WHB: Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Chip Chili (Cardamom)

Looking at other blogs, I notice that there are lots of braised meals, soups, stews, and chili being made by fellow bloggers. With the weather growing colder, it's the perfect time to make these types of meals.  On Tuesday I made a huge pot of Nigella Lawson's Chili With Chocolate Chips, inspired to do so after seeing her make it on a morning talk show.  The host of the show was horrified when Nigella tossed a modest amount of dark chocolate chips into the chili. It was Regis Philbin and although he complained vociferously about the chocolate, the chilies, and the onions, he judged the finished dish as "delicious".   I wasn't surprised as I like Nigella's recipes, even though they can be inaccurate. (More about that later.) So, after seeing her make the chili, I went to the store and bought nearly five pounds of beef and sausage.  I fully expected to have a huge pot of great tasting chili that would provide leftovers aplenty.  And I did.   This wasn't a hot chili.  Made according to the recipe, it was mild, but the heat could be increased by adding more crushed chili, hot sauce, or cayenne pepper.  The recipe includes many of my favorite herbs and spices, including cilantro, ground coriander, cinnamon, and whole cardamom pods.  I especially liked the taste of the cardamom, so I'm featuring it as my "herb" of choice for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by the marvelous Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.  This weekend Kalyn is hosting WHB, so stop by her site and see the roundup of herby recipes from around the world.

I used green cardamom pods for this recipe, from Penzeys. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with a sweet, aromatic fragrance.  One of the most expensive spices by weight, it's best stored in pod form, because once the seeds are exposed or ground, they quickly lose their flavor.  For this recipe, you simply crush the pod with a knife blade and toss them into the chili.  The smell of the cardamom after you crush it is wonderful.

I mentioned that Nigella recipes can sometimes be inaccurate. Most of the time they're fine, but it occasionally seems like Nigella dashes them off in the back of a cab, with no proofreading for errors.  I'm glad I saw her actually cook the chili, because what I saw her doing on TV didn't match the recipe.  But, Nigella--I really like you.  Next time you're in Davis, call me.

The recipe is quite easy to make, much simpler than some chili recipes with long lists of ingredients. It begins with sauteeing 1 pound of onions, garlic, and a chili pepper, to which the spices/herbs are added.

I then realized that my Le Crueset pot was much too small, so I transferred everything to a larger pot.  In her recipe, Nigella tells you to add nearly 5 pounds of meat and "brown" it by stirring it with the onion mixture. I knew that couldn't happen, even with my gonzo burner turned all the way up.  There was too much meat crammed in that pot. As Julia Child always warned, it sweated, not browned.

Then I added cans of black and kidney beans, and chopped tomatoes. The recipe didn't tell you to put the tomatoes in, but I saw Nigella do it on TV.  The recipe called for tomato puree, but on TV Nigella used tomato paste. I'm wondering if tomato paste is called tomato puree in England?

Finally, the big moment. The ingredient that dumbfounded Regis--the dark chocolate chips.  Regis, visit some ethnic restaurants occasionally. Have a mole sauce. Stop eating at Le Cirque all the time.

Then the whole kaboodle was baked for 3 hours. Emerging from the oven, it was fragrant, dark, and delicious.  And I had a vat of leftovers.  Always a good thing.

The next day I made chili stuffed enchiladas.  Very nice.

Hollywood Trivia:  The lovely actress Kim Novak (Vertigo, Picnic) didn't like to cook very often. So, she made huge pots of chili and ate the leftovers almost every day. Her husband at the time, Richard Johnson, grew tired of this after several months.  They wound up divorcing.  Was it the chili?

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Chip Chilli  (Nigella Lawson)

1lb Italian sausages
3lb 4oz shin of beef cut into three quarter inch cubes  (I used "stew meat")
1lb onions
3 cloves garlic
1 long red chili, seeded
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
3 cardamom pods, bruised
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried crushed chillies
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
2 (14oz) cans kidney beans
2 (14oz) cans black beans
3 (14oz) cans chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili sauce (optional)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup water (swilled out in the chopped tomato cans)

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Finely chop, or process the onion, garlic and chili. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry this mixture until soft, add the bruised cardamom seeds, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and dried chillies. Stir the oniony-spiced mixture together and then add the sausages sliced into eighth-inch coins.(On TV, Nigella used sausage that wasn't in casings and she crumbled it into the pot and cooked it. That's what I did.) Drop in the cubes of beef turning them in the pan with the sausages to brown the meat.  (It won't brown.)

Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes, ketchup and drained kidney and black beans. Add the chili sauce and water and bring the chili to a boil, sprinkle over the chocolate and stir it all together. Season with salt, and once simmering cover the pan with a lid.

Put the chili in the oven and cook for 3 hours. Once cooked it is best left overnight as the flavor improves.
Serves 10-12

Comments

[Kalyn]

Wow. This sounds just amazing. I never would have thought of just adding the chocolate chips and letting it melt into the chile. Wish I could taste it.

Isn't Penzeys the best? I just got a big box of stuff from them.

[gattina]

I feel cardamom able to add a soul into food, love it!
My sis-in-law loves chilli, I may make this dish when I see her next week!
for some reasons people think chocolate and chilli can match... now they also add some chilli powder into eating chocolate don't they?

[Kate]

We always have a hunk of chocolate on chili nights that gets chopped and dropped into the bottom of the bowls before ladling in the steaming chili. It is a wonderful combination, along with a couple of shakes of good cocoa powder into the pot itself.

Congrats on your bloggiversary!

[Jeff]

Man...all the cool kids have chocolate in their chili!

[Shannon]

Sher, I'm gonna whip this up tomorrow but am thinking about cutting the recipe in half since it's just the two of us. Unless: does beef chili freeze well, do you know? If it does, might as well go for the whole amount!

[sher]

Kalyn,

It only tastes chocolatey right after your add the chips. But, after it's cooked for 3 hours you can't taste that--but it does give the chili depth.

I need to place an order with Penzeys!

Gattina,

Yes, I saw a recipe for chocolate pudding that had chili powder in it recently. Of course, long ago, the Aztec royalty drank chocolate and chili beverages--unsweetened too! WOW! That must have given them a charge!

Kate,

That's a great idea to grate the chocolate right in the bowl. I'll remember that! And thank you!

Jeff,

Oh thank you--love to be called cool! :):)

Shannon,

I think it would freeze very nicely, I've done that in the past. But, if you half it, you will still have a nice amount of chili, let me tell you!!!!!

[s'kat]

I've heard for so long about the wonders of a bit of chocolate in chili... but since DucCat is always in charge of the bubbling vat, we've never tried it out.

Shannon, chili is the ultimate freezer-food!! As an aside: the last time he made it, a couple of weeks ago, I ladled out the leftovers into a variety of containers to cool before freezing. Shortly thereafter, I forgetfully went on up to bed, with a most unpleasant surprise in the morning!

Curious about her recipes, no? I've always heard that they were just badly translated from Brit to US measurements. I still like the girl.

[Christine]

Oh YUM! What a great dish for a cool, rainy day. With leftovers to boot! I love the idea of putting chocolate in this. Saving to del.ici.ous right now!

[Bonnie in Virginia]

I hope to see Upsie this weekend in WCB # 74 being hosted at http://lalietcie.canalblog.com/archives/2006/11/02/3061880.html#comments.
Thank you.
Bonnie in Virginia

[aria]

omy stars sher!! now i have to make chili, i wonder what will happen when i ask for a shin of meat, ha! i've never cooked with cardamom and seen it in so many nigella recipes. so curious i think i'm going top try this very recipe and freeze for lazy nights :)

[gattina]

Sher,
I did your chilli, so g_r_e_a_t!!!
Before tucking the pot in oven I was panicking as the whole thing smelled more like Indian curry (I like Indian curry but didn't expect making one now...) But after 3 hours, everything infused and created a splendid chilli!
I used stew meat too, it's a bit too lean to my liking, and not able to break down to tiny pieces (also my favorite, hehee...). But it's ok, I snipped here and there with my kitchen scissors, and cooked a little longer. Anyway, the most important thing is, the flavor is really wonderful!
Sher, thanks millions! I just love your recipes!!!!!!

[sher]

s'kat,

Just sneak in there while DucCat's back is turned and toss some dark chocolate in the pot. Then say, "Oops! How did that happen?" :)

Christine,

Yes, the leftovers are great!! I've had three meals this week using them.

Bonnie,

Thanks!

Gattina,

Oh, I'm so glad you liked the chili. I wasn't crazy about the taste before I baked it. But, after 3 hours of cooking, it sure tasted great. My stew meat did break down and become quite tender. Of course, what is "stew meat" anyway? You never know for sure what it really is. :):) Anyway, I'm really glad you liked the flavor!

[Brilynn]

I'd heard someone else suggest putting a square of dark chocolate in the bowls before laddling the chili on top. I wanted to give it a try then and I certainly do now!

[Marilyn]

This sound delicious. Can someone help me? I would like to serve this for a party, but where I live in South Africa for some reason everyone is serving chili, so I want to be different. Has anyone made Nigella's chili with cornbread topping? Reading the comments, it seemed it didn't actually work for everyone but seemed such a good idea. If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know. Thanks, Marilyn

[Rjs338]

Tried this & loved it. The chocolate is magic!