PRESSURE, PUSHING DOWN ON ME
I’ve been trying to use the pressure cooker I received as a gift over the holidays more. It’s an interesting device. It does pretty impressive things with meat, tenderizing it like you wouldn’t believe, but it’s not all good.
I’ve used the pressure cooker before to make barbacoa (excellent) and an attempt at al pastor meat (meh). I decided to try making chili in it today. I used a variation of my standard chili recipe (which will be another post), which is itself a variation of one my aunt taught me when I was younger.
I browned the meat first in a pan: first the chunks of top round, and then the ground turkey. I then browned the onions in the same pan, adding the garlic and peppers near the end, and dumped them all into the insert of the pressure cooker. I added a can of beans, a can of diced tomatoes, a bottle of beer, and some more spices.
Browning the meat first is an important part of any recipe. The Maillard reaction is your friend. The onions were browned but not caramelized (which will be yet another post), again for those delicious browned bits.
The cooker cooked under pressure for about 45 minutes, then was let to release pressure for 10 minutes or so, at which point I released the rest of the pressure manually.
After all of that, the chili was… pretty good? My first taste was “WOW THIS IS SPICY” but after that, the heat seemed pretty tame. I ate it with a lot of cheese, which probably turned down the fire somewhat. I’ll probably try this again — the meat was impossibly tender — but it was somewhat lacking in depth. I’ll do some more research. Delicious, delicious research.
RECIPE
- 2 lbs top round London broil, cut into chunks
- 1.5 lbs ground meat (I used turkey)
- 3 medium onions, diced
- 3 long hot peppers (see notes), sliced into rings
- 1 head garlic, minced
- 3 chipotles in adobo sauce (see notes), sliced into rings
- 2 tsp adobo sauce
- 1 12-oz bottle of beer (I used Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout)
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 16-oz can kidney beans
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp chili powder (I use Badia)
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander seed
- 2 tsp aleppo pepper
- 3 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp raw sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Brown the top round in a large pan over high heat, salting the meat a little. When the meat is browned on all sides, put it into the pressure cooker and start browning the ground meat. Spice the ground meat as it’s cooking with salt, aleppo pepper, and chili powder. Move the browned meat into the pressure cooker as well, and fry the onions in the fond left by the two types of meat. When the onions start to brown, add the long hots and the garlic and fry for another two minutes. Add this mixture to the pressure cooker.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the pressure cooker, stir to mix it all up, and seal the cooker. Cook under pressure for 45 minutes, then let it come off pressure naturally for 10 minutes, releasing the pressure manually after that.
Serve with cheddar cheese and chopped scallions, and eat with tortilla chips.
–c
NOTES
Long hots are a type of Italian hot pepper that seem to be really prevalent in New Jersey. I haven’t seen them that much outside of the state, but I didn’t use hot peppers (besides the Scotch bonnets my Jamaican grandmother grew) in my cooking until college.
Chipotles in adobo come in a can, usually about 7 or 8 peppers in a thick sauce. Chipotles are smoked jalapeños, and the sauce is also smoky and spicy. Once I’ve opened the can, I put the leftovers into a plastic zip-top bag and put the bag in the fridge.
I realize this is not true Texas chili because it has beans in it. Not being a true Texan, I don’t really care. If you don’t like beans in your chili, don’t add them. I want to find things that add more umami and depth to my chili, so if you have any ideas, please leave a comment.