A Hearty Snack - Mashed Potatoes with "Chili Con Carne" and Melted Cheese

This is the aftermath of a chili dog and mashed potato dinner...one heck of a hearty snack.

The hot dogs and buns are longgg gone, but I am left with a big bowl of "chili con carne" (quote marks as I am pretty sure that my version isn't authentic) and mashed potatoes. What to do? Put them together, top them with grated cheese...and nuke 'it to melt the cheese (I thought of putting them in the oven for a beautiful golden brown finish...but I worried that I would dry my mashed potatoes...I might try that next time).

Here's how I made my easy version of everything.

Mashed Potatoes
(serves two as side dish)
- 2 large potatoes, cleaned, peeled and cubed (around 1 x 1 x 1 cm)
- 3 tbsp butter, or more? (uh huh)
- a dash of milk
- salt, pepper, nutmeg

Place potato cubes in a microwave safe bowl, add a dash of milk and microwave on high for 15 minutes. Check if the potatoes are soft enough, microwave for 5 or more minutes if needed. Once the potato cubes are soft enough, mash them with a fork, stir in butter bit by bit, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

"Chili Con Carne"
(yields quite a lot, depends on how you want to use it, as a topping for hotdog/potatoes or...eat it with rice?)
I apologize for not being able to find the source of this recipe... T_T
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- half an onion, cubed
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 smallish fresh tomatoes, cubed
- 1 green bell pepper, cubed
- 10 pieces of sliced, jalapeno from a jar, chopped (I used El Paso)
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 1 can of mixed beans
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp all spice
- 2 pieces of cloves
- olive oil, butter, hot water (or chicken or beef stock), salt, cayenne pepper

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil with a touch of butter, add ground beef, add chopped tomatoes and green bell pepper, let cook for a bit, add tomato paste, add a bit of hot water or stock (depends on how thick you want it to be, and depends on how long you want to cook it, since I plan to make a speedy one, I didn't add much water to the mixture), bring to boil, add spices and seasonings, add mixed beans, cook until heated through, adjust seasoning if necessary, add chopped jalapeno at the end, mix well, and serve.

I used a mix of grated mozzarela and sharp cheddar for this snack. After the cheese melted and everything's heated through...

Who was I kidding? One tiny ramekin is never enough!