FOOD PORN: The Chilli Variations
Tonight, I'm making slow cooker chilli for my brother. I feel like I'm prepping for a cooking show... making one batch ahead of time and then prepping another in front of an audience... :)
He buys cans and cans of the stuff, but doesn't know how to cook it himself. He has a slow cooker at home (and if he doesn't, they're easy enough to come by at the thrift store) so I thought I would show him how, because when you can control all the variables, you know you're getting the tastiest, healthiest (or not) chilli, and if you do it right it's got to be cheaper than buying the canned crap full of nasty preservatives and cheap ingredients.
Here is all the knowledge I have learned from making many different variations, and reading even more recipes.
First, decide on your ingredients. Here are the basic things you probably should have, but you can make a chilli without any one (or even two) things provided you're creative enough. I have a magic chilli recipe that has no tomatoes, and the beans are considered a garnish so, there you go!
Meat
Or not, if you're of the vegetarian or broke persuasion, but meat does make for a savoury chilli.
Beans
Pretty much any kind of bean will do. Kidney is traditional, but I love garbanzo beans (aka chick peas). Often, I will go with a white bean or a black bean or just grab the can of mixed beans. Adding more tinned beans is a great way to make a bigger batch cheaper.
Veggies
Anything is fine. If you're slow cooking, sometimes it's nice to add these in later, as the same temperature that breaks down the collagen in meats is the same temperature that breaks down the starches in plants, and so it's all about texture, really.
Some common chilli veggies choices in our house are:
Tomatoes
Kind of a key ingredient, but any kind will do - fresh, tinned whole (smushed up), tinned chopped, tinned stewed, or even just tomato sauce. Tomato paste at the end will thicken it up if you find it too watery. My general rule is one can of tomatoes for each can of beans.
Spice
Another key ingredient. Any kind of powdered chilli spice is fine, really. The packets marked as being for "chilli" in the grocery store are just fine, but if you've got a cupboard full of spices you probably don't need it because really all they are is some kind of chilli powder, onion powder, garlic powder and sometimes other spices. If you've already got onion and garlic in your chilli, just adding some kind of chilli powder does the trick. Go to the grocery store and do the sniff test to find the one you like the smell of.
I like to add occasionally add the following too:
Other option ingredients include...
Serve with rice to make it go farther, plus beans + rice= a complete protein so HEALTHY points again.
Toppings
Freeze any unused bits in single-serving portions in ziplock bags or plastic containers. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
He buys cans and cans of the stuff, but doesn't know how to cook it himself. He has a slow cooker at home (and if he doesn't, they're easy enough to come by at the thrift store) so I thought I would show him how, because when you can control all the variables, you know you're getting the tastiest, healthiest (or not) chilli, and if you do it right it's got to be cheaper than buying the canned crap full of nasty preservatives and cheap ingredients.
Here is all the knowledge I have learned from making many different variations, and reading even more recipes.
First, decide on your ingredients. Here are the basic things you probably should have, but you can make a chilli without any one (or even two) things provided you're creative enough. I have a magic chilli recipe that has no tomatoes, and the beans are considered a garnish so, there you go!
Meat
Or not, if you're of the vegetarian or broke persuasion, but meat does make for a savoury chilli.
- Stewing beef or Chuck Eye or Eye of Round or hunks of pork- this is my choice for slow cooker chilli. These hunks are not good for cooking fast meals, as they can be fatty and held together by lots of layers of collagen which is tough (pound for pound, tougher than steel!). However, if cooked at at least 176° F (80° C) for a long period of time, collagens break down and become soft, leaving that yummy, savoury, flavour to the meal, and a melt-in-your-mouth, fall apart by breathing on it kind of meat.
- Steak - okay, so if you're rushed for time and cooking a quick chilli, you can do a steak cut. Just don't try to put it in the slow cooker or you won't have success. Not enough collagen.
- Ground something or other - this is a good option if you're making quick or slow. It's more expensive than stewing beef, though, but if you like the texture go for it. You can either cook it in big chunks (aka "mom style"), or cook it more slowly in the pan and cook it in small crumbly bits.
- Bacon - Bacon can be a good add-in for the start. It gives things a nice, smokey flavour, and if you cook it first in the pan, its grease will flavour the rest of the things you cook in it (onions, garlic, mushrooms, meat, veggies) etc.
Beans
Pretty much any kind of bean will do. Kidney is traditional, but I love garbanzo beans (aka chick peas). Often, I will go with a white bean or a black bean or just grab the can of mixed beans. Adding more tinned beans is a great way to make a bigger batch cheaper.
Veggies
Anything is fine. If you're slow cooking, sometimes it's nice to add these in later, as the same temperature that breaks down the collagen in meats is the same temperature that breaks down the starches in plants, and so it's all about texture, really.
Some common chilli veggies choices in our house are:
- Mushrooms
- Bell peppers
- Corn
- You could get much more creative... spinach! Broccoli! Squash! OK, so it's a bit fancy but the flavour will predominantly be MEAT and SPICE so sneaking some HEALTHY in there as well isn't a bad thing.
Tomatoes
Kind of a key ingredient, but any kind will do - fresh, tinned whole (smushed up), tinned chopped, tinned stewed, or even just tomato sauce. Tomato paste at the end will thicken it up if you find it too watery. My general rule is one can of tomatoes for each can of beans.
Spice
Another key ingredient. Any kind of powdered chilli spice is fine, really. The packets marked as being for "chilli" in the grocery store are just fine, but if you've got a cupboard full of spices you probably don't need it because really all they are is some kind of chilli powder, onion powder, garlic powder and sometimes other spices. If you've already got onion and garlic in your chilli, just adding some kind of chilli powder does the trick. Go to the grocery store and do the sniff test to find the one you like the smell of.
I like to add occasionally add the following too:
- Cumin - the missing mexican spice. This is so, so good and I never knew it was in mexican cooking until recently. Whole seeds cooked over a medium heat until just brown and then ground will make it taste deeeelish. But that's getting fancy-pants. Just dried cumin is fine too.
- Coriander - the dried version of the cilantro seed, another secret mexican flavour.
- Oregano - I buy the 'mexican oregano' at the grocery store. It's got a lovely flavour, and holds up better than the powdered stuff.
- Mole sauce - an occasional variant, it's a pre-made spice paste with added chocolate flavours. Nom!
- Chipotle - a smoke-dried pepper. Lovely flavour!
- Fresh seranno peppers - if I'm making a really spicy version, this is great. Tastes like Green with a nicer spice than jalapenos.
Other option ingredients include...
- Onions - add a nice flavour. Mmmmm, onions!
- Garlic - ditto.
- Chicken broth - if used as a thinner, you will get a more savoury, delicious chilli and you don't need to add much salt. Otherwise, substitute water and salt.
- Heat up a pan on the stove
- Put some grease in it (bacon cooked until just browning, oil, butter, marg)
- Add your onions and/or mushrooms and cook until the onions are just starting to go see-through and turn brown, and the mushrooms are shrinking up and browning all over. Sometimes, I cook the onions a little bit before adding the mushrooms, so the mushrooms get more yummy caramalization on them. ***If at any time things start to burn or stick to the pan DON'T PANIC. Put a few tablespoon of water or chicken broth in the pan and stir it around. This is called 'deglazing.' ***
- Push the stuff in the pan to the sides.
- Brown your meat in the middle of the pan. If it's ground beef, cook until cooked, stirring often. If it's chunks of meat, flip until all sides are brown and the yummy meat flavour is 'sealed' in. Important note: if you're using pork, chicken, or ground meat, you'll need to cook it until it's mostly cooked because of evil bacteria. With hunks of beef, this is less important.
- Add your garlic last, as it will burn easily. Cook until it starts to brown and then turn off the heat.
- Transfer all ingredients in the pan to the slow cooker.
- Add your beans, tomatoes and veggies. The veggies will release liquid as they cook, so don't over-add liquid at this point. BUT if you're going to make a big batch and are trying to make your money go further, add extra liquid because you can always thicken it at the last step to make more sauce and less meat.
- Slow cook for at least 6 hours. Stir and taste occasionally, adjusting spice, salt, liquid as needed. OR put on the stove, bring to a boil and then cook for 30 minutes or longer.
- If at the end, your chilli need some thickening you can add one of three things... tomato paste, or a little bit of corn meal. Some corn meal thickens instantly, other takes a few minutes to do its magic. Stir, wait a few minutes and add more if needed. The other option is just to boil the stuff until all the water evaporates, but this is slower and risks drying things out.
Serve with rice to make it go farther, plus beans + rice= a complete protein so HEALTHY points again.
Toppings
- Chopped bell peppers
- Cheese
Freeze any unused bits in single-serving portions in ziplock bags or plastic containers. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.