We're on a Chili con Carne kick. In a big way. Please join us as we learn from a master, my pal Taylor Boetticher from The Fatted Calf (Napa and San Francisco). After you watch the video, download our free ebook on chili and order some of our 100% pure chile powder and make your own bowl of red. We know that chili people are like martini drinkers and often they are willing to duel with someone they disagree with. I'd love to hear your comments below but let's make sure we remain civil.

On the weekend I made a big batch of chile sauce with Anchos and New Mexican chiles. I've been adding spoonfuls of the sauce to almost everything and I'm surprised I haven't done it before. In a frying pan, I scrambled the eggs and in a saucepan, I reheated a spoonful of leftover Scarlet Runner beans and a spoonful of the chile sauce. Once the eggs were barely set, I gently folded them all together. This put me in a good mood for hours.

I had lots of chile sauce leftover and I'm getting obsessive with the technique of poaching eggs in chile sauce, I did it again for breakfast. I thinned out the chile sauce with chicken stock but I'm beginning to suspect water would have been fine. I added some previously cooked nopales (cactus paddles) and when the brew was simmering, I gently cracked two eggs into the pan. I'm liking this technique more and more. I also liked the fully cooked cactus. There was some tooth to it but it is soft and I think better a little less al dente....

Leftovers met and became tacos. Red Nightfall beans with some Ancho chile sauce and previously cooked nopales. Hand pressed tortillas and a dash of crema. Is cream fattening? Just asking.