I'm indiscriminate in my love for chili. In my opinion, there is no right way to do it, and every time I make it, it's different. Sometimes I do something really standard with meat and beans, sometimes I crave Azazello's beer-based chili, and sometimes I skip the meat altogether and use wheat berries or quinoa for a vegetarian chili. Sometimes I crave nostalgia and revert to the Hoosier-style chili I was raised on, a mild macaroni and ground beef soup that many chili aficionados would probably dispute is chili at all. However it's done, it's always the perfect time to fill my fridge with chili to last the entire week, even with the Houston summer getting underway.
Earlier this week, I tried a different chili method I got from a friend's dad's repertoire. It was almost a fail--and, in some ways, it was a fail, but it was fixable. The fail, by the way, was all on me, not on the chili recipe. In the end, however, I ended up with a great soup that lasted me the week. Follow me on my harrowing culinary adventure below the poblano...
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So what this is supposed to be, if it's done properly, is a slow-cooked hot chili. It takes a variety of peppers, as you can see: from mild bell pepper to jalapeños to poblanos to Anaheims all the way up to a habañero. Amounts are largely up to the cook, but I went with 2 bell peppers (green and red), 3 jalapeños, 2 poblanos, 3 Anaheims, in addition to the habañero.
The first place I went wrong was in adjusting the ingredient amounts. This is what the original recipe calls for, aside from the peppers listed above:
4 cans kidney beans, drained
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 cups salsa
4 cups tomatoes
1.5 lbs chuck roast
I looked at this list and decided it wasn't enough. In addition to going with all 4 cups of salsa, I decided to use a big can of crushed tomatoes and a regular can of diced tomatoes. Plus, I used 2 full pounds of meat. It actually turned out nicely, but as you'll see, adding that much meat and tomato product poses other problems.
About the meat. The meat is what originally caught my eye about this recipe, because I'd never used a roast for chili. It remains the major selling point, as far as I'm concerned. Stick with a 1.5-pound chuck roast, and cook it however you normally cook a roast. My method was generously seasoning it on both sides, searing it in oil, and transferring it to an oven-safe pan. I then deglazed all that goodness at the bottom of the skillet with about a cup of good beef stock, which I also added to the pan. I cooked the roast in a 325-degree oven for about 2 hours.
Once the meat is cooked, shred it and allow it to soak in its roasting juices until you're ready to use it.
As for the salsa, I could have gone out and bought some from the store, but why do that when I have everything I need for an easy, no-fuss salsa sitting in the kitchen? I started by roasting a head of garlic in the oven for about an hour. I then added the garlic, along with a big can of whole plum tomatoes, 2 jalapeños (seeded for a milder salsa), a small can of diced green chiles, cumin, salt, and pepper, to my food processor.
A few pulses and it's done!
Well, almost. Then, I mixed in about 1/4 cup of chopped onion and some chopped fresh cilantro.
Now it's done. This makes about 4 cups, and I used all of it. Now that I've been through this once, I would recommend using only half of it.
Now, it's time to assemble the chili. Chop up your peppers and add
everything, including the roasting juices (don't even think about wasting those) to the slow cooker. I did just that, and look at this shit.
Well, great. Now the lid won't go on the slow cooker. I thought I was smart and I covered it in foil. No. Just no. That's a wonderful way to make a giant mess, as I soon discovered.
At this point, I was faced with a couple of options. I could either freeze half of the uncooked chili for cooking later (not ideal), or I could change the method entirely. Cooking is about improvising, so I improvised and turned this into a stovetop chili.
And guess what? It turned out just fine,
and I was done much sooner than I would have been had I used the slow cooker. I can't remember how long I simmered the chili on the stove, but I think it was a couple of hours. Or until everything is nice and tender, especially that meat, and the soup is reduced and thick. If you heed my warnings above and end up using a slow cooker, it should cook for 5-6 hours.
That's it! Taste for seasoning and eat up. Here's where I also failed. I didn't even taste the chili before it started cooking, and what I realized was that it was a mistake to seed all of the peppers, because I ended up with a quite mild chili--considering I added a habañero. A healthy dusting of cayenne solved that problem, but it shouldn't
be a problem with that many peppers. So next time, I'll be reserving some seeds to give this some real heat.
There are only three ways to improve this bowl of chili. One is to add a whole bunch of cheese, but that was out of the question for me because Weight Watchers. Two is to add some freshly squeezed lime juice for a citrus kick. I think you know what three is...
Oh yes. Now, on to what you came for...
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June 5, 2014
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