This post is inspired by neglect! Specifically by two things I’ve been neglecting – blogging, and my poor little slow cooker, tucked away under the sink. I suppose it could also be about my neglect for cooking substantial meals, as of late. Not much has changed over the past several months, I’m still very busy, which is awesome! I’ve been doing some cooking, but not as much as normal, and just haven’t been able to dedicate time to blogging.
Thanks to all the food photography projects I’ve been working, my fridge has been seeing a constant flow of ingredients, and after a couple of photoshoots, it just so happened that I had all the makings of chili! The perfect thing to cook when you’re busy. Just toss it in the slow cooker, and let it go.
Pulling my slow cooker out from the depths of my cupboard, dusting it off, and plugging it in, I began filling it up with delicious ingredients, inspired by this Three-Bean & Pork Chili in Ricardo magazine.
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large red onion (chopped)
- ½ green pepper (chopped)
- ½ red pepper (chopped)
- ½ yellow pepper (chopped)
- 2 large carrots (chopped)
- 4 stalks of celery (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- Kernels from 2 cobs of corn
- 1 Jalapeno pepper (chopped)
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 cup brewed coffee
- 1 cup red kidney beans
- 1 cup white beans
- 1 can (540 ml) crushed tomato
- 2 cans (1.5 litres) diced tomato
- Salt & pepper
- 1 bunch of basil leaves (8-10 leaves)
- In a large pan, add oil, and heat to medium-high.
- Once heated, add meat, cooking until browned.
- Add garlic, onion, peppers, carrot, celery, and corn, along with spices. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until everything becomes fragrant, and onions begin to turn slightly translucent.
- In a slower cooker, add ingredients from your pan, then return the pan to your element, deglaze with coffee, and add to slow cooker.
- Add in the beans, and tomato, cooking on low for around 8 hours, or high for about 4 hours.
- If you are using unsoaked beans, you will likely need to cook for a longer time period on low, for the beans to soften up (I cooked the chili this way, and cooked for about 8 hours on low).
- Once cooked, serve with a some shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, diced red onion, and some nice bread.
This was actually my first time making chili, and it turned out great! Using the slow cooker, you can just let it simmer, tasting it every now and then, and adding things here and there until you’re satisfied with the results.
Hope everyone takes some time to slow things down, and cook something delicious!
Enjoy,
Bob
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