Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Chili Diablo with Avocado Cream

Yum
Since we just finish celebrating Halloween, I was still feeling a little "devilish".   So I made this spicy Diablo (Devil's) Chili.  I call this chili Diablo or devilish because I used two types of dried chilies in it.  I used a dried chili called Ancho Chilies (from dried poblanos peppers).  The best way to describe the flavor of an Ancho Chili is as a spicy raisin flavor.  It's spicy, yet sweet so it goes well with chili.   The spice level can be tailored to your taste, but I decided to go for it and boy did it knock my socks off.  I made a light and mild avocado cream to help cool the chili down and give everything a good balance of spice.  The combination of flavors was fantastic and I had to dive in before I even could write this post.  So if you're in the mood to be a little devilish and you want something hot and spicy to warm things up... try this chili.
Ingredients:
1lb of lean ground meat ( I used chicken)
3-4 dried Ancho chili Pods (see note)
2-3 dried red chili pods ( I used 10...I like it hot)
1 medium onion chopped
1 (8oz) can of tomato sauce
1 (28oz) can of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans in brown sugar
2 (15oz) cans of Kidney Beans (I used light colored beans)
3-4 cloves of garlic grated
1 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth or water/chicken bullion equivalent
seasoning salt to taste
2 tsp of brown sugar
2Tbs of Chili con carne powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 cinnamon stick (or small pinch of cinnamon powder)
lime juice to taste

Note: The dried chilies are available in the Mexican food aisle at most grocery stores.

Directions:
Take the stems off of your dried ancho and red chilies.  Then in a small pan heat your chicken broth and add your your dried chilies. Allow to cook for a few minutes until they start to soften.  Then turn off the stove and allow to cool down. Once the chilies and liquid have cooled down add all the chilies and some of the liquid into a food processor and puree. Reserve the pureed chilies and the broth from boiling the chilies until later.
In a large pan heat 2 Tbs of canola oil.  Start to brown your ground meat and then add your chopped onions and grated garlic to saute. 






Then add your spices:  seasoning salt, chili con carne powder, cumin, coriander, brown sugar and cinnamon stick.  Saute spices for a minute.






Add your tomato sauce, your pureed chilies and the chili infused chicken broth.  You can also add about 1/2  to 1 full cup of water (depending on how thick you want your chili).  I also used the water to rinse out the leftover puree from the food process because I wanted every drop of that flavor. 





Then add the entire can of Bush's baked beans with brown sugar.  I just love the flavor it gives to chili.  Also add two cans of rinse kidney beans.   Stir well and allow to simmer on medium-low for 15-20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

**in the meantime make your avocado cream.


Avocado Cream Recipe
  Ingredients:
2 medium avocados
juice from half a lime
1/2 a small onion
1/2 cup of sour cream
salt to taste

Directions: 
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Serve chilled.









Serves 6.  Enjoy with tortilla chips.

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