STAY HUNGRY - Chili

You're going to have to bear with me. I have this tremendously earthshaking idea, and I have to rough it out visibly, because, unlike most of my great ideas, which affect only my family and sometimes co-workers and, much less frequently, my friends, who know me too well - to whom I really only have to vaguely explain an idea or, in more cases, just start ordering people around in order for those ideas to take monstrous, swaggering shape - this idea is being presented to People I Don't Know. And much as I like to think that me waving my hands around, gasping out sentence fragments, singing, and smiling encouragingly is a good presentation technique, in my heart of hearts I know I need a PowerPoint.

The Idea is a radio show that combines food and rock and roll. We like food, we like music. Blame my friend Sam, who out of the blue one morning told me that I should have a radio show with our friend Todd. I told him he was crazy - I still listen to Tom Tom Club - but maybe he's not.

Here's a combination of talking and music that might make a radio show about chili. There would also be a blog, with all the recipes online. Maybe with pictures. Me stirring shit up. Todd with food in his beard. It could be done.






So?


Chili.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Me and My Friends

It's chili season, no doubt. Chili works in winter because it's warm, you don't need hardly any fresh ingredients, AND you can make it ahead and carry it to the party. There are vegetarian versions that are perfectly fine, you can make it in a crockpot if necessary - which is kind of key at my house right now, as we are minus a kitchen, and, as I found out last week when I tried to make chili AFTER having packed up the spice cabinet, you can flavor it with almost anything.

Chili is important. No, just take my word for it. Chili is important. So instead of dealing out a whole hand of different recipes, we're going to walk through the steps involved in making chili, and trust that you can come up with your own variations. No, I'm lying. Nobody's going to trust anybody. We're going to have a batch of recipes up online.

M.I.A. - Galang

For meat chili, start the day before if you can, especially if you're using bones. Bones. Cheap cheap meat, braised for fucking ever, is the best start to chili. Pork neckbones are good, or if you're not ready for the bones, cubed stew beef is fine too. But that gelatin from between the joints is good stuff. It melts right into your stew and makes everything really soft and tender. Work up to the bones. You'll be ok.

So you start with onions in the big pot, sweated in oil. Make Todd dice the onions, he could use a good cry. You can be roasting the meat pieces in the oven at the same time, or just stick em in the pot to brown after the onions start to get translucent. Start adding chili powder now. The earlier the chili powder hits the meat, the more the whole thing is going to taste like chili. Some garlic, sweet or hot peppers or celery if you use it.

IMA Robot - The Hot Song

The next step, before you deglaze... Deglaze means you put liquid in to like boil up the crap on the bottom of the pan, it's kind of like cleaning as you go along... anyway, before you do that, sprinkle cornmeal into the bottom of the pot. Stir that around and let it brown a little. That way, when the liquid comes in, you have automatic thickening. It's always a pain to thicken chili later.

So what liquid do you use? Yes, I know, you want me to say beer. No, listen, if you haven't cracked a beer by now, my god, for pity's sake open a beer. It's definitely fun to deglaze your chili pot with beer. You just pour beer right in the pot, and it foams up and all, and you're like, hee hee I just poured beer in that pot! The plumber who installed a toilet in my kitchen this week said he steeps oregano in beer, then uses that beer, and that is some innovative shit, I think. You can't use much oregano in chili, it'll taste like pizza. But just a little, like this, that's a good idea.

But I deglaze chili with white vinegar. Maybe half a cup. Maybe more. The vinegar tenderizes the meat like a bitch, and you get this like mad-scientist roll of steam that you have to dodge out of the way of when it first boils or else if you inhale it, you go blind and lose all your hair, but after that, most of the sharp taste goes away. You taste the vinegar in the end result as just a little tartness.

Drink - The Jazz Butcher

Once the vinegar, or beer, or water or whatever boils down, but before it boils all away, put in tomatos. Two cans of whole peeled tomatos, smushed up with your hands, just stick your hand in the can and poke your fingers through the tomatos and smush them up and try not to think that they resemble testicles. Or, like, do, if that's interesting to you. Here's a good point to add more chili powder, and other seasonings.

What seasonings can you use? Well, as I learned last week, you can make chili that tastes like chili with nothing but some Taco Hell hot sauce packets, coffee grounds, and sugar. I don't recommend it. The coffee grounds are for the color, in case you don't have the chili powder. I always put coffee grounds in my chili anyway, basically just to freak people out who are watching me cook, but I swear you can taste a little bitter depth from them in the end.

Tilly and the Wall - Pot Kettle Black

I use basic chili powder - they make chili powder from specialized chilis now, like ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, but I find those too strong, in a way. You use that chipotle chili powder, your chili is going to taste like nothing but smoked chilis. So, chili powder, a bay leaf or two, cumin if you're a sensualist. Cumin smells like my husband's gym bag, but in, like, a good way. So use cumin if that's your thing. Add in some hot stuff now if you want - cayenne pepper, hot sauce, red pepper flakes. Some sweet - molasses, brown sugar maybe, even maple syrup - and some bitter - if you didn't use vinegar before, put in a quarter cup now.

This is your pot of chili, and you're going to let it cook really low for a long time. You have to stir it every once in a while, but if it scorches a little on the bottom, that is ok. Just scrape the scorched part up and into the stew.

Memphis Soul Stew - King Curtis & The Kingpins

IF you're using meat on the bone, come back and poke at the meat from time to time. When the bones are coming apart, turn off the heat and let it cool. You'll have to fish out the bones, and don't be grossed out, this is one of the perks of being the cook. You fish out the bones, and suck the rest of the meat scraps off 'em, and chuck the bones in the trash. Yes, it's exactly like being a zombie, if that was your question.

Heat 'er back up, and if you're using beans, put them in about 45 minutes before the end. Also corn. I cannot stress enough - if there is one secret to chili popularity, regardless of all this mess about cornmeal and vinegar and bones, it's the corn. Put one can of WHITE corn in at the same time as the beans. NOT YELLOW CORN. Yellow corn in chili looks like poo.

Basic meat chili recipe:
1 to 2 lbs meat (stew beef, pork or lamb neckbones, etc. NOT GROUND BEEF.)
2 medium onions, diced
2 T oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup white vinegar OR half a beer OR 1/2 cup water
2 T cornmeal
4 T chili powder
2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatos, OR fresh tomatos chopped coarsely
2 T brown sugar or molasses
something spicy
OPTIONAL: 2 cans beans (dark or light kidneys, black beans, pinto beans), drained
NOT OPTIONAL: 1 can white or shoepeg corn

In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, saute the onions in the oil. If using bones, lay them in a baking dish and roast at 375 for 30 minutes.

When onions are becoming translucent, add the meat to the pot, sprinkling with half the chili powder. Brown on all sides. Add garlic. Do not allow garlic to brown.

Sprinkle cornmeal into pot, stir, scraping, until cornmeal is fragrant. Immediately dump in liquid and stir, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add more liquid if necessary.

Add remaining ingredients except the beans and corn, breaking up the tomatos with your hands. Set to low heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered and checking frequently, for up to 4 hours, or until desired consistency is reached.

45 minutes before serving, add beans (if desired) and corn.


Vag chili recipe:
2 medium onions, diced
2 T oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
t cumin
basil
pinch cayenne
4 small zucchinis, diced
1 red pepper, diced
jalapeno or two, chopped
1 cup celery, diced
3 T chili powder
2 T cornmeal
half a beer OR 1/2 cup water
1 or 2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatos
1 T brown sugar or molasses
1/4 cup vinegar
hot stuff
2 cans beans (dark or light kidneys, black beans, pinto beans), drained
1 can white or shoepeg corn
cilantro for garnish

In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, saute the onions in the oil.

When onions are becoming translucent, add garlic, cumin, basil and cayenne. Do not allow garlic to brown. Then add zucchini, peppers, and celery and saute until zucchini is tender and celery is bright green.

Sprinkle cornmeal into pot, stir, scraping, until cornmeal is fragrant. Immediately dump in liquid and stir, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add more liquid if necessary.

Add remaining ingredients except the beans and corn, breaking up the tomatos with your hands. Set to low heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered and checking frequently, for about 2 hours, or until desired consistency is reached. Adjust consistency with water or beer and cornmeal.

45 minutes before serving, add beans (if desired) and corn.


Cornbread:
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c unbleached flour
3/4 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 c milk
1 egg
2 T olive oil
OPTIONAL: 1 jalapeno, minced OR half a red pepper, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 425.
Mix dry ingredients together.
Mix wet ingredients together.
Mix together.
Bake about 15 minutes.
My note in my handwritten cookbook says "Make sure you have ALL ingredients before you start."