This is a twist of my second dish that I learned to cook, after Grandma taught me to cook a decent marinara sauce. (Of course hers will always be better than my own version.) Being that my family is blended cultures, I have drawn to experimenting in the kitchen, seeing where Korean spices enhance my traditional cooking.
As a cook, one of the most enjoyable compliments is when I give a menu to the kids for which meal I would cook, the kids, by majority acclamation, the kids would pick this classic. Sadly, however, I can never remember what I need. For example, because I don't like bean texture, I puree most of the beans that I use. But because I could not remember bean/other ingredient displacement, I accidentally pureed all of the beans in tonight's chili. Oops.
Also something that I need to learn to do is make this dish with less processed foods. So I will be experimenting with both the hot paste and the ranch beans that I use. Now why do I use ranch-style beans? It's one of the few dishes that I didn't mind when mom cooked it as I grew up.
Now why do I call it this? I love the flavoring heat of the Korean peppers. Unfortunately, they have a lot more heat than traditional, non-GMO western peppers. Then towards the end of the cooking process, I add a couple of more herbs to give a fresh, breathy feeling in the mouth. So that is how my warped mind came to this title.
Here's what I use:
2 pounds ground beef or ground pork
6.5 pounds ranch style beans
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
5 ounces of sliced carrots
5 ounces sliced celery
1 onion minced
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons Korean hot soybean paste
2 teaspoons ground Korean chili flakes
2 pinches of cumin powder
2 pinches paprika powder
2 pinches ground black pepper
2 pinches crushed cilantro (fresh is best)
2 pinches crushed mint or parsley
1 very generous splash olive oil
1 splash soy sauce
Start by slicing, dicing, or even mincing onion and garlic. Then over a heated skillet, take the oil and spread it evenly before adding the celery, carrots, onion and garlic. Once the onions are golden, add ground beef, ground peppers and one tablespoon of bean paste. Fry until cooked.
Then take your 8 quart slow cooker, because anything smaller can't hold this version. (Hey, I cook for a horde. This will give us dinner tonight and one meal of leftovers for some of us.) Throw in most of the beans and the rest of the bean paste. Puree it until it looks like a delicious bean dip. It does make a delicious bean dip, for the record.
Once you are done with your stick blender, add the veggies listed above. Yes, I know that tomato isn't technically a veggie, but a fruit. Still add it here. Quit arguing with me. Also add the cumin, paprika, ground chili flakes. I almost forgot that meat and veggies browning in a skillet. You need to add that to the slow cooker now as well.
DO NOT ADD the cilantro, mint, or the soy sauce at this point. There's magic to happen for the special effects. This will happen adding it towards the last half hour or hour prior to serving.
Now we wait for two hours. Let the aroma waft through the house. Let your taste buds be teased by the deliciousness in the air. Then when two hours have passed, allowing for occasional tasting sessions, add the rest. Let it continue to cook for another half hour. Then serve it up.
The odd part is that this chili has been a little different. In the past, I had always thought that texture was missing. Stop it. I know that I would have more texture if I DIDN'T puree the beans. I meant another type of texture, a third texture. So I got to thinking about what would go into the chili that wouldn't clash, and at the same time, increase the healthiness of the meal.
A great snack is celery coated with bean paste. Given this, tonight I decided to try carrots. And what veggie tends to show up along side the carrots in the average veggie tray? Cauliflower and broccoli. (Don't panic. I won't be adding them to the list of chili ingredients.) So in went these two new ingredients, carrots and celery.
But when new is added, then there is always a change to the flavors. This chili is sweeter than last time. It is beautifully hot, however. I wonder if that is the doing of the veggies. I will have to look into this. Wait, be right back.
Hey, still there? Thanks for waiting. I had to go and taste the chili and add the final ingredients. Here's what I found. One, I couldn't find any celery, but there's not really an concern. 5 ounces by weight is easy to disappear in 2 gallons of chili. Two, the heat is wonderful, though still mild. The previous statement of the heat was based upon the testimony of another. (I delegate and trust.) Three, I tasted a carrot. It was tasty, and was neither crunchy nor soggy. This actually is my very first time to cook with either celery or carrots and I am pleased with the results.
Now my dinner has been cooking for the last three hours. Time to go eat.
Wow, I just finished my dinner. I had a short panic. I like to have photos of my food to make it more interesting. But I typed this on my computer because I don't like to swipe-type on my tablet, but my laptop isn't efficient means of taking pictures. Now I have the blogger app on my tablet so I thought to save the blog entry and then edit and add the photo with the tablet and then publish. But this draft wouldn't show on my tablet. I am really thankful that I didn't have to retype this entry.
For next time, I will saute the celery and carrots with the onion and garlic. I believe I will also use the small carrot strips instead of the chips so that the younger kids will be more inclined to eat it. [1.13.24 Edit: I've minced the carrots and celery along with the onions and garlic and then sautéed them using also a splash of balsamic vinegar after cooking them in olive oil. ] To be fair, except for fishing out the carrot chips, my youngest proclaimed, "This is the bestest chili in the world!"
Hey, thanks for reading this short, albeit long entry. And remember to have fun in the kitchen.
