Friday, January 1, 2016

Beef Chili with Bacon and Black Beans)

Cook's Illustrated

Serves 8 to 10

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped fine
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 pounds 85% lean ground beef
8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained with juice reserved
1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree
Salt
Lime wedges


  1. Cook bacon in dutch oven over medium heat, stirring frequently, until browned, about 8 minutes. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat, leaving bacon in pot. Add onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes, Increase heat to medium-high and add half of beef. Cook, breaking up pieces with spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining beef and cook, breaking up pieces with spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Remove cover and continue to simmer 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally (if chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer), until beef is tender and chili is dark, rich, and slightly thickened. Season with salt to taste. Might need to add soy sauce and Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste. Serve with lime wedges and condiments (diced tomatoes, avocados, scallions, sour cream, shredded cheese). 
Adapted this to cook in the Instant Pot. Used all the tomato puree but drained and only used half the diced tomatoes. Cooked on high pressure for 30 minutes and let it do a natural release.

Paella

From Cook's Illustrated
.
Serves 6

This recipe is for making paella in a Dutch oven (at least 11 to 12 inches in diameter). It can also be made in a paella pan. If making in a paella pan, increase chicken broth to 3 1/4 cups and wine to 1/2 cup. Before placing paella pan in oven, cover it tightly with foil.

1 pound extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra as needed
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and halved crosswise
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
8 ounces Spanish chorizo sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick on bias
1 onion, chopped fine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, minced, and drained again
2 cups Valencia or Arboria rice
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
1 bay leaf
12 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 teaspoons fresh parsley
Lemon wedges

  1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss shrimp, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 teaspoon garlic in medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and set aside.
  2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until skin begins to blister and turn spotty black. 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer bell pepper to small plate and set aside. 
  3. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in now-empty pan until shimmering. Add chicken pieces in a single layer and cook, without moving, until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn pieces and cook until browned on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to medium bowl. Reduce heat to medium and add chorizo to pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until deeply browned and fat begins to render, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to bowl with chicken and set aside.
  4. Add enough oil to fat in pot to equal 2 tablespoons and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook until mixture begins to darken and thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until grains are well coated with tomato mixture, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, wine, saffron, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return chicken pieces and chorizo to pot, increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Cover pot (if using paella pan use foil to cover along with lid), transfer to oven, and cook until rice absorbs most of the liquid, about 15 minutes. Remove pot from oven. Uncover pot, scatter shrimp over rice, insert mussels, hinged side down, into rice (so they stand upright), arrange bell pepper strips in a pinwheel pattern, and scatter peas over top. Cover, return to oven, and cook until shrimp are opaque and mussels have opened, 10 to 12 minutes.
  5. FOR SOCARRAT (a layer of brown, crusty rice): Set pot, uncovered, over medium-high heat or about 5-minutes, rotating pot/pan, 180 degrees after about 2 minutes for evening browning.
  6. Let paella stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened and bay leaf. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, passing lemon wedges separately.