This blog is pretty much dead, but I use it as a notepad mostly for recipes these days. If you like any of these, feel free to reuse them, and consider sending me a shout out on my twitter @nkedel
This came out really thick, and perhaps a bit too salty – unsure what to do to fix the salty, but the thick is an easy fix. Otherwise, it was really good.
Finely chop 1 large onion (maybe 1 1/2 if upping the amount of beef)
Peel a couple of chunks of garlic
One 2oz package Pasilla-Ancho dried chiles, with stems and seeds removed
– toast, then break up into moderate sized pieces
– put in food processor
mix 1tsp baking soda and 1 (or 2) pounds of ground beef thoroughly, set aside approx 15 minutes
Add spices:
– 1/2 tsp each spicy ones: chipotle powder, ancho powder, smoked paprika, cayenne [came out spicy, don’t double]
– 1/2 tsp functional ones: MSG, sodium citrate [don’t double]
– 1 tsp: celery seeds [or powder], dried oregano [new this time, was a win]
– 2 tsp black pepper [don’t double]
– 1/2 tbsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, cumin [double w/ 2lbs meat]
– 1 tbsp: chile california powder, sweet paprika, coriander [probably leave the same]
– 1 tbsp: cornmeal
Run all of the above in food processor until a uniform fine powder.
drain and puree 1 jar of roasted red peppers, set aside
Use an oven safe kettle or dutch oven
Preheat oven to 375f
2tbsp olive oil in pan (3tbsp if 1 1/2 onions)
Dump in onions
Cook onions until glassy
Add garlic via press
Add ground beef, brown
When browned, add spice mix, stir in
Immediately add pureed red pepper and mix
add 1 can tomato paste, and mix
add 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and mix
[if doing 2lbs beef, next time add a 2nd can crushed tomatoes or pureed diced ]
add one can of black beans, including liquids [don’t double – look for low sodium next time if you can find it]
add 1tbsp molasses, 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp worchestershire, 1tbsp beef base [low sodium if possible]
add low-sodium beef broth around 16oz [or maybe 12oz dark beer + 4oz of broth?]
Stir until uniform, then cover and put in oven
Bake for ~90-120 minutes, removing to check for separation and stirring every 30 min or so. Add liquid if it starts having an overly thick texture, should be stew like not casserole.