So I ended up making chili con carne tonight using my new pressure cooker, pretty much just as described by Jacques in the last post. I used a course grind of buffalo meat instead of beef, and I saved the green onions for the end instead of putting them in the pot at the beginning. I also skipped the jalepeno/habenero in favor of Muir Glen organic roasted tomatoes with chipotle and garlic, which provided enough heat for the mild kind of chili my wife will eat.
It worked out really well. The beans were completely cooked, and the chili had great flavor. The only thing I noticed is that the cooking time of 1 hour is a little deceptive. It took at least 30 minutes for the pressure cooker to get up to pressure after I clamped on the lid. Still, from dried bean to finished chili, the total time including prep and pressurizing was 1 hour, 45 minutes. I’m happy with my purchase, and I really recommend it.
1½ lbs. coarse grind buffalo (or regular ground beef, or ground turkey, or stew meat)
8 ounces dried red kidney beans (about 1½ cups)
2 cups coarsely chopped onions
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes in serrano sauce
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
3 cups cold water
2 teaspoons salt
Brown the buffalo meat in batches in the pressure cooker, then put all of the other ingredients but the salt in. (Salt inhibits the cooking process, esp. with the beans.) Clamp on the lid, and set it on high pressure for 60 minutes. Add salt before serving, and garnish with greek yogurt, chopped green onion, shredded chedder, avocado … also great over baked potatoes. Makes about 8 servings.
