With Amelia out with her girlfriends for dinner, I was left to fend for myself. Since she's not a fan of spicy/hot foods, I'll usually cook up something spicy for myself on such a night as this. Tonight I decided to make myself some chili. I have a pretty good recipe already, but I've wanted to try Texas-style chili, which typically doesn't have tomatoes and is more of a stew. So, I read several recipes on the internet and then tried to come up with my own. It actually came out pretty good, so I'm blogging it so I can remember for the next time.
Bald Man Tom's Skillet Chili
The Players
| The Pan | 9" cast iron skillet, well seasoned |
| The Ingredients | ~ 1 lb. chuck roast, cut into small cubes salt 2 oz onion, finely diced 1 clove garlic, minced 4 oz can of diced chiles 2 tbsp chili powder 2 tsp adobo paste 2 c beef broth, plus 3 tbsp 3 tbsp masa harina Vegetable oil |
The Method
Season the meat with a few pinches of salt about 5 minutes before cooking begins. Heat the skillet over high heat. Coat the skillet thinly with oil, then sear the meat in two batches (recoat the skillet with oil between batches if necessary). Set the meat aside. Lower the heat to medium, then sautee the onion and garlic until softened a little, about 2-3 minutes. Add the meat back to the pan with 2 c of the broth, chili powder and adobo paste, mix and simmer 5 minutes. Make a slurry with the masa harina and the remaining 3 tbsp of the beef broth, then add to the pan and give it a good stir. Place in a 350 degree oven for 90 minutes.
Makes 2 servings.
The Verdict
Pretty darned tasty! It was definitely a good first effort. The meat was nice and tender, so I'm glad I used a cut of meat with a little fat. If I'd used something lean like sirloin, I think it might have dried out during the stewing process and gotten tough. The heat was a little too subdued, but I can ramp it up in later batches. It was also pretty thick, not as much a stew as I was trying to make.
Lessons Learned
Next time, I'll want to bump up the heat. I'll add another tbsp of chili powder, swap diced jalapenos for the chiles, and add another tsp of the adobo paste. I might think about using less masa harina slurry, though the more I think about it, the more I'm liking the overall thickness of the stew, so maybe not.
As a side note, I made a batch of corn bread to accompany my chili. I used the recipe pretty much straight off the box of Kroger-brand corn flour (I just added 1 tsp chili powder to kick it up a bit). That, also, came out pretty darned good.
6 comments:
That sounds tasty! If you're looking to amp up the heat, why don't you just buy some Red Savina Habañero power or dice up some Scotch Bonnets? That'll make it hot. I guess you could also try adding some chipotle peppers which usually come canned in adobo sauce. Next time my wife and your wife happen to be out of town (or at the very least, out for dinner), gimme a ring and we'll chow down on some of that tasty chili!
You're on!
So, funny thing, I was specifically looking for chipotles in adobo sauce, and I couldn't find any at my local megamart. I'll try looking at a different one the next time
Tom--
Two words: Jungle Jim's.
I haven't made much chili at all this winter, so this is something that I ought to try. Thanks for posting experiment #1.
See, if we had a Jungle Jim's around here, I'd never get anything else done for all the cooking. Guess I'll have to see if one of our other local megamarts carries the chipotles...
This is my second attempt to post a comment to your blog. If it is a repeat, sorry.
A pound of meat makes two servings? That's enough for a whole family.
Yeah, it sounds like a lot, but consider that if you get a steak at a steak place, the average size steak is 12-16 oz. Most people don't complain about that :)
Also, a lot of the fat renders out during cooking, and the whole chili reduces quite a bit, so the pound of meat doesn't go as far as you'd think.
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