Yesterday was my husband's birthday and he decided that he wanted chili and cornbread for dinner. I've made chili a few times, but it's always been from "chili mix" rather than from scratch. This time I went to one of my favorite cookbooks, Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food.
The recipe did several things that I hadn't done before. First, it used chuck steak cut into 1/2 inch cubes instead of ground beef. The nicely browned meat then stewed in the chili liquid and ended up with a really fantastic texture.
The next really different thing was that instead of using pre-mixed chili powder, this called for a single chili powder (I used ancho powder), dried california and ancho chiles, and roasted red bell peppers. This was the first chili I've ever eaten that actually tasted like chili peppers instead of a more homogenous mix. The end result was a rich, complex flavor that had a nice bit of heat that was pleasant without being painful.
The other thing this recipe did (genius in my opinion) was to saute the onions, peppers, chilies, tomatoes, etc, and then hit them with a stick blender so that it had a really nice smooth consistency. Then you add in the meat and beans (if you want them) and simmer for about an hour. It was the best chili I've ever made.
I also used an Alton Brown recipe for my cornbread. It called for baking it in a cast iron skillet, which gave it a really nice crust all the way around. It also called for grinding coarse corn meal in a food processor rather than buying generic cornmeal. What this really did I have no idea. But the end result was a good, simple cornbread. Much tastiness
The recipe did several things that I hadn't done before. First, it used chuck steak cut into 1/2 inch cubes instead of ground beef. The nicely browned meat then stewed in the chili liquid and ended up with a really fantastic texture.
The next really different thing was that instead of using pre-mixed chili powder, this called for a single chili powder (I used ancho powder), dried california and ancho chiles, and roasted red bell peppers. This was the first chili I've ever eaten that actually tasted like chili peppers instead of a more homogenous mix. The end result was a rich, complex flavor that had a nice bit of heat that was pleasant without being painful.
The other thing this recipe did (genius in my opinion) was to saute the onions, peppers, chilies, tomatoes, etc, and then hit them with a stick blender so that it had a really nice smooth consistency. Then you add in the meat and beans (if you want them) and simmer for about an hour. It was the best chili I've ever made.
I also used an Alton Brown recipe for my cornbread. It called for baking it in a cast iron skillet, which gave it a really nice crust all the way around. It also called for grinding coarse corn meal in a food processor rather than buying generic cornmeal. What this really did I have no idea. But the end result was a good, simple cornbread. Much tastiness
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