Recipe: Awesome Chili
This is a slightly-vague attempt to quantify what I cooked up last night; it started as a "things I have around the house" meal that turned out OMGAWESOME!, hence the desire to immortalize it in text.
The quantities of spices are a guesstimate, since at the time I was just tossing in what looked right for the volume of ingredients (as I get older, I have more and more sympathy for the Medieval cooks who blithely wrote down things like "add cinnamon til it's enough" and such in their recipes, to the great annoyance of modern redactors).
Sauteing the spices was a spur-of-the-moment thing, based on some recent work I'd done with curries and the like, though I don't tend to see the step in American recipes. It worked great here, though! Ditto the inclusion of turmeric, which isn't a usual chili addition that I know of. countessaleska's mom heard something about it being a "healthy" spice, and gave us a ginormous tin. Since turmeric's one of those things you use by 1/8 or 1/4 of a teaspoon at most, I've been trying to find ways to use it up before it goes stale. I have to say, I didn't taste it at all in this recipe but for all I know it was The Secret Ingredient. I think it's probably optional, though.
Also, there are some idiosyncratic ingredients: homemade turkey stock (from the boiled-down carcass of Second Thanksgiving -- there was no way I was wasting *that*) and a weird, big size of canned tomatoes. Both stock and tomatoes contained salt, and that ended up being all this version needed; anyone attempting to replicate with different ingredients might need to add salt to taste.
Awesome Chili
1 med.-lg. onion, chopped
3 lg. cloves garlic, chopped.
drizzle olive oil (~ 2 tbsp.?)
1 1/2 lbs. "super lean" ground beef
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cumim (possibly a bit more)
3 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1 - 28oz can diced tomatoes (or a couple smaller cans equaling that quantity), with juice.
2 tsp. (or a bit more) Italian spice blend (oregano, thyme, basil)
1 c. brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 c. turkey stock
2 c. water
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or small stockpot over high heat until a drop of water or small piece of onion sizzles when dropped in. Add onion and saute until translucent and beginning to carmelize (= fancy term for "get brown around the edges"). Add garlic and saute a few moments more. Add cumin, tumeric and 2 tbsp. of the chili powder and saute just until the spices are fragrant (a couple minutes). Add beef and reduce temp to medium high. Stir and break up beef until no more pink is visible; also scrape/deglaze the pan, getting up as much of the tasty brown stuff at the bottom as possible. If it helps, add a half cup or water or so to assist in deglazing.
When beef is fully cooked, add tomatoes, the remaining 1 tbsp. chili powder, the Italian spices, lentils, stock, and water (or water and bouillon, or some equivalent), reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked and starting to "break" (split open) and the chili thickens. About an hour-ish, on my stovetop. Taste, adjust seasonings/add salt as needed.
Serve hot, garnished with grated cheddar cheese and corn chips. Rich, flavorful and spicy. The perfect meal on a chilly night!
This one could probably go entirely vegetarian with no beef and the addition of another cup of lentils and another 2 c. or so of water.
(The entirety of this recipe typed out with Lumen curled in my lap. Aaaaaw!)
The quantities of spices are a guesstimate, since at the time I was just tossing in what looked right for the volume of ingredients (as I get older, I have more and more sympathy for the Medieval cooks who blithely wrote down things like "add cinnamon til it's enough" and such in their recipes, to the great annoyance of modern redactors).
Sauteing the spices was a spur-of-the-moment thing, based on some recent work I'd done with curries and the like, though I don't tend to see the step in American recipes. It worked great here, though! Ditto the inclusion of turmeric, which isn't a usual chili addition that I know of. countessaleska's mom heard something about it being a "healthy" spice, and gave us a ginormous tin. Since turmeric's one of those things you use by 1/8 or 1/4 of a teaspoon at most, I've been trying to find ways to use it up before it goes stale. I have to say, I didn't taste it at all in this recipe but for all I know it was The Secret Ingredient. I think it's probably optional, though.
Also, there are some idiosyncratic ingredients: homemade turkey stock (from the boiled-down carcass of Second Thanksgiving -- there was no way I was wasting *that*) and a weird, big size of canned tomatoes. Both stock and tomatoes contained salt, and that ended up being all this version needed; anyone attempting to replicate with different ingredients might need to add salt to taste.
Awesome Chili
1 med.-lg. onion, chopped
3 lg. cloves garlic, chopped.
drizzle olive oil (~ 2 tbsp.?)
1 1/2 lbs. "super lean" ground beef
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cumim (possibly a bit more)
3 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1 - 28oz can diced tomatoes (or a couple smaller cans equaling that quantity), with juice.
2 tsp. (or a bit more) Italian spice blend (oregano, thyme, basil)
1 c. brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 c. turkey stock
2 c. water
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or small stockpot over high heat until a drop of water or small piece of onion sizzles when dropped in. Add onion and saute until translucent and beginning to carmelize (= fancy term for "get brown around the edges"). Add garlic and saute a few moments more. Add cumin, tumeric and 2 tbsp. of the chili powder and saute just until the spices are fragrant (a couple minutes). Add beef and reduce temp to medium high. Stir and break up beef until no more pink is visible; also scrape/deglaze the pan, getting up as much of the tasty brown stuff at the bottom as possible. If it helps, add a half cup or water or so to assist in deglazing.
When beef is fully cooked, add tomatoes, the remaining 1 tbsp. chili powder, the Italian spices, lentils, stock, and water (or water and bouillon, or some equivalent), reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked and starting to "break" (split open) and the chili thickens. About an hour-ish, on my stovetop. Taste, adjust seasonings/add salt as needed.
Serve hot, garnished with grated cheddar cheese and corn chips. Rich, flavorful and spicy. The perfect meal on a chilly night!
This one could probably go entirely vegetarian with no beef and the addition of another cup of lentils and another 2 c. or so of water.
(The entirety of this recipe typed out with Lumen curled in my lap. Aaaaaw!)