John's Chili Page

There is only one chili recipe that I like and it was developed by my mom for my dad who does not like TOMATOES. (He doesn't like cucumbers either, but I have never seen a chili recipe with cucumbers in it.)

PREPARATION

At least two weeks before you plan on making chili, start the hunt for the little plastic jar of ground oregano that hides in the cupboard. If you have trouble finding it, remove the entire contents of the cupboard placing it on the kitchen table and floor.

Caution: If you find the ground oregano too quickly, you will lose it before it is time to start cooking. So, take your time.

On the big day, locate all of the ingredients and place them on cleared off area of the kitchen table. Later, as you use the ingredients, you will remove them from the table and take them to the kitchen counter. In this way, you will know which ingredients you have already used. (You will hate chili that you salt twice.)

BROWN THE MEAT

Use regular old ground meat because it browns better. Frozen or not, it does not matter.

Put the meat in a cast iron skillet and crank up the heat. If you do not use a cast iron skillet, you are missing one of the best joys of cooking. A cast iron skillet will last forever. How many non-stick skillets have you gone through? Cast iron skillets are virtually indestructible and they are all non-stick. You just have to know how to use them, but that is another web page.

If you are starting with frozen meat, cover the skillet and add some water to help the meat defrost without burning up.

This process is called browning, not graying. You are not done when the meat turns gray, you are just getting started.

Ground meat goes through two phases during the browning process. The first phase is the boiling off of the watery stuff (the graying phase). The second phase is the frying/browning phase.

Add the Chef Paul Meat Magic after the first phase. Add the salt and pepper too. You can even add the chili powder if you like. Don't add the ground oregano (if you can find it).

As the meat browns, mash, cut-up or otherwise pulverize the meat into granular pieces. The idea is to have well browned fine granules of beef. Do not make chili that requires a jackhammer and backhoe to eat.

The pulverizing of the ground meat is tedious, so if you are lazy or easily bored, then brown the meat to the best of your ability, and put it into a food processor and beat it mechanically into submission.

When you are done, the bottom of the skillet should have a crust on it.

Remove the ground meat from the skillet to a bowl that can be lined with paper towels if you like. Don't go overboard trying to get the fat out because we want it to taste good.

THE ONIONS

Use yellow onions. Don't use a sweet onion.

Chopping onions should be an enjoyable part of cooking rather than a chore. The first obstacle to overcome is the "crying" thing. You cry in response to the onion releasing a chemical (sulfur?) when it is cut. So, cutting with a very sharp knife helps by "disturbing" the onion less. Also, using yellow onions helps because they are generally milder than the regular white ones.

The next obstacle is the actual chopping. Again, you need a sharp chopping knife. Do not use one of those little knives that exist in prodigious quantities in most kitchens.

Locate the "up" end of the onion and cut off a slice of it so you can stand the onion upside down. You now have the little root cluster staring you in the face. Slice it in half right through the middle of the onion. You should now have two pieces of onion, each with a piece of root cluster attached at one end. All parts of the onion are held together at the root cluster and we will take advantage of that as we slice up the rest of the onion.

Work with one half of the onion at a time. Place the flat side down. Starting in the middle of the onion, make a slice perpendicular to the cutting board through the onion from just below root cluster to the other end. Do not cut through the root cluster. Make similar cuts parallel to the first out to each edge. Hold the onion together as you make the cuts.

Now, with the onion still in position, make cuts parallel to the cutting board through the onion up to the root cluster. Make three of these cuts starting high and working down. These cuts are tricky because you can cut in too deeply and lose the organizational integrity of the onion prematurely.

When you are done with these two series of cuts, you should have half an onion with criss-cross slices through it that is still in one piece (more or less).

Now, starting at the "up" end of the onion, slice the onion perpendicular to the cutting board and the first cuts. You should have nicely sized pieces of onion that stick to the knife so that you can lift them off of the cutting block and slide them into a bowl or container.

With a little practice, this is fast, neat and easy.

Put the onions into the crusty skillet and cook them on low to medium-low heat. We just want to make the onions tender and coax them into absorbing the skillet crust.

GARLIC PASTE

To get the most out of garlic, you have to "paste" it. This is because the cutting or mashing of garlic releases the good stuff so that it gets into your food and makes it good.

To turn garlic into paste, you peel it, finely chop it, lightly salt it, and the smash it with the flat edge of the chopping knife. Until it becomes paste, repeat the chopping and smashing. You have to continually scrape and arrange the goo into a workable pile.

PRESSURE COOKING

This recipe takes advantage of a pressure cooker to accelerate the process. If you know how to use a pressure cooker, great. If not, it is probably hopeless. Would a normal, full-grown person go out and buy a pressure cooker to make a chili recipe they saw on web page? NOT.

Put everything except the beans into the pressure cooker. Turn the heat to medium-high, cork up the cooker and cook under pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pressure come down on its own.

FIXIN' THE BEANS

Why do you put beans in chili?

Beans can add a great texture to the chili if they are smashed into a paste.

Put half of the beans into a bowl and smash them into a paste.

Add the beans to the chili after the pressure comes down in the cooker and continue cooking until the beans get hot.

EATING THE CHILI

Make the chili early in the day so that it can sit around for a while before you eat it.

Serve with

 

Man, how can anything be so good.

 

RECIPE

 

 Wright's Family Page