Did They Eat It: Cooking Light Chili Con Carne

The last recipe I made from Cooking Light's Jan/Feb issue was Chili Con Carne and boy this recipe made me question the justness of a world where people have to roast and peel chiles. The process of roasting, peeling and chopping these chiles took so longI started to believe the peppers would never be done. Additionally I didn't read the recipe correctly (again) and planned for an hour of simmering only to realize at 6:30 another 45 minutes were required.

I'm not sure why this is such a difficult task for me, getting dinner on the table when my family is hungry, but I'm missing a gene or something. I can probably get handicapped parking for this.

Part of the problem with this recipe is that I've never roasted and peeled chiles.

So I put them under the broiler and watched them and freaked when they turned black-ish. I took them out when they looked like this and when I went to peel them it was, as I mentioned, really unpleasant and time consuming.

Here's the beef dredged in flour and ready to be browned.

I was pretty agitated by this recipe so spparently I didn't feel like taking pictures of the process. Here's a picture of the cornbread I made from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Anything. Are you wondering how I spread my butter on the corn bread?

I bought a butter crock! It keeps your butter smooth and slightly soft on your counter without letting it spoil. I bought this one and confirm the packaging was frustration free, which is more than I can say for this recipe.

Did They Eat It?

Logan: "This is fine, I'm not going to weep over it even though, as you told me, you spent 32 hours roasting and chopping the chiles."
Melissa: Expected multiple orgasms after the drawn out process of this recipe. It is only 360 calories but for the time and effort I'd rather eat Elise Bauer's Chili Con Carne and be fat and satisfied. (PS: About an hour after preparing the peppers my fingers started burning. Jerks.)
Max : "Couldn't eat it, had to go to bed."
Maddie: "I love how you don't know how to read recipes, you've saved me from eating a lot of new things and thank God for that. Maybe you should just make plain pasta every night."

I realize I haven't exactly given a stunning review but perhaps you'd like to try to make this and see if you like it (or maybe you can make it better!)

Chili Con Carne

8 poblono chiles
3lbs boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups peeled seeded and chopped plum tomatoes (about 10 med.)
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp cumin
1 chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
6 Tbsp shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

1) Preheat broiler
2) Place poblanos on a foil lined baking sheet; broil 8 minutes or until charred turning after 6 minutes. Place poblanos in a zip top bag, seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and cut chiles into 1-inch pieces.
3) Sprinkle beef with salt and black pepper; dredge in flour. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Add half of beef to pan. Saute for 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove pan. Repeat with remaining beef.
4) Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to pan; cook 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Return beef to pan. Stir in tomato, oregano, and cumin; bring to a simmer.
5) Cover and cook for one hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in poblanos; simmer for 45 minutes or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Rinse, seed and chop chipotle. Stir in chipotle and cilantro.

From Cooking Light (Jan/Feb '10)

Comments

[Sallie]

roasting peppers 101:
1- they need to be a LOT blacker. Blackening = blistering = the ability to remove the skins
2- sweating them is essential
3- put the peppers under running water when removing the skins, not eco-friendly I guess, but makes the whole thing quick and easy.

[Jenn C.]

I got a butter keeper for Christmas, and it is a fantastic wonderful invention. I love having spreadable butter!

[Rebecca]

I haven't roasted chiles before, but have worked with roasted chiles (de-seeding them) -- if you ever do it again, I would definitely recommend wearing some latex gloves.

[Lucy Arin]

Hot peppers always burn my skin - I wear latex gloves when handling them. Because I'm the girl who forgets she handled peppers and then rubs her eyes. >_<

I would probably reduce the amount of poblono peppers to 3-4. For two reasons. 1. less roasting/peeling. 2. You can always turn up the spice level later if need be. Toning it down if it is too high is much harder. I love spicy stuff. My DH does not.

I'm a huge fan of my slow cooker, so I might toss this together in the morning, spending maybe 35 minutes or so, and then at step 5, put it in the crock-pot and leave it all day. I will give that a shot and let you know how it turns out.

I would also add kidney beans, because it just isn't chili to me without them.

[joaaanna]

Sallie's Roasting Peppers 101 is dead-on. It really isn't that big of a hassle when you follow the tips she mentioned.

And gloves are a must! The oils from the pepper last much longer on your hands then you would think... as both my husband and my discovered AFTER dinner (wink, wink). Ow. Burny!

[Lisame]

Sallie knows what she is talking about!

Living in Texas we are taught at a young age to wear gloves AND when you buy a bunch of peppers in season, just go ahead and roast a bunch on the grill, peel them and place in ziplock bags in the freezer for later use. Speeds things up when you actually go to cook.

[lisa marie]

I would have screwed up and served dinner late, too. 2 hours is way too long for me on a weeknight.

What the fuck was Cooking Light thinking with this one?!

P.S. I have a CL subscription, and I made their Ravioli Toss from the March issue last night. Except I didn't use ravioli. Or roasted tomatoes. If you're interested, here's what I did. You absolutely can shake this up with different veggies, but I definitely recommend at least trying it with the green beans.

*Cook 8 oz rotini (MORE than enough). Set a timer, 'cause you're gonna add 2 cups frozen green beans 5 minutes before the rotini is done.

*While rotini is cooking, stir together 1 minced garlic clove (I used 3 'cause I love garlic, but 1 would have been plenty for this garlic-lover), 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 3 roasted red peppers (bottled) slivered or chopped, 2 chopped Roma/plum tomatoes, 1/4 cup feta, 3 Tbsp chopped kalamata olives, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper to taste.

*Toss. Serve. Bask in the praise.

[Lisame]

Also, instead of running water, I just hold them under water and peel. Less waste. I have a big plastic bowl I use for this.

[lisa marie]

P.P.S. SOOO sorry for the hijack! It was just really good, really quick, and did I mention really good? Would have been better with garlic bread on the side, but whaddayagonnado, amirite?

[3xx1xy]

I'm part of the roasting pepper society. I roast and peel in bulk to freeze for later use. I don't usually wear gloves, after peeling, I run a sliced lemon/lime over my hands then wash in cold NOT hot water.

[Kate]

I'm pretty lazy so I would have left out the chiles and substituted sautéed red and green peppers. I’ve never roasted a pepper so I’m pretty impressed you attempted this.

[Meredith]

When the peppers come out of the oven cover them with a wet towel. This will help to steam the skins off any you won't be peeling for hours and hours.

[Liz]

This works for roasted tomatoes, but I don't see why not for chilis, too. Directly after roasting, put them in a ziplock bag and let them steam for a while. Then you can work the skins off through the bag.

[Sadie at heyMamas]

Wow, that showed some major commitment! Better woman than I, my solution to that problem is takeout.

Sadie at heymMmas

[Sadie at heyMamas]

I spelled my own name wrong!

Sadie at heyMamas

[Tina]

I just want to let you know that I made your shredded chicken crock pot tacos awhile back and now they are a weekly staple in my house...so THANKS!

[Sadie at heyMamas]

Although now I don't even see my comment, so sorry!!

I was just saying that you showed major commitment on that dish and I usually opt for take out, a healthy take out but take out nonetheless.

Sadie at heyMamas

[Lynn]

I realize this post is about cooking but we haven't had enough puppy stories and pictures yet!

[Lisa V]

Bert makes a really yummy stuffed poblano. Once he didn't wear gloves and thought no big deal, his fingers didn't hurt. Then he went to the bathroom before he washed his hands. A little while later, Mr. Happy wasn't so happy.

[cee]

I'm thinking that you need to buy better cooking magazines.

[diana]

we have a butter crock and i LOVE LOVE LOVE it. its the best thing that ever happened to my butter. keep in mind, i grew up in a house where we just left our butter out on the counter becuase we went through about a stick a day. my dad butters cheese danish.

anyway, can't beleive you roasted peppers and cut up all those tomatoes! buy them both canned and save yourself some hassle!

[Meg]

I tried this recipe last week too, and found it to be rather greasy, even if it is yummy. And I forgoed roasting the peppers and just added a few more of the chilies in adobo sauce.

[Cheryll]

Long-time lurker here. I second the recommendation of putting the (very black) roasted peppers in a ziploc to sweat. I've only done it with red peppers, but the skins just slide off (hmmmm ... is that really the phrase I want to use?)

[Kristin]

I have to admit, I need the recipe to tell me in the beginning, exactly how much cooking time is required. I've been known to put dinner on the table way too late, or undercooked, myself!

[kris]

i have always roasted peppers on the burner, turning as they blacken and put them in a brown paper bag after they are black enough. i will have to try the ziplock bags...

[Sheila]

Is it strange that as I saw the picture of the meal I thought "there is no way Maddie will eat that". How is it that I don't know her, will never meet here and yet, know what she will and will not eat?
This is my favorite go-to recipe...tasty and takes less than 20 minutes from start to finish. I serve it with rice
Chicken Breasts in Foil with Rosemary and Olive Oil
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 20 spinach leaves, trimmed, washed and dried
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 12 ounces)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs rosemary, plus 1/2 teaspoon minced rosemary
• Minced zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions
Tear off two sheets of aluminum foil, each about 18 inches square, and place one on top of the other. Use 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to smear a patch in the center of the foil, large enough to hold the chicken side by side. Make a bed of the spinach in the center, then top with the chicken breasts, salt and pepper to taste, the rosemary sprigs and leaves, and another tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle the lemon zest and juice over the chicken.
Fold the foil over the chicken onto itself and crimp the edges as tightly as possible by making 1- or 2-inch folds, one after the other, each sealing the other. Seal the package very tightly, but leave plenty of room around the chicken. (You can prepare the recipe up to 3 hours in advance to this point; refrigerate the package.)
Place a skillet large enough to hold the package over high heat. Put the package in the skillet. About 2 minutes later, the package will expand like a balloon; be careful of the escaping steam. Cook for 5 minutes longer from that point.
Remove the package from the heat, again taking care to avoid any escaping steam. Let rest for 1 minute, then cut a slit down the length of the top with a knife. Use a knife and fork to open up the package, then spoon the chicken, spinach, and juices onto a plate and serve.

I use more spinach, usually about ¾ of a bag of baby spinach and then steam the rest of it to eat with the meal.

[Anna]

I roast mine over the gas flame, too. Or just buy the canned roasted ones, there's not that much difference. And Cooking Light isn't good--do you have to use their recipes?

[spoiledonlychild]

I always try to make chili a day or two before I plan to eat it. It tastes better when it sits for a while, and it's too much pressure to have to meet a deadline on something that needs to cook for hours. Make it the day before, and you'll have an effortless dinner the next day. And I agree that the peppers needed to be much, much blacker for easy peeling.

[Stephanie]

Fan of your blog AND Cooking Light here! Try this chili recipe from them. It's soooo easy and yummy. If your family really likes spicy food you may want to kick it up a notch:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=438689

[Candace]

You can get canned or jarred roasted poblano, which would take the pain out of roasting them yourself. If you don't end up using all that's in the jar you can easily freeze what's left. You can also used dried poblano, but then they're called ancho or mulato. No, I don't know why the name changes.

[Jennifer]

I made this about a month ago...had been really excited. It was lame. It was too much work for what it was.