4 Levels of Chili: Amateur to Food Scientist

[upbeat music]

Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm a level one chef.

Hi, I'm Lorenzo, and I'm a level two chef.

I'm Chris from the Institute of Culinary Education,

and I'm a level three chef.

You just kind of throw a bunch of stuff into a pot,

and then wait, and that's it, and that's good.

So, my recipe is actually chili con carne.

Not the typical chili.

Many reasons why I like this recipe.

Honestly, my dad likes it.

Hi, pop.

Everybody's a big fan of chili.

You have the pork, the turkey.

Even vegetarians, they have the quinoa and the beans.

But today, I'm gonna be doing a seafood chili.

First up, my main protein, turkey.

It's a little healthier,

and it tastes good, and it's pretty easy.

My main protein that I use for chili con carne is chuck.

It is a delicious piece of meat and whenever you simmer it,

just the flavor of that beautiful beef comes out.

So the main proteins in my chili today

are jumbo lump crab meat, fresh shrimp, scallops,

and right here in my hand is a blue crab.

It's going to really make a flavorful scallop.

So the first thing I'm gonna do

is I'm gonna turn on my burner to about a medium high heat

'cause the recipe I read said high,

and I'm a little nervous about making it too hot.

I'm going to salt and pepper the meat.

I like a lot of pepper.

Now, I have a little bit of masa.

This is just corn flour.

It's gonna help sear the meat

and lock in those delicious juices.

So, the crab and the scallops are all set to go,

but now let's prep the shrimp.

The easiest way to do it

is that you can take off the feet, like so.

Take your paring knife and kind of run the back,

and then you take out the innards.

Okay, the shrimp's all done.

I'm gonna put all this stuff in the fridge.

I'm gonna put my olive oil into the pot.

Turkey's like a little healthier than beef,

a little more exciting than chicken.

If you do overcrowd this, it's gonna just boil

and not get brown.

It will get gray.

You don't wanna eat gray meat.

So right now I'm just kinda like,

I try to break it up into little bits,

because you want it sort of all scattered through the chili,

not in big clumps, although a clump here and there is nice.

So what I'm looking for is a nice brown little coating

that just seared the juices in their yumminess.

I'm kinda looking for it to start changing color

from raw turkey to cooked turkey color.

It's pretty much done.

I'm gonna take this out and just do my other batch.

So I think this looks about good,

so I'm gonna move on to adding my veggies and seasonings.

So these brown bits that you see here,

it's not burnt bits.

That's yummy goodness from the masa

and the beef being seared.

It's gonna come off of there

and just make the dish even better.

I'm gonna throw a little bit of extra virgin into the pot.

I got my garlic.

This is half a red onion. Coarsely chopped onion.

And then, I'm gonna go right in with my

peppers and onions. Sweet red bell peppers.

The onions and peppers and all of these

just kind of add a little bit of extra flavoring and depth

and stuff to chew on, you know.

One whole carrot.

This is a bay leaf that I'm gonna put in.

Honestly, the bay leaf is one of those things

that you think it doesn't do anything

until you try something with and without it.

And then, you're like, oh wow, that did do something.

It's kinda nice.

Add a little bit of salt always,

little bit of pepper always.

Celery.

Now, I'm not gonna totally cook this down.

I just wanna soften.

It'll get a little translucent.

And I'm not looking for any kind of color on this at all.

I am gonna move on to my--

[Both] Garlic.

Now I'm gonna throw in my spices.

[All] Oregano.

This is my--

[All] Chili powder.

I believe this is like half a cup of chili powder.

Chipotle peppers that are really gonna

bring out that smokiness.

I'm also gonna use some more masa.

This is tomato paste,

and now I have a combination of cayenne pepper, paprika.

If you have smoked paprika, go for it.

And the smoked paprika.

This particular chili is not gonna really be spicy.

You're really getting the flavor of the peppers

but not necessarily the heat.

And my jalapeno.

Red pepper flakes.

I add red pepper flakes to everything.

I really, and I mean it.

And lastly--

[All] Cumin.

For that southwestern flavor.

It's like those are the things that have to go in a chili

for it to taste like chili, you know?

I'm going to take my crab,

and I'm gonna cut that directly in half.

You'll see all of the, of what you call tomalley,

all that yellow goodness right inside.

I have some fresh tomatillos.

So, what I'm gonna do here is kind of rough chop it.

I wanna really get some of the juices

and liquid from the tomatillos.

Alright, this has been cooking for about five minutes.

So the next thing I'm gonna do

is I'm gonna add some canned tomatoes.

I am gonna add the tomato sauce.

Fire-roasted tomatoes.

Tomatoes are really kinda

what makes the chili have that chiliness.

That's gonna add a lot of juice, acid, and the liquid.

The next thing I'm gonna do

is I'm gonna put my chicken broth in.

Beef broth, folks.

I have my white beer.

Because this is a seafood one,

I kinda wanted to go with a very light flavored white beer,

a hefeweizen.

So I'm using fish stock here

to really get some of that really good seafood flavor.

A little bit of bay leaf.

While that's working,

I'm gonna get the rest of these tomatillos in.

So, I have my seared beef chuck.

I'm gonna add it to my mixture of sauces and spices.

So, we're gonna simmer this for about an hour and a half.

For another 10 minutes or so.

For about 30 to 45 minutes,

and that way all of the flavors kind of marry together.

Goodnight.

Alright, this is looking good,

so it's time to add the beans.

You could use any beans.

I'm using--

[Both] Red kidney beans.

I like them, because all you really need to do

is heat them up.

So, these add a little extra protein to the chili,

and just, I don't know, they're beans.

They go in chili, you know?

[laughs]

And my chickpeas.

I actually like chickpeas in chili,

just because it's a different color as well.

So I'm using white beans for my chili,

because they have a bit more sweetness to it,

so these will really take on a lot of the flavor

of the stock and kind of give way to the seafood

that's coming next.

So now that I added my beans,

I'm just gonna warm them through a little bit

before I serve.

So the chili has been working for an extra 40 minutes,

and you can really see that the stock

has worked its way into the bean.

At this point, let's add our seafood.

So I'm gonna put in the scallops, let's go with the shrimp.

The shrimp kind of brings that element of joy,

at least it does to me.

Jumbo lump crab.

Now, you don't wanna stir it too much

once the crab is in there.

So then finally, what I'm gonna add

is a little bit of orange zest.

What that does is brings out a little bit

of brightness to it.

Finally, I'm gonna add some chopped cilantro.

So, I wait till the end to add the fresh herbs,

because you really want the flavor of the herbs

to still be potent and strong by the time

it gets to your plate.

Alright, let's serve it up.

For all you other level ones out there,

don't eat the bay leaf.

This is fantastic.

I'm gonna get our piece of crab in there.

Let us do a little bit of our diced tomato, red onion.

I love pickled jalapeno.

It's delicious.

Alright, so now I'm just gonna throw some

cheese on there. Cheese.

I'm gonna add some sprigs of--

[Both] Cilantro.

I'm gonna add

some fresh lime. And a lime.

Whenever you have something hot or sweet,

just add a little citrus.

It brings everything out, and it just accentuates

all of the flavors and just balances everything out.

And I'm just gonna

do a dollop of sour cream. Sour cream.

Then, I'm gonna add some cotija cheese,

which is a Mexican cow's milk cheese.

Cool, and then, I like to serve it

with some Hawaiian rolls.

In the grocery store, delicious, soft,

fluffy Hawaiian rolls. [laughs]

I like to finish it off and eat it

with some corn tortilla chips.

And you can't have good chili without some cornbread.

I love cornbread with my chili.

And here's my chili!

[camera shutter clicks]

And this is my chili con carne.

[camera shutter clicks]

And this is my chili.

[camera shutter clicks]

[light upbeat music]

Mhm. Mhm!

Mhm. Wow.

Thumbs up. Chili!

It's really good.

So delicious.

Half an hour, and you're eating something

that's not bad for you.

The flavors are so clean and bright.

Hits the spot.

The cilantro, and the orange, and the crab

really make this dish exactly what it is.

The spices with my toppings.

Lord have mercy, delicioso.

I wouldn't have done anything different.

Add more cheese!

Chili is a delicious and satisfying comfort food

that can be made in a variety of different ways.

[drum roll]

Emily used ground light and dark turkey.

I mean, and a bunch of other stuff, but.

Turkey is a lean meat, so it's lower in fat,

which is why Emily needed to add olive oil

to her pan prior to cooking it.

The oil prevented the turkey from sticking to the hot pan,

while also promoting Maillard browning reactions

when heated.

Lorenzo used a cut of beef called chuck,

which is tougher than turkey,

because it has more connective tissue.

Hey, are you guys like mad at me,

because I didn't use ground beef? [laughs]

He coated his beef with a corn based starch called masa.

When heated, it's broken down into sugars,

which are needed for the Maillard browning reaction

to occur.

Masa has the delayed effect of becoming gelatinized

when liquid is added later in the cooking process,

which made Lorenzo's chili more viscous.

That's why I do this.

It's also slightly alkaline,

so it assists in breaking down connective tissue,

tenderizing the meat.

Chris used seafood, giving his chili a distinct taste,

appearance, and texture.

He added his aromatic ingredients to hot oil,

prior to adding his live crab.

Who doesn't love crab?

Did you notice how the blue crab changed

to a more reddish color once it hit the heat?

That's because there's a blueish brownish pigment

attached to a protein on the crab when it's alive.

Once it's heated, the protein separates

from the pigment and turns to a beautiful red.

[drum roll]

Emily used fresh seasonings,

except for the dried chili powder and cumin.

These two powders don't completely dissolve,

adding a very slight starchy, grainy texture to her chili.

It's what's in recipes online.

Including chicken stock enhanced the poultry flavor

of her chili, and tomatoes added color,

sweetness, and a slight acidity.

So the chicken broth'll just give it

a little more of that poultry pizzazz.

By grating a carrot, Lorenzo increased its surface area,

allowing more of its natural sweetness

to be imparted into his dish.

Lorenzo bloomed his chili powder,

heating it a bit before adding liquids.

It's all yumminess.

Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy.

Chili powder contains capsaicin, which is fat soluble,

so the oil that it was in maximized its flavor release.

In addition, including beef stock

imparted a hearty umami flavor to his chili.

Chris balanced his delicate seafood chili

with some powerhouse spices, like chili powder,

oregano, and smoked paprika,

as well as fire roasted tomatoes,

which provided some smokiness.

Adding chopped tomatillos also imparted a piquant,

acidic note that balanced the smoke and fire

from his spice blend.

That works.

Chris's orange zest is unique,

and since the flavoring compounds in citrus zest

are highly concentrated, a little goes a long way.

Adding seafood stock helped bolster

all of Chris's other seafood flavors.

Alcohol from the wheat beer evaporated during cooking,

so he was left with a malty, slightly citrusy taste,

which complimented the orange zest.

Adding the various seafood at the end of the cooking process

helps to keep them tender and not over coagulated.

You can't have a seafood chili without shrimp.

[drum roll]

Emily used the familiar red kidney bean,

which gets its name from its shape.

It added a nice color and slightly creamy quality

to her chili.

Lorenzo also used red kidney beans,

but included garbanzo beans as well.

These contain more oil than other beans,

adding calories and a rich creaminess.

Chris used white beans, which are smaller in size

and kept his chili lighter in color.

[drum roll]

All three chefs used lime as a garnish, which is important,

because it brightens up the chili with its acid.

Gives it that pop that I'm talking about.

Emily and Lorenzo also added sour cream,

which provided another acidic component

and helped mitigate the other spicy ingredients.

Just keeping getting some sour cream,

and it'll get you through the bowl.

The high amounts of fat sour cream contains

coats the pain receptors on our tongue,

that capsaicin effect soothing the sensation of heat.

Cheese, like Emily and Lorenzo's cheddar,

and Chris's cotija, does the same thing,

but because it's solid, it's not as effective as sour cream.

Lorenzo and Chris also topped their dishes with cilantro,

which has a bright, fresh taste

that compliments the other more complex ingredients.

[drum roll]

Each chef served their chili with supporting starches.

Emily used soft Hawaiian rolls,

which have a refreshing sweetness

that acts as another thing to balance the spiciness.

I knew that. [laughs]

Lorenzo used corn tortilla chips,

which tied in with his masa

and provided a crunchy component,

while Chris used warm, slightly sweet cornbread,

which complimented his smoky, slightly spicy chili.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways

you can spice up your next batch of chili,

both literally and figuratively.