Hot [Crock] Pot Chili

In my pantry today:

• 3 poblano peppers
• 4 jalapeno peppers
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 56oz/7c/3.5lb petite diced tomato
• 1 c corn
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp taco seasoning
• 1 tsp red hot chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida

This ended up being the finest batch of chili I have made to date — and it’s completely vegan. I say that because not only should it surprise you, but because it does so for me as well. It’s a tribute, really, to how little meat needs to do with flavor.

Start out with your onion and garlic pieces with oil in the crock pot on H. Walk away and halve your peppers, taking care to leave seeds out or in depending on your spice palate. Put them open-side down on a baking sheet and put them closely under the broiler until their skins begin to char, then remove them from the oven, remove the skins from their shoulders, and dice. Throw those into the crock pot with the garlic and onion, stir and leave on H for a few more minutes. Following enough of a break to begin some dishes or some such nonsense, add canned tomatoes with liquid and cooked beans, reduce crock pot to L and let simmer for several hours. Stir in all your seasonings a little while before dinner — it tasted so flavorful before I did any of that that I nearly didn’t add a single thing; the taco seasoning will get it from “a little too liquidy,” though, into proper chili territory. Despite — or maybe because of? — the lack of meat, this chili deserves 5 spoons.

Jiffy® Rellenos!

In my pantry today:

• 4-6 m-l poblano peppers
• 1/2 lb ground sirloin
• 1 hot Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 box Jiffy® cornbread mix
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c milk
• 1 c shredded jack cheese
• 1 tsp chili powder

When we came into a recent bounty of poblano peppers, one thought entered my mindsphere immediately as an easy use: chile relleno! And I actually looked into how they were made with authenticity, then took a step back into a comfort zone.  I was already cautious at the prospect of roasting peppers for the first time, but harken and take heart: the hardest part will be waiting for the broiler to preheat. Place your peppers on a baking sheet and put under the broiler on the rack closest it. Roast about ten minutes, then flip and roast another ten. Once they come out, let them cool enough to not torch your phalanges then gently roll the skin off their bodies. Remove stems and seeds, split the skins in half.

Stuff the peppers however you’d like. For this recipe, I used a 2:1 ratio of ground sirloin and Italian sausage seasoned with a little chili powder. Make cornbread batter, mix in 3/4 c cheese, and pour into greased pan. Lay rolled peppers in the batter and drizzle a little batter over them. Top the pan wit the other 1/4 c shredded cheese, then bake according to Jiffy’s instructions.  This will only get 3 spoons until I can figure out how to make cornbread not dry.