Mike's Chow

They say that necessity is the mother of all invention. To a graduated, sometimes employed 22-year old it meant making meals out of what I had at my disposal. One such creation was the Italian Quesadilla. It's like a normal quesadilla, but with sauteed sausage, onions and spaghetti sauce. It may sound gross, but trust me, it tastes great!

But then there are success stories like... Ah, who am I kidding? I just want to prove to my friends that I can cook! The picture posted is a sumptuous simmering serving of Mike's Chow. During the year that I staffed for InterVarsity I didn't have a lot of money. Inspired by my roommate Dave's stirfry, I decided to make my own stirfry-like dish. I didn't really succeed. Instead I sort of made a suped-up bean dip. But it started out like stirfry. I just took what I had lying around: hotdogs, onions and beans. Hey! I was hungry! And it only sounds bad. It tastes great! So sauteed the hotdogs and onions, then added some pinto beans, simmered it for a while and then mashed 'em with a fork. I added some salt and pepper for more flavor and ate it with chips. It was really good. So I made some more later.

As I continued to make this "chow" I augmented the recipe. I started using green pepper, black beans (which I believe to be superior to any other bean), brown sugar and salsa. Add a little cheese and you have a white man's attempt at Mexican food gone horribly awry. But hey, my wife is 1/4 Mexican and she loves it. I made it for her on our 1st monthiversary of dating and here we are now, married. I think that speaks for itself. So here's the recipe if anyone wants to give it a try. (I was gonna save it and start up my own restaurant someday, but I'm giving up on that dream...)

Ingredients:
1 onion (any color)
1/2 bell pepper
3-4 hotdogs (kilbasa or polish sausage is preferred)
1 29 0z can pinto beans
1 15 oz can black beans
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 Cup salsa
1 tsp ground pepper
grated cheese (jack and cheddar preferred)

Directions:
Chop Onion and hotdogs and sauteé in greased pan til golden brown or to your liking. Add beans with liquid into hotdogs and onions. Add chopped 1/2 bell pepper, pepper, brown sugar and salsa to mixture. Allow mixture to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add water if necessary so that mixture does not burn. Mash beans in mixture until it is no longer watery. When mixture is thick, remove from heat and allow to cool 3-5 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and/or grated cheese.

I recommend adding/removing or altering ingredients. It's a lot of fun and it tastes great! ~Michael