ryan fútbol philosophy: kick it as hard as you can at the goal and don’t worry about who might happen to be in the way.
Gonna be a spicy meatball of a presser in a few
Yeah, Taylor and VAR really had themselves a day.
DECLAN RICE!!!!!! YOU FUCKING BEAUTY!!!!!
oh, Declan Rice gon’ drank. And he gon’ shine.
That said, the announcers seem pretty optimistic that this is a win for Arsenal, given Arsenal’s propensity for snatching a draw from a victory, as well as Anthony Taylor being the referee.
Love the announcer’s poke at those who left the game early.
Settle down announcers. Despite what The Maestro claims, a nacho is not a sub.
Offside by the proverbial cunt hair.
Wow.
I thought it was obvious, but I’m watching in Arsenal-o-Vision.
The only reason I thought it was offsides was the Man U wasn’t going as bananas as I’d expect.
Northwestern cooperating quite nicely as the sacrificial lamb.
If Arsenal keeps blowing bunnies in front of the goal like this PETA are gonna have their asses in court.
I’m getting a Nikki Haley ad that features the statement, “NO MONEY FOR COUNTRIES THAT HATE AMERICA!” Vapid? Impractical as a policy? Meat for tattooed pickup truck owners to chew on? Impossible to implement? It checks all the boxes.
and she is competing for the SANE pathway
Til Trump says she couldn’t deep throat him. Then she’s done.
She’s already done, as there is no sane pathway.
Canada will be fucked.
… Actually, it’s quite possible to implement. Mostly, because you (as a country) are so in the debt, it’s not even funny, so all foreign investment will need to be rethought. There’s also the problem that “the friends you made along the way” have started to move away from investing in treasury bonds, since the West in general made the titanic fuckup that was freezing Russia’s sovereign funds, since even US allies (let alone “less savoury” types like the Chinese and Saudis) don’t trust the safety of their investments anymore with all the fun consequences that’ll entail
We’ve Got SLABHEAD!!!
Does Wakey smoke? He may want to start, if not.
SLAB BEEFHEAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHlJ2voJHY&ab_channel=teenage
It’s funny that right around that time I feel like I’ve lost my appetite for violence and am trying to turn away from the NFL that Premier League refs decide to allow players to blithely kick each other in the face.
Footy is a delightfully violent sport. In a different method than NFL and/or a bar fight, but no less in intensity.
THERE IS NO HIDING FROM VIOLENCE AND MATHS
And from shitty VAR overturns of originally correct calls.
Northwestern/Rutgers is entertaining in a “Two disabled adults fighting over a bus seat” kind of way.
Let them combine rosters, compete as Rutwestern…perhaps they’d manage 3 or 4 wins.
You. I like you! Rutwestern, I need a tshirt.
I’m seeing a lot of vitriol directed at all the folks stuck at Burning Man, and while it’s a lark to mock that scene, especially with what it’s become, the ill will directed at these folks is a little much to me. I mean even with the techbro influx it’s still mainly a bunch of freaky weirdos who are trying to have themselves a good time, and it seems like there’s a bunch of people out there in internetland who would just as soon see these folks die.
I’m hoping that the freaky weirdos band together and eat the tech bros.
It don’t matter what anyone wants/thinks/feels. The internet ‘town square’ is completely severed from reality. Give well wishes. Give thoughts and prayers. Give calls for everyone to die. None of it matters. Only Good Morning America will tell you that something typed on twitter matters.
Carl from ATHF had it right from the off.
Anthony Taylor and being a twat-waffle: name a more iconic duo.
Lindelof? Moar like SendHimOff!
Oh good, another game where Arsenal dominates the run of play, can’t finish point blank scoring opportunities, and then does something stupid leading to an immediate goal.
I sure am enjoying this.
Martin Odegaard: Shut up, Horatio
Impeccable timing, sir.
It’s a gift.
Great season Yeah Right. Never realized I need breakfast chili in my life until now.
With regards to the banner picture, chili cheese fritos (the flavor) are a very guilty pleasure of mine.
Holy Bananas, I thought they were a goner but
the catCanada came back!Some right,some OK, some amazing. This chili was so-so, definitely needed the Habanero kick.The Peperonta was one of the best dishes I’ve ever tasted.The English Muffins? Man I had turkey sandwiches and jam on them goomers all week, delicious.The egg bread thing? Not so much that was a salty pecker. Some times we get a little smoke that blows up our collective asses but yesterday’s chili Verde? Was the best chili I have ever eaten,the best ever, period. Fun season for leftovers, kept me fat all year.
No more Sundays without our beloved game, thank Christ.
WHO DAT WHO DAT WHO DAT SAY GUNNA BEAT DEM SAINTS!!
I miss you Jimmy, watched his DVD live from Wrigley last evening and when he played “A pirate looks at Forty” tears streamed down my face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNRps83DKRo
I cried too, not gonna lie. How old are we that dying in your late 70’s seems waaaaay too young!
Yes, Denny’s, who doesn’t recall the legend of “Grand Slam” Hank Aaron?
See? We’re not das raycess!!! – Denny’s VP of Marketing
Grand Slammering Hank, they called him.
Spain slowly pulling away from Canada in hot FIBA action. Not representing Canada-Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, Corey Joseph, Chris Boucher, Khem Birch and a host of other NBA’ers. Bastards.
I may have said some hurtful things about the Vegas sphere last night, and for that, I am sorry.
First kick in like 40 minutes of play goes in for Woy’s Palace. Typical.
In shocking news, Palace/Wolves is unwatchable dreck. Yet, much like NW/NJ (as noted by scotchy), I shall continue watching for no good reason.
Cool: “Hey, there’s a college football game a noon today!”
Not Cool: It’s Northwestern/Rutgers.
Imagine, a matchup where the Schiano Men aren’t the off-putting weirdos.
Damn, I haven’t made chili in the longest time. Must correct that.
Been hard to get fresh ground bison lately, down South, anyway. Once one makes it with bison, hard to go back.
My preference is the Bolognese super trifecta of beef, veal and pork. [commences drooling]
My weirdo kids (who eat even pickier than me) prefer that I use tomato paste instead of diced tomaters (even if PETITE diced, I get not wanting yuge chunks) in the mix.
I believe fennel seed is the best secret ingredient for many recipes. Fennel sausage on pizza is da bomb peoples.
Thanks for the hustle this off season Yeah Right. You truly punch way above our weight classes. The English biscuits were my best this year, but that’s a hard choice given the other high quality product.
I closing I’d just like to say… Don Knotts had sum freaky game back in the day.
We should get a DNA test because I think Steve Buscemi is his illegitimate son.
.
Steve Buscemi, love child of Don Knotts and Mick Jagger?
Oh, he was a little guy. Kinda funny lookin’.
he wasn’t circumcised!