apple_pathways | Recipe: Black Bean, Squash, and Sirloin Steak Chili (Reply)

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe, and this is a good one! I'm sorta known for my chili. I know everyone says that, but FER REAL, guyz!

This recipe can easily be adapted to a vegetarian or vegan diet: just leave out the steak! The starch from the squash and the beans makes a nice, thick chili, so it's not thin and runny like a lot of vegetarian chilis.

(My apologies for the slightly blurred quality of some of the photos: I need to buy batteries for my camera, and my phone doesn't take the best pictures indoors.)

Chili

Ingredients:

About 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. sirloin steak; I used sirloin strip.
One large or two small cans tomatoes
Medium yellow onion
2-3 stalks celery
One small or 1/2 large acorn or butternut squash
2 cans black beans
4-5 cloves garlic
Cumin, chili powder, and whatever chili spices you like. (These two are all I need.)
Crushed red pepper, jalapenos, cayenne pepper, or whatever you want to use for heat.
One 12 oz. can of Coca-Cola (not Diet Coke)
A few Tbs. of olive oil
Salt and course ground black pepper

Preparation:

This step isn't absolutely necessary, but it will cut down on simmering time later if you baked the squash for a bit while you prepare the other ingredients. I drizzled the squash with olive oil and sprinkled it with chili powder, then baked in a 350 oven until it started to soften.	Cube the steak, and brown in a skillet. The trick to tasty meat is caramelization: when you cook the sugars in the food until they're crispy and brown. And the key to caramelization is high heat, and lots of room in the pan, so don't crowd the meat; crowding creates steam which makes for gray meat. Not pleasant. Cook in small batches for best results. It's not necessary to cook the meat all the way, since you'll simmer it later; just get a good brown crust on it. Set the meat aside, then deglaze the pan with some of the Coke and reserve the liquid.
Dice the onion and celery and chop the garlic. Heat a few TBs olive oil in a stock pot or dutch oven, then start cooking the onions over medium-high heat. After a couple minutes, add the garlic and the celery. After another couple of minutes, add your ground spices and black pepper. Frying your spices with the veggies helps release their oils.	Important Safety Tip: KNIFE AND FINGER ARE MORTAL ENEMIES! Knife and finger must maintain a respectable distance throughout the cooking process, or consequences will be suffered.
This is just a gratuitous photo of my home-grown canned tomatoes and dried chilis. Oh, I should also add: whatever you're using for heat, you can add that to the veggie mix now! Adjust the heat to your own tastes. I like A LOT of cumin and chili powder in my chili, but while they add lots of flavor, they don't contribute much heat; that comes from the dried red chilis I add. If you're sensitive to heat, add the peppers slowly and taste at the end; you can always add more later.	Add the browned meat and the canned tomatoes to the pot and raise to a simmer. (I like to drain the tomatoes before I add them, so I don't have to simmer away as much liquid.) Add the liquid you used to deglaze the meat pan and the rest of the can of Coke.
While the chili is simmering, remove the skin from your softened squash and cut it into cubes. (It might be worth mentioning that you might want to let it cool for ten minutes or so before attempting this.)	Add the squash and the drained and rinsed black beans to the pot, and continue to simmer until the tomatoes break down and the chili is at your desired thickness. (Giving it a stir every now and again should break up the squash a bit and add to the thickness.) Give a final taste for seasoning: add salt and pepper and more spice if needed.
Why not enjoy your delicious chili with some lovely corn bread? (Made from a box mix--scandalous!! Ooh, little tip: add some course ground black pepper to your cornbread mix. It's yummy!)	I was going to recommend you enjoy your chili with some Witches' Brew red wine from a local winery, but...I didn't like as much as I remembered liking it. It's a spiced red wine, and the flavor is good, but it was just too sweet for my tastes.