Pressure Cooker Chili

Pressure Cooker Chili

Chili is a personal thing. Recipes vary from region to region, country to country. Ingredients may include beef, pork, chicken, turkey or no meat at all. You might add beans… pinto, kidney, black or none at all. Some people like it hot and spicy, while others like it mild and bland. Chili is Spanish for pepper so I think that has to be the common ingredient, but there too, you know there’s hundreds of varieties each with their own unique flavor.

So unlike pizza, chili is not something I grew up on. My mom never made chili. I don’t think that she even had any idea what it was. I first tasted chili when I was in the Navy. One of the cooks on our submarine was of Mexican descent, and he made some awesome chili at least I thought so. Anyway that was my introduction to chili and what my taste buds consider it to be.

Over the years, I’ve tweaked and fine-tuned my recipe to this one. I’m sure that it is nothing like the one that I had in the Navy, but it has the same basics… meat, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and beans. I use pork because I prefer the taste. Also I prefer using it cubed rather than ground, again for taste. Using the pressure cooker cuts cooking time down to over half and the meat always comes out tasty and tender. This chili is spicy but mild. Sheila (@swedegis) won’t eat hot, so I’ll add the heat to my bowl at serving time!

Ingredients

2 lbs. boneless pork cubed
1 12 oz. bottle or can of beer
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 bell peppers
1 large onion
1 jalapeno pepper
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa power
1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 48 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 40 oz. can of beans (pinto, black, or kidney)

Directions

Remove the core and seeds from the peppers. Slice the bell peppers into strips and dice the jalapeno. Coarsely dice the onion.

Heat up the olive oil on medium high. Add the peppers and onions to the pot and cook for 3 - 4 minutes.

Transfer the peppers and onions to a bowl and set aside.

Add the meat to the pot and cook on high until brown. Stir occasionally.

When the meat has browned drain off any excess liquid.

Add the beer and spices and continue heating. This is also a good time for the cook to enjoy a beer. Bring the beer up to a slow boil. Cover and lock the pot

When the tit on the pressure cooker pops up, the pressure is right and the cover is locked. Reduce the heat to low. You want it to be just enough to maintain pressure. If its too low the tit will go down; just raise it a little bit. If it's too high the steam will start relieving from the cooker; just lower it a bit more. You get the idea!

Set the timer to 50 minutes. If you're not using a pressure cooker, bring the pot down to a simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender.

After 50 minutes let the cooker cool down until the tit goes down. Unlock and remove the cover.

Stir the peppers, onions and tomatoes back into the pot. Raise the heat back up to medium high. Cover and lock the cooker. When the tit pops up, reduce the heat to low and let cook for another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes let the cooker cool down until the tit goes down. Unlock and remove the cover.

Adjust the spices. Add the beans and bring it all back up to a simmer.

Serve it up. Add your favorite topping such as shredded cheese, sour cream, oyster crackers or cooked rice.

This recipe is pretty flexible. Use beef if you like, experiment with the peppers, and more, less or no beans. For me the beer and cocoa powder are essential, anything else is fair game!

Enjoy!

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Enjoy!

Roger

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