Chile con Carne

I have a very bad habit of not taking pictures of food I make when a) I host a party or b) make something delicious.  It's like I have this premonition the food will be amazing, and therefore for some stupid reason I should NOT capture it in a picture.  C'est la vie, I guess.

I made this tasty concoction for the Super Bowl a while back, and it turned out really well.  I'm into braising right now, and I need to get it out of my system before spring rolls around.  I also decided to make two types of chili for the big game, red and white (no blue though, that's just weird).  This recipe popped up in a recent issue of Bon Appetit and sounded delicious.

A few notes on it before the recipe.  It calls for ground ancho chiles, which is NOT chile powder.  If you cannot find the ground chile form in your local Mexican market, buy the whole dried chile, remove the stems and seeds, and ground in your food processor.  I prefer this method because it enables you to add a bit more heat in the form of a guajillo chile to the mix.

Chili con Carne (adapted from Bon Appetit)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 pounds beef stew meat (or chuck roast cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
2 medium onions, chopped
1 head of garlic (about 15 cloves), peeled, chopped
1/2 cup ground ancho chiles
1 ground guajillo chile
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 12-ounce bottle dark beer
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons coarse corn meal
1 teaspoon chile powder
kosher salt
pepper
Garnishes- coarsely grated cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro, fresh tomatoes, or sour cream

To grind the chiles, place 3-4 dried ancho chiles and a dried guajillo chile in a food processor and blend until chopped fine, 1-2 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Salt the beef and add 1/3 to the pant. Cook until browned, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to a plate lined with paper towl. Repeat with 2 tablespoons oil and beef.

Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil until shimmering. Add onions and sauté until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add ground chiles, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beer and stir 1 minute, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Return beef to pot. Add tomatoes (with juice), 2 1/2 cups water, oregano, and a tablespoon kosher salt. Bring chili to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover with lid slightly ajar, and simmer gently until beef is just fork tender, about 2 hours. Cool 1 hour, then chill uncovered until cold. Cover; chill overnight.

Spoon fat from chili (there will probably not be much). Bring chili to simmer over medium heat. Stir in tomato paste. Sprinkle corn meal and stir, simmer uncovered until thickened and beef is very tender, stirring often, and adding more water if too thick, about 30 minutes.  Season with 1 teaspoon chile powder, salt, and pepper. Serve with garnishes.

Green, No White, No Green Chili

 

Emily passed her prelim this past week (Yay Em!), in no small part to her charm, smarts, and husband who cooks a mean chili (yes, I'm being modest).  It's tradition for the candidate to provide food for the committee and attendees, and since hers was being held over lunch, I went all out.  Chili, cornbread, and double chocolate cookies were a hit with the academics.  Not that she needed help, but it never hurts to feed them well.  In fact, the main reason for me posting this recipe now is because one of the last questions during her exam was the recipe for this chili.

In blog news, hopefully I will get another post out this week, but I'm headed to New Orleans next week for AAPS.  I will make sure to take lots of pictures and eat a lot of oysters.

I still cannot decide if I want to call this chili green or white.  And neither wheen nor grite sound good, so this time I'm just choosing white.

Southwestern White Chili

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey (at least 90/10)
1 onion, diced fine
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 chipotle peppers in their adobo sauce, diced
2 4-oz. cans diced green chiles

1 16-oz can tomatillos, drained and chopped

1 10-oz can green enchilada sauce

1 cup dry pearled barley
4 cups chicken stock (2 15-oz cans work)
1 15oz. can cannellini bean beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
11/2 tablespoons chile powder
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Sour cream

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add onion and cook until slightly wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook one minute longer. Add turkey, breaking it apart and cooking until it has lost its pink color. Add the chipotles, cumin, chili powder, and some salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomatillos, green chiles, and enchilada sauce, cook for 5 minutes, then add the pearled barley, followed by chicken stock. Stir, bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. Add beans and cook 15 more minutes, or until barley becomes only slightly chewy. Remove lid, stir in cornmeal and tomato paste, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with a bit of sour cream.

For a bit of deeper flavor (and a bit more work), replace the canned tomatillos, green enchilada sauce, and green chiles with-

8 oz green chiles, stems removed

1-2 jalapeno's, stems removed

1 10oz can green enchilada sauce

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks and stems removed

1 jalapeno

1/4 cup cilantro

1 teaspoon sugar

Heat broiler to high. Toss tomatillos, jalapenos, and green chiles in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Arrange tomatillos (stem side down) on a foil lined baking sheet along with jalapeno and green chiles. Place in middle of oven, roast for 5-8 minutes or until slightly charred. Flip and continue to roast until charred on other side. Remove from oven can cool slightly. Peel and seed jalapeno and chiles, remove stem part from tomatillo. Place tomatillos, chiles, jalapeno, cilantro, sugar, green enchilada sauce, and some salt in pepper in a food processor. Pulse until mostly smooth.  Add to chili before barley.