Tonight shall be a night of cookery!

[badseed1980]

Nothing fancy. I'm making some chili (probably vegetarian, using Boca "ground beef" and beans) for dinner, and I'm also going to bake up a batch of Mole-Ass cookies for pierceheart. I'm really looking forward to this chili! I've been craving it for a while, and I think the Boca stuff will make it quite low in points. I'll throw in a whole bunch of veggies while I'm at it. Gods know I need to use up some of what I have! The fruits are going bad too fast for me. It's sad. Being away for the weekend and not being home Friday night didn't help. :(

So, chili fans, what's your secret ingredient? I have a few that I use either alone in the pot or in various combinations, and none are really "secret". Some are:

Chipotle (smoked chiles)
Beer (stouts, rauchbiers (smoked beers), smoked porters, etc.)
Cocoa powder
Cinnamon/clove/allspice in various combos
Coffee (instant crystals or brewed)
Red wine

How about the rest of you?

Comments

[ivyluna.livejournal.com]

Mole. Buy it in any Latin inspired food store. I usually add about half a jar.

[ivyluna.livejournal.com]

Oh! And dark bitter baker's chocolate. 1 square will do.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I use good strong cocoa powder for the same kind of taste. :) I need to get some of the Valhrona stuff from Whole Foods again sometime, but right now I have Penzey's.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I made a mole poblano from scratch a while ago! I have the remaining sauce left in my boyfriend's freezer, and I intend to throw some meat in there someday soon. Maybe turkey.

[ivyluna.livejournal.com]

Oh, God. Can I come for turkey mole???

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

If you want to drive to Boston. :)

Actually, if you like, I could get you the recipe sometime. It's very involved, requires a lot of ingredients, and has a lot of steps, but it's delicious. I modified it to use less peppers and more Mexican chocolate, but it turned out exactly how I wanted it.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to cooking for you again!

[j4yx0r.livejournal.com]

I totally do the coffee thing. Ground peanuts and/or peanut butter are good, too. I tried Nutella once and that worked out okay. Shredded ginger.

~j

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oooh, peanuts would be interesting. I'm also toying with the idea of adding nutritional yeast to a vegan chili for an added meatiness.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I'll bet that would be great in a chicken or turkey chili!

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Smoked bacon, with the fat still on, and sometimes a dash of smoked paprika.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Smokiness in chili is an awesome thing. I think it might be interesting to try throwing in some smoked brisket at some point.

[quepid.livejournal.com]

I almost always add mustard flour to my chili and any beans. Mustard flour will thicken your bean soup and neutralizes some of the bean's sorta green and tart flavour without the need for excess salt.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Is that the same as finely ground mustard seed?

[quepid.livejournal.com]

Yes :)

[witchyspyce.livejournal.com]

Screw finals...I'll be over at 6pm! ;)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

The chili is vegan and fabulous. I can give you the recipe if you want!

[witchyspyce.livejournal.com]

YES PLEASE....... :D

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Ingredients:
1 small onion or 1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
about 6 oz. crimini mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
1 15-oz. can crushed tomatoes (I prefer the no-salt-added kind)
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 15-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
1 pouch of Boca brand ground "beef" (vegan soy protein)
2 tsps. chili powder (I like Penzey's Chili Con Carne powder, medium)
1 tsp. cocoa powder (I like Penzey's Natural Process Cocoa)
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1 spray cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Spray the bottom of a pot (2 quarts would probably be ok, 3 would be better) with cooking spray. Add onions, mushrooms, garlic, and green pepper to the pot, stir, and cover. Open lid fairly often to stir, but keep it on in between stirs to hold in steam and keep stuff from sticking. When onion is translucent and peppers are tender, add remaining ingredients. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Serve with baked corn chips if you like.

Serves 3 for a nice big filling dinner, 4 points per serving. 1 serving Baked Tostitos corn chips adds 2 points.

[evaelisabeth.livejournal.com]

Honey :-)