Caution Flag Chili Recipes

CAUTION-FLAG CHILI

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over med-high heat.
• When the oil smokes, add in the sliced poblanos and char them for a couple of minutes, then scoot them off to the side of the pan and add in the meat.
• Break up the meat and brown it for a couple of minutes, then add in the onions and garlic.
• Season the meat with grill seasoning, Worcestershire, chipotles, and adobo sauce.
• Cook 5-6 minutes, until the onions are tender; stir in the steak sauce and beer.
• Cook the beer off for 1 minute; then add in the stock and tomatoes; decrease heat to low.
• Prepare corn pancake batter: in a bowl, combine corn muffin mix, egg, melted shortening, and milk; batter will be slightly lumpy.
• Finely chop the beans in a food processor and stir them into the corn batter.
• Season the batter with cumin; stir in the scallions.
• Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat; butter the griddle, then pour three 3 to 4 inch corn pancakes.
• Flip the pancakes when the bottoms are deeply golden and cook them for another minute or two on the second side.
• Repeat with the remaining batter to make 6 cakes.
• Top each bowlful of the chili with a corn and black bean pancake.

CURRY CHICKEN CHILI WITH SRIRACHA

Steps:

• Gather your ingredients.
• Peel and grate or mince ginger. Peel and chop or grate the garlic. Halve and seed jalapeno peppers then chop. Peel and chop the onion.
• Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat with oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add chicken and brown and crumble. Season with salt and pepper. Add ginger, garlic, peppers, onions and sweat a few minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander and garam masala and stir a minute more. Add stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce and sriracha. Reduce heat a bit to simmer and thicken.
• Add chickpeas to a food processor and coarsely chop, 5 to 7 pulses. Add chickpeas to chili.
• If serving naan, preheat griddle to medium-high, sprinkle with water and cook bread until blistered. Brush with melted butter if desired.
• Adjust seasonings for the chili and stir in mango chutney if using. Serve with yogurt or sour cream, scallions or chives, pickled jalapeno peppers and any optional toppings.

ARGENTINE CHILI WITH CHIMICHURRI

Steps:

• Heat a heavy pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, and the meat and brown until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chorizo and render the fat a bit, then add the onions, garlic and chiles and season with salt and lots of black pepper, to taste. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes more to soften the onions, then add the oregano, paprika, and chili powder. Once the onions are tender add the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the stock, lower the heat, and simmer for a few minutes to combine the flavors. Can be cooled and refrigerated for a make-ahead meal and reheated over medium-low heat with a little extra broth or water to reconstitute. The chili also freezes well.
• Put the herbs, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, vinegar and oil in food processor bowl. Pulse-process until finely chopped but still a loose sauce. Sauce can be made fresh or refrigerated for a few days in airtight container.
• Transfer the hot chili to serving bowls and topped with Chimichurri sauce. Serve with lots of crusty warm bread. You can also top with finely chopped seeded tomatoes, if desired.

UPTOWN DOWN-HOME CHILI

Steps:

• Heat a deep, large skillet or a pot over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and the meat. Season it with grill seasoning and sear it up, browning and crumbling it, for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate and return pot to stove. Reduce heat to medium- high and add another tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Add the mushrooms and begin to brown them before adding the other veggies. After 2 or 3 minutes the mushrooms will begin to shirk and soften. Push the mushrooms off to one side of the pot and add all the remaining veggies to the opposite side of the pot surface. Once the onions, celery, peppers and garlic have been working for a few minutes as well, mix the veggies with the mushrooms. Add the meat back, season with Worcestershire sauce, chipotle in adobo or chipotle powder and cumin. Add in beer to deglaze the pot, scraping up all the pan drippings. Reduce the beer by half, about 2 minutes. Add the black beans, tomatoes, stock and thyme to chili and simmer 10 minutes for flavors to combine. Taste to adjust seasonings. Top bowls of the chili with shredded smoked Gouda and finely chopped raw onions.

TURKEY CHIPOTLE CHILI WITH PEPPER JACK CHEESE CORN CAKE TOPPERS

Steps:

• Heat deep skillet or wide pot over medium high heat. Add oil and turkey. Crumble meat as it cooks, 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, chili powder, and chipotle. Cook another 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add beer and cook another minute, stirring to loosen any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, tomatoes, and beans and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
• Heat a nonstick griddle pan over medium high heat. Mix batter and cheese together. Rub grill with butter, nesting the butter in a paper towel to hold on to it. Ladle the batter to make 3-inch cheese and corn cakes. Cook 3 minutes on each side, until golden. Transfer them to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
• Serve bowls of chili with cheese-corn toppers -- like a spicy, corn topped chili pot pie.