The Cooking Segment

Per my previous post, here is the recipe for a slow-cooker Chunky Beef and Black Bean Chili taken from the Woman's Day Slow Cooking special edition, vol. xviii, no.1, 2008. I hope this to be the first of many posts highlighting my culinary endeavors. I also hope the day comes when these recipes will be purely my own, but as Rome was not built in a day, neither will my knowledge of the kitchen reach expert level. 

Also, for future food posts, I promise to have some more pictures. I posted this after the fact. 

This is definitely a nice cozy choice for all of us who are facing the recent arctic temps. I suggest serving up a bowl and settling into some Hitchcock and a nice brown ale. Red wine would work too. I served this with sour cream, warm cornbread and tortilla chips. 

Rear Window + chili + ale = bliss.

The chili is meant to serve 10, although in reality, I would say 5.  You can cook it on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 hours. For the last 30 minutes of cooking, however, it should be on high. Your pad will be fragranced with spices, and towards the end, aaaaah, cilantro. 

Ingredients: 

1 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive, as I usually do.) 

2 lb beef for stew, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch cubes, patted dry 

2 onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced (I used at least 4. One can never have too much garlic.)

1 Tbsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground (Not too sure what that means, I used McCormick's cumin from the "spice rack.")

1 Tbsp dried oregano leaves, crumbled

1 tsp each crushed black peppercorns and salt (I did a bit more than a teaspoon here, at least with the pepper.) 

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice (When using any type of canned tomotoes I feel obligated to add, in honor of the much revered Lidia--also a former Astoria resident--to seek tomatoes from the San Marzano region of Italy.) 

1 1/2 cups of flat beer or beef stock (Cans of Swanson Beef Stock did me just fine. Flat beer? Unheard of in this apartment.) 

4 cups of cooked black beans, drained and rinsed (For the sake of time, I used canned Progresso and washed them. I'm also a fan of Goya though, which is cheaper.) 

2 each dried ancho and New Mexico chili peppers (Explanations proceeding Cooking directions.)

1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro, leaves and stems (From the amount of little Mexican huts here, I have gone from hating cilantro to wanting to bask in a tub of it everytime I smell it.) 

1 or 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped, optional (If you like a little kick, I would suggest adding some. The ancho pepper is more sweet than spicy.) 

Cooking directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add beef in batches and cook, stirring and adding more oil if necessary, until the beef is browned (about 4 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef into a 5-qt or larger slow cooker. 

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about five minutes. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, peppercorns, and salt; cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add tomatoes with their juice and cook, breaking them up with the back of a spoon, until desired consistency is reached. Add one cup of the beer (or stock) and bring to a boil. 

3. Pour mixture over the beef. Add beans and stir well. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or low 8 to 10 hours, or until the beef is tender. 

4. Thirty minutes before the chili is finished cooking, soak ancho and New Mexico chilis in 4 cups of boiling water, weighing them down to make sure they remain submerged. Drain, discarding soaking liquid and stems, and coarsely chop. Transfer chilis to a blender. Add cilantro, jalapeno pepper, if using, and remaining beer (or stock); puree. 

5. Add the chili mixture to slow cooker and stir well. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes until mixture is hot and bubbly and flavors are well blended. 

A quick note on the peppers. As I am not yet an expert in the culinary arts, I had to research what the ancho and New Mexico peppers looked like. Turns out, the New Mexico chili is your average chili, the ones that you often see in the food store. Here are instructions on how to work with them dried.  The ancho, or pablano (meaning "people" pepper), was less familiar to me.  Some helpful information about the ancho can be found at the Spice House Web site, including taste and how to prepare. I did not use dried peppers, since I could not find them. (Mental note: find a decent spice shop in Astoria.) I am sure that making the paste from the proper peppers, those that the recipe actually calls for, would amplify the taste. But if you are stuck in an urban area and materials are limited, using the non-dried pablano and a plain-jane red pepper mixed with broth and cilantro worked nicely for me. It was, however, slightly lacking in that good ol' chili kick. 

Images: 

Rear Window: taken from filmsquish.com 

Peppers: taken from wikimedia.org/wikipedia