Pressure Cooker Mole Chicken Chili

Soups and stews are among the easiest recipes to make in a pressure cooker. Start by sautéing the vegetables and perhaps browning the meats, add liquid and seasonings and bring to pressure. Pretty simple.

This Mole Chicken Chili recipe from America's Test Kitchen's cookbook Pressure Cooker Perfection appealed to me for several reasons: 1) I love chili (I shared a week's worth of chili recipes last October), 2) I've always wanted to make a mole recipe and 3) I get to use my pressure cooker to make  a good dinner in just over an hour.

This might not be a traditional mole, but the flavor is definitely there. The Test Kitchen's goal was to approximate the flavor of mole with pantry staples substituting for the lengthy list of ingredients in a traditional mole. That, combined with the simplicity of preparation, makes for a great recipe for pressure cooker novices.

This recipe calls for canned chipotles in adobo sauce. One can will contain a lot more chiles than you need for this recipe (they are very spicy). I like to divide the rest up until small ziplock bags and freeze them for use in other recipes.

A word of caution about this recipe: the sauce is very thick, so if you cook this at too hot a temperature while under pressure, it can stick and burn to the bottom of the pan (speaking from experience here). That's not to say it's not worth making--even if you have some burn-on mess to deal with. Just wanted to warn you.

Mole Chicken Chili
Adapted from a recipe in Pressure Cooker Perfection by America's Test Kitchen

3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (about 1 chile)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 lb. boneless-skinless chicken thighs (the recipe calls for bone-in thighs without skin, but that can be hard to find and the boneless ones are easier to deal with)
1 onion, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, stemmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1. Heat 2 tbsp. of oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium heat. Add chili powder, cocoa, garlic, chipotle, cinnamon and cloves and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, raisins and peanut butter and stir to combine with a wooden spoon, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Puree mixture with an immersion blender until smooth, about 30 seconds (or alternatively transfer mixture to a blender and puree then return to the pot).

2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tbsp. of oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Once the sauce has simmered, add the onion to the pot.

3. Add the chicken to the pot with the pureed sauce and onions. Lock the lid into place and bring to high pressure over medium-high heat. When the pot reaches high pressure, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 25 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain high pressure.

4. Remove pot from heat and release pressure quickly using the quick-release valve (I wouldn't recommend the cold-water release for this recipe, since you need to continue cooking after releasing pressure). Once pressure is released, carefully remove the lid directing any remaining steam away from you. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board or bowl and shred meat. Meanwhile, bring the sauce in the pot to a simmer over medium heat. Add the red pepper and cook until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pot and stir to combine. Serve in bowls topped with fresh cilantro.

Best of 2013: Salads, Soups, Starters and Sides

What inspires your cooking? For me, inspiration comes from a number of sources, from the more expected places like memorable restaurant meals and classic recipes that can use an update, to the more unusual, like a chapter in a novel where a character makes lentil stew. This year's best salads, soups, starters and sides drew from a mix of inspirations, chasing the seasons as a way to showcase fresh and interesting ingredients.

Salads: Simple, Seasonal and Restaurant-Inspired

Proving the old adage that simple is best, my favorite salad this year was a Celery and Peanut Salad inspired by the age-old snack of celery with peanut butter. The recipe was a hit with readers (especially my mother) and even got in a mention in the (now sadly discontinued) New York Times Diner's Journal. Another simple but delicious salad: Sliced Fresh Tomato Salad, dressed lightly with olive oil, lemon and lemon basil.

I frequently drew inspiration from restaurants to create interesting seasonal salads. The fresh takes on Caesar salads from Palena and Graffiato were the inspiration for this Caesar Salad Update. The Mustard Greens Salad with Roasted Cauliflower, Almonds, Grapes and Chicken was inspired by starter from The NoMad. Agave-Mezcal Chicken and Curry Roasted Cauliflower Salad was inspired by one of the monthly seasonal salads at Sweetgreen. And Buck's Fishing and Camping's wonderful homemade cottage cheese and beet starter was behind this Roasted Beet and Cottage Cheese Salad. Broiled Peach Salad with Watercress, Sugar Snap Peas and Toasted Hazelnuts was inspired by a rejuvenating lunch we enjoyed at Eataly as a respite from the oppressive summer heat.

Several classic restaurant salads became quick favorites this year. Early in the year, I discovered the Canlis Salad made zesty lemon dressing and copious fresh mint contrasting with the rich, and the Nostrana Salad with bitter radicchio; both also feature buttery herb croutons. In March, a project to update a series of classic dishes yielded three great salad recipes: A Cobb Salad  with fresher ingredients, a healthier take on Wilted Spinach and Bacon Salad and a Smoky Waldorf Salad.

In the winter, kale, still the most popular of the hearty greens, is great for salads. I gave it the crispy treatment in this Crispy Kale and Roasted Chickpea Salad. For hummus lovers, I deconstructed (or rather "reconstructed") popular ways of serving the dip into a salad, Reconstructed Hummus Salad. Once summer comes, we're all about the tomato panzanella, and I loved this Roasted Tomato Panzanella adapted from a recipe by Little Ferraro Kitchen.

Soups: Hearty Beans, Legumes and Chili

The most incredible soup I had this year, in fact one of the best things I ate period this year, was Smoky Pinto Bean, Red Wine and Bacon Soup, a recipe from New York Times writer Melissa Clark. I'm looking forward to making it again this winter.

Beans or legumes showed up in several other great soups. Sadly, the food world lost Italian cook Marcella Hazan this year, who will be remembered for her wonderfully flavorful recipes, like Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean) Soup. This Basic Black Bean Soup was inspired by the classic Silver Palate recipe. And the novel Life Among Giants was the inspiration for this Lentil Stew. Parsnip-Carrot Soup with Tahini and Roasted Chickpeas adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe. Cold Chickpea-Tahini Soup from a Mark Bittman recipe.

I also turned out a whole week of chili recipes, including our favorite BBQ Turkey-Bean Chili Stew and this Thai-inspired Chili. Earlier in the year, I made this Moroccan(ish) Spring Stew, which is sort of like an African riff on my turkey chili.

Trend-watchers may enjoy my Chicken Miso Ramen inspired by the current ramen craze. And of course there's kale: Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup. Warm or cold, Sweet Corn and Carrot Soup is great for late summer. But when it is cold, Smoky Butternut Squash and Apple Soup hits the spot.

Appetizers: Elegant Crostini and Party Favorites

Caramelized Celery Crostini was my favorite appetizer this year. After caramelizing so many onions, I decided to try a similar technique with celery, which seemed perfect for a summer crostini. Later, I offered another crostini for Thanksgiving, Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Crostini with Crispy Shallots.

Dips are a great way to feed a crowd. A mix of pickled and fresh jalapeños and roasted pistachios added extra fire and crunch respectively to Spicy Pistachio Guacamole, inspired by the dip we enjoyed a Chef Alex Suptak's Empellon Cocina. And if you love hummus, this Smoky Smooth Hummus, is a must.

Buffalo chicken wings reimagined as mini-burgers was the inspiration for Buffalo Chicken Sliders, which are great for sporting events.

Sides: Perfect Rice, Seasonal Produce and Thanksgiving

The side dish that most enchanted me this year was Bon Appetit's recipe for Perfect White Rice, which will allow me to say "goodbye" to soggy white rice for good.

Side dishes are a great way to highlight seasonal produce. In the spring, I enjoyed these simple and refreshing dishes of Fava Beans with Shallots, Mint and Pecorino and Smokey-Sweet Braised Dandelion Greens. Come summer, Sauteed Summer Squash and Sugar Snap Pea Medley made great use of two farmers market summer staples. For the fall, I transformed applesauce from baby-food puree into something more fitting for grown-ups, Applesauce with Bacon, Caramelized Onion, Maple and Walnuts. I also enjoyed this Stuffed Acorn Squash.

Thanksgiving is the year's best occasion for side dishes, like Cheesy Scallion-Corn Biscuits with Homemade Compound Butter, this Bon Appétit recipe for Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon-Maple Glaze and Smoked Almonds and my Fresh Take on Green Bean Casserole.

Lastly, a vegetarian Middle Eastern dinner was the occasion to make both Baba Ghanoush and Quinoa Tabbouleh. Delicious classic sides.

Chili Week Roundup

Whether your like your spicy bowl authentically Texan, Asian-influenced, Cincinnati-style or loaded with beans and vegetables there is a chili style for you. Here's a round up of the chili recipes I featured on the site last week.

Chili Con Carne. This is the smoky Texas original, a meat-forward recipe with fresh and ground chiles and no beans.

BBQ Turkey Chili-Stew. Loaded with vegetables, beans and lean ground turkey, this is a healthy version of a hearty chili with a good dose of smoky flavor.

Cincinnati Chili. Drawing on Tex-Mex, Italian and Middle Eastern influences, this is the midwestern classic.

Thai-Style Chili. Inspired by Tom Kha Gai, my favorite Thai soup, this chili is a fusion of Eastern and Western flavors.

Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati chili has to be one of the oddest dishes I've ever had. Geographically, it's all over the map. At its base is chili, the Tex-Mex staple, but spiced with a blend that's vaguely Middle Eastern and then served over noodles like a kind of spicy spaghetti with meat sauce. And it's from the Midwest.

I wouldn't dismiss this though just because it's weird. It's quite good, especially leftover the next day when all the flavors have had time to blend together well.

Cincinnati has an unusual but wonderfully fragrant combination of spices.

Since it has cayenne pepper in it, this chili is pretty spicy. In a way, it's spicier than the Chili Con Carne, which had more of a background heat to it.

When ordering Cincinnati chili, there's a code for how you want it that refers to the extras, which Wikipedia describes well. My chili sort of messes up the code system, since I added the beans to the pot instead of serving them as an extra, and I didn't include any additional raw onion. I guess that makes this a "four-way bean" sort of.

Cincinnati Chili
Adapted from multiple recipe sources

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 yellow onions, diced
Salt or seasoned salt, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground clove
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes (I used the latter, since I had it on hand to use up)
28 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bay leaf
1 lb. cooked spaghetti (cooked al dente, according to package directions)
Generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Remove beef from pan (or if using an oval sauté pan, push to one end).

2. Add onion to pan, season to taste with salt (or seasoned salt), and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add chili powder, paprika, oregano, cocoa powder, cayenne pepper, allspice, cumin and clove and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about a minute.

3. Add the chicken broth, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, kidney beans and bay leaf to the pot. Increase heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 20 to 30 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Serve in a large bowl over spaghetti topped with a generous heap of shredded cheddar cheese.

Thai-Style Chili

This Asian-influenced chili is a mashup of a bean-based chili con carne married with the flavors of Thai-style Tom Kha Gai, the popular coconut and lime flavored soup (for another riff on Tom Kha Gai, see Tom Khaliflower Soup).

There are no tomatoes in this dish, but there's still plenty of flavor from the garlic, ginger, lime and fish sauce (an ingredient which should not be omitted and that does not result in giving the soup a fishy taste). A little peanut butter adds some nice depth in place of the smoky ingredients I'd normally put in chili.

Thai-Style Chili

1 lb. ground pork
1 sweet onion, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of ginger root peeled and minced)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
2 15 oz. cans of cannellini beans
1 15 oz. can coconut milk
1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp. fish sauce
Juice from 2 limes
Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped, about 1/2 cup

1. Heat a large Dutch oven or deep-sided sauté pan over medium heat. Add pork and cook until browned. Remove from pan and drain off fat, leaving about a tablespoon. Add onion and carrots and sauté until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and jalapeño, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until fragrant, about 3 more minutes.

2. Add beans, coconut milk, peanut butter, chicken broth and fish sauce to pot. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a gentle boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice. Service in bowls topped with chopped cilantro.

Chili Con Carne

The chili I wrote about yesterday contained no beef (it had turkey instead), was chock full of vegetables and had (gasp) beans. It's enough to send chili purists running for the hills. Or perhaps a hot cattle brand. I'd better watch myself.

To satisfy the meat lovers, today I offer a traditional Chili Con Carne. No beans here and just a little onion and tomato puree for flavor and thickening. This dish puts the focus on traditional chili's two main ingredients: beef and chiles.

A mix of ancho and standard chili powders (above) are used to make the chili paste (below)

 America's Test Kitchen, always a good resource for basic dishes done very well, developed this recipe to be the "ultimate" version of traditional Texan chili: good chili flavor without overpowering heat, a rich sauce and chunks of meat. I say they scored big time. This chili was really delicious. Yes it's spicy, but not overwhelmingly so.

Browning the beef in batches (see browned beef in upper left)

The recipe calls for chunks of beef rather than the more common ground beef, specifically beef chuck roast. Helpfully, Whole Foods sells beef chuck cubes for stew already trimmed of fat, which when cut down to 1-inch cubes worked beautifully in the chili.

Chili paste mixed with onion, garlic and jalapeño

ATK recommends toasting whole dried ancho and New Mexico chiles for the best flavor. However, I was at a loss for finding the right ones, which was kind of surprising. I didn't see any dried chiles at Giant and Whole Foods only had the Asian variety. And I couldn't find "New Mexico" chili pepper. In fact, It was a bit irritated by the prevalence of chili powders labelled only as "chili powder" without more descriptive information about the type of chilis used. Even in the Latin food aisle at Giant it was just "chili powder." So I ended up with ancho chili powder and "regular" chili powder from Whole Foods. This may be why the dish wasn't overpoweringly spicy, but it was still quite good. If you can find the whole dried chiles, the recipe calls for toasting and grinding 3 medium pods of each variety (ancho and New Mexico).

Chili after simmering for 2 hours.

Chili Con Carne
Adapted from Chili Con Carne by America's Test Kitchen

Serves 6

2 tbsp. cumin seeds
3 tbsp. ancho chili powder
3 tbsp. standard chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
8 oz. thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 lb. beef chuck roast, such as chuck stew meat, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, minced
Salt, to taste
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 jalapeño chiles, cored, seeded and minced
1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (reserve the rest for another use, like pasta sauce)
Juice from 1 lime
5 tbsp. masa harina
Shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and toast until fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and then grind the seeds into powder (I use a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices). Combine the ground cumin in a small bowl with the chili powders, dried cumin and 1/2 cup water, stirring to form a thick paste (it will thicken as it sits on the counter and you continue with the recipe).

2. Heat a large Dutch oven or steep-sided sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and cook until the fat renders and the bacon is brown and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Remove all but about 2 teaspoons of bacon fat from the pot and set aside to use in the pot (I used a large spoon to scoop it out and transfer the hot fat to a glass ramekin--be careful, it's hot). Increase heat to medium-high. Brown the beef cubes in batches (four batches of 1 lb. each), adding 2 tsp. of bacon fat between each batch, about 5 minutes per batch. Set browned beef cubes aside in a large bowl.

3. Reduce heat to medium and add 3 tbsp. of reserved bacon fat. Add onion, season with salt to taste and sauté until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño and sauté about a minute. Add chili paste and sauté, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add cooked bacon and beef, crushed tomatoes, lime juice and 7 cups of water. Increase heat to bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce is dark and starting to thicken, about 2 hours.

4. Stir the masa harina with 2/3 cup water in a small bowl to form a paste. Stir paste into chili and increase heat to medium. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve chili in bowls topped with shredded cheese.

BBQ Turkey Chili-Stew

What makes a chili? That's a question I'll be exploring this week, as I offer recipes for a variety of chilis, ranging from a bean-free traditional Texas chili, a popular midwestern variation and a mashup I created with Thai influences.

Generally, "chili" is used as shorthand for "chili con carne," a dish that originated in the 19th century frontier southwest, particularly Texas (for more chili history see Wikipedia or this article by Linda Stradley for What's Cooking in America). It consists primarily of stewed beef, chili peppers, onion and tomato. Whether it also includes beans is a major point of contention: some insist that authentic Texas chili con carne does not include beans. But a Google search of "chili con carne" recipes reveals plenty of results that do. So clearly this isn't a consensus issue.

Chili purists may balk at the volume of vegetables in this dish, hence the "chili-stew" moniker.

Because the chili recipe below strays pretty far from what would be considered authentic Texas chili, I'm calling it a "chili-stew." Although I often make chili with canned tomatoes, I wanted to take advantage of the ripe tomatoes available right now, which I roasted for this dish, an adaptation of the Turkey-Black Bean Chili I've written about previously. This version has even more vegetables, kidney beans instead of black and more of a barbecue sauce flavor profile. This is the one dish Chris asks for more than any other, and I agree it's quite satisfying any time of year.

BBQ Turkey Chili-Stew

2 lb. ripe tomatoes (for roasting)
1/4 lb. hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 lb. ground turkey thigh
1 sweet onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
Seasoned salt, to taste
3 garlic cloves, smashed
6 oz. can tomato paste
Kernels cut off 1 ear of corn
28 oz. can of kidney beans
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder (or more if you want)
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. liquid hickory smoke flavor
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
5-6 cups of water
Shredded jack cheese (optional topping)

1. To roast the tomatoes, preheat the oven to 350 F. Take 4 ripe tomatoes, quarter them, toss with 1 tbsp. of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and roast for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes until shriveled, browned in places and most of the liquid has evaporated. Allow to cool and store in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Heat a cast-iron Dutch oven or large deep-sided sauté pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring frequently until its fat has rendered and the bacon is brown and crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Remove rendered bacon fat, leaving about 2 tbsp. in the pot. Add the turkey and cook, stirring frequently, until browned. Remove from pot. Add onion, red and green bell pepper and carrots to pot. Season with seasoned salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften. Add the garlic and continue cooking until the vegetables are quite soft and fragrant, even starting to brown, about 10 minutes total.

3. Add back to the pot the cooked bacon and turkey along with the tomato paste, corn, beans, chili powder, smoked paprika, dried oregano, ground cumin, smoke flavor, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and water. Increase heat to bring to boil. Cover point, reduce heat and simmer over low meat (mixture should bubble gently) for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Taste chili and adjust seasoning. Serve in bowls topped with shredded cheese.