Today's Lunch Courtesy of my Friend Rivet!

I have been fighting an upper respiratory infection and have  been feeling really under the weather for about the past week and haven't felt like doing much of anything.   Because of this I hadn't tried any of the goodies, other than the beer, that Rivet sent me recently as I didn't feel I could give them the focus they deserved since I was feeling so lousy.

I have felt a lot better yesterday and today and so I decided to dig in.  I know it is still hot out but I have been hungry for a good pot of chili so last night I stirred up the box of "Ozark Country Fixins Ozark Red Chili Mix" Rivet sent me.   After it finished cooking I put it in the fridge overnight for lunch today, I have always felt that chili benefits from an overnight rest in the refrigerator after cooking, to me it seems to really meld the flavors together.   I made this exactly as recommended on the box using ground beef and a can of chopped tomatoes.  It is super-easy to make and even includes dried beans in the mix. We tried it today for lunch and Mrs. Andy and I were both really impressed.  It has great flavor but as indicated on the box you need to add salt to taste which I initially forgot to do and I thought, this is missing something, and then I remembered the salt.  I salted the pot to taste with kosher salt and then it all came together flavor-wise.   Mrs. Andy and I both really liked this a lot, she said it reminded her of her mother's chili.  If this were available here in Georgia we would be buying it regularly.  This "Ozark Red" mix is much better than Wick Fowler's, Carrol Shelby's, Tabasco Chili Fixins, and the rest of the starters we can get here.



With my bowl of chili I also got to sample the Riga Gold sprats that Rivet sent.  I paired them with some Amish Swiss cheese made in Michigan along with Ritz crackers and cocktail rye slices.



When I opened the can of sprats the entire room was instantly filled with a delicious smoky scent, not a fishy scent, but a rich smoky essence.  I tried these on both the Ritz crackers and on the cocktail rye with the Amish Swiss.  The Amish Swiss paired very well with the sprats.  If you have never had these they are FANTASTIC!  These are hands down the best smoked fishes I have ever had, think the best kippers you have ever had times about a million.  They are also beautiful in the tin and packaged wonderfully.  It is a good thing that darned Cold War is over so that we can access these wonderful fish from Latvia.

These were wonderful both on the cocktail rye and the Ritz...  




I think I may next pair these with a shot of ice-cold Russian vodka!




Thanks for sending everything Rivet, it is all wonderful!  I am smoking ribs as we speak that I rubbed with Strawberry's Rub and I will be finishing them with the Curly's Barbecue Sauce. I'll report back!

hey, andy - everything looks great! i've got a can of those sprats too - gotta open them on a night when we have some good, ice-cold vodka!

Since you all mentioned ice-cold vodka with these, the first thing that came to mind was the way my mom ate canned fishes. She sliced hot white or red onions real thin, spooned out some spicy mustard and then put her smoked fish on a piece of black bread, a piece of onion followed by a dab if mustard then yum! into the mouth followed by a shot of icy "wodka" as she pronounced it. Sure as heck good way to eat it, and good to go! She doesn't do the wodka anymore, but she still loves the rest.

Couple of updates.  I made the ribs, both short ribs and back ribs, rubbed with Strawberry's rub and finished with Curly's Hot and Ott's Ozark Recipe, broke the ribs up and used some of each on different portions.  Both sauces are really good,  I preferred the Curly's Hot as did my 8 and 9 year-olds who both like spicy food, they both sprinkle Tabasco sauce on their food believe it or not, while Mrs. Andy and our 12 year old preferred the Ott's (they're wimps).

The Strawberry's rub is fantastic, I also used it on steaks this past weekend which turned out wonderful, everyone liked it more than the Montreal style shake that I usually use on steaks.  It's good on anything.