Slow Down: Chili Sans Carne

IT’S THAT TIME again. School is in full swing, I’m driving back and forth and trying in between commutes to squeeze in work, play and the nitty business of life. All this leaves little time for cooking, at least during the week, and so as I did last year, I’m forcing myself to pull out my slow cooker and try to make sense of using it to make something decent that all five members of my household will eat. This week’s experiment fared better than some.

Mexican and Mexican-ish food are always pretty safe bets in my house; my California-born children rarely met a bean or quesadilla they didn’t like, and as they’ve gotten older, they’re willing to sample fare they consider exotic, like, say, enchiladas and chili.

In my Gourmet grieving (which last week manifested as an obsessive archiving of web-only recipes from the mag’s website) I spotted a slow-cooker chili recipe. It probably bears mentioning that this was one of only two slow-cooker recipes on the whole Gourmet site, which might reinforce the opinions of some (not me! not me!) that the magazine was out of touch with home cooks. In any case, I decided to give it a whirl, but adapted it into a vegetarian version, since we’re eating less meat these days. The original carnivore version, which I will also try, is here, but my version follows.

The adults at the table loved it (seconds all around) while the children were a bit more reserved. Eight-year-old River pronounced it “pretty good” while the 4-year-old Rock announced that she only liked the beans and “the baguette,” by which she meant the biscuit. (Perhaps now you understand why I didn’t think Gourmet was at all out of touch?)

Let me know what you think, and be sure to revisit our other slow-cooking standbys (here, and here, and here,) and share yours. With winter barreling down on us, slowing down sounds like a pretty good plan.

Chili Sans Carne (adapted from Gourmet.com; original recipe by Andrea Albin)

For chili:

2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium zucchini, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 14-oz. package extra firm tofu, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 28-0z. can diced tomatoes with their juice
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon dried epazote

For biscuits:

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 scallions, chopped
2/3 cup buttermilk

Garnishes (optional):

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, diced

Prep the zucchini first, and put it in a colander, sprinkled with the salt, to drain while you prep the other veggies. This draws out some of the water and makes for a richer sauce.

Once all the veggies are chopped, combine with all the other chili ingredients in your slow cooker, and cook–in my slow cooker, 4 hours on high worked (and I suspect 6 on low would have worked, too), but yours may be different. Consult your cooker’s directions for optimal cooking times.

About an hour before you plan to serve, make the biscuits: combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, stirring well. Work the butter in with your fingers until the texture is mealy, and then stir in the cheese, scallions, and finally the buttermilk. Stir well to combine and knead a bit in the bowl until it coheres. Drop by large spoonfuls on top of the chili in the slow cooker, cover, and cook for 45 minutes more on high or 1 hour on low. If you want your biscuits to brown on top, and your slow-cooker insert is oven-safe, preheat your oven to 450 F, and place the insert only into the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Serve immediately with shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro and chopped avocado, if desired.

Related posts:

1. Sisters In the Kitchen: Slow Down
2. Cross-Country Cooking With Chris, My Sister-in-the-Kitchen
3. Sisters in the Kitchen: Slowing Down Again, With Tortilla Soup
4. A Birthday Cake for TSP
5. Summertime, and the Picnicking Is Easy…