Happy Groundhog's day everyone! Hopefully that little guy doesn't see his shadow and we all get a break from this cold weather. Although, with a spoonful fromthis Spicy Groundhog's Day Recipe for a great chili, that fluffy critter will be warm enough to not care.
The only word I can use to describe this chili is FLAVOR! Lots and lots of flavor. The smokiness of the chipotle peppers, the tartbrown ale, andthe heat of cayenne and fresh jalapeño peppers creates a thick sauce thats a sure overload for the tastebuds. (people withbaby tongues, beware!) Mix this heat with the sweetness ofparsnips, carrots, winter squash and slices ofpepperycelery, and you'll have one bite that ispure awesome. Oh and don't forget the yummy black beans, kidney beans and ground beef. It's a Groundhog's Day recipethat will fill you and the whole neighborhood up for the rest of winter, however long it will be.
I wanted to make this Spicy Groundhog's DayRecipe for two reasons. I get to use my cast iron dutch oven, which I love cooking with, it magically makes everything taste better.I also get to try out one of my new food photography backgrounds that I had shipped from the highly creative company, Soularty.
Check out my new favorite props and soularty food photography backgrounds here!
Today is a mighty cold one, I had to scrape ice off of my car window before heading out to the store this morning, which is something I haven't had to do for 12 years. I know, I'm a baby now, but hey I have been neighbors with the Sun for the past few years so I'm sure it will take a while for my body to acclimate to the chill of the Northwest. In an attempt to fight off this downright ridiculous temperature, I decidedto add an extra bit of warmth and comfort to my chili making today. My family always has to have some carby goodness to soak up our chili, and I thought what's more comforting than these savory Rosemary Garlic Parmesan and Cheddar Whole Wheat Biscuits! They are dense, but packed full of cheesy goodness and the rosemary really calls out the other flavors. A perfect little crumbly biscuit to combat the spicy winter chili.
Get the recipe for the Rosemary Garlic Parmesan and Cheddar Whole Wheat Biscuits Here!
Before I start serving this Groundhog's Day Recipeup, I thought I'd share a couple of little photography TIPS for foods like chili, stews and soups. They can be a little tricker than most other dishes. The liquid goodness thatmakes them so delicious is also a big obstacle when trying to make it look photogenic.
1. To make the dish look full and bursting with ingredients reserve some of the cooked ingredients to the side so you can style them on top once the bowl or pot is on the table.
2. Using a baster with a bulb head to suck out some of the juice willprevent the ingredients from sinking into the juice.
3. Also, try backlighting the dish, like I did in the image here to give it that extra liquid juicy look.
4. Last tip, if your ingredients are looking a little dry from being out of the liquid for too long give them a sprits of water to freshen them up just before you snap the shutter.
So no matter what that silly groundhog does, you got to try this spicy chili with winter vegetables (recipe below) as well as the Rosemary Biscuits, I promise you wont be disappointed.
Created by Skyler on January 30, 2017
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- Prep Time:25m
- Cook Time:1h
- Total Time:1h 25m
- Serves:1
- Yield:6 Quarts
Ingredients
Meat
- 1 kilogram Ground Beef (2 lbs.)
Vegetables
- 75 grams parsnip cored and cubed (1/2 Cup)
- 75 grams winter squash, cubed (1/2 Cup)
- 75 grams celery, chopped (1/2 Cup)
- 75 grams carrots, chopped (1/2 Cup)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
Spices
- 4 cloves of garlic, diced
- 2 fresh jalapeños, medium length sliced into rounds
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 3 tablespoons Tapatío or Cholula hot sauce (optional)
- 4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
Canned Goods
- 2 x 440g/15.5oz. cans of kidney beans
- 1 x 440g/15.5oz. can of black beans
- 2 x 410g/14oz. cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 x 340g/12oz. can of tomato paste
- 1 x 440g/15.5oz. can of hominy
- 1 x 217g/7.5oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 700 milliliters beef stock (3 cups)
- 1 cup Rouge Hazelnut Brown Nectar or any good brown ale (little more than 200ml)
Instructions
- The majority of the work for this recipe is prepping the vegetables, so I like to start by doing all my chopping first.
- Once everything is prepped, heave a 6 quart dutch-oven or large stock pot on to the stovetop and pre-heat it with a drizzle of olive oil. Get that sucker smoking, then brown the ground beef with worcestershire sauce. Once the meat is seared on all sides and broken up to your desired size, leave the juice but remove the beef from the pot and place aside for later.
- Chuck in the onions and let them soak up all that delicious meat/worcestershire juice, cooking for about 5 minutes until they become translucent. Toss in all the other vegetables, the garlic and the can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Spoon it all together and let cook for another 5 minutes before mixing with the dry spices. Continue to stir the vegetables and spices together until the aromatic spices make you drool (5-10 minutes). Some chunks may stick to the bottom and sides of the pot, but it's no big deal.
- Hopefully you haven't finished off the beer at this point or at least saved 1 cup to deglaze the pot. Let the beer simmer until it's almost entirely evaporated, scrapping all the chunkies off the sides and bottom of the pot.
- Now is a good time to drink the other half of the beer because by this time it will smell so good, the powerful aroma will wake your neighbor and he will return that thing he borrowed as an excuse to come over for a taste. Give him a beer too, then pour in the beef stock. Return the meat to the bubbly brew and let simmer for 60 minutes. At this point, you could either listen to your neighbor ramble on about being a chili expert because his father made really good chili using some sort of mystical spices and antique cast-iron brought over from his German relatives or you could pretend to listen while at the same time making the Garlic Rosemary Parmesan and Cheddar Whole Wheat Biscuit Recipe. (Perfect! The link is just above this recipe)
- Stir in the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and hominy and let cook for another 15-20 minutes or until your biscuits are ready. Serve with avocado, cheddar, sour cream or any of your favorite toppings and place a couple of the biscuits in the bowl. Enjoy with or without your neighbor.
