Chili and Cornbread

If you have not noticed, I love Chloe Coscarelli, so I was very excited to try out her chili recipe along with her cornbread and butter recipes to pair with it!

My amazing fiancé agreed to try one new recipe a week whether it is gluten free or gluten free and vegan – this is a big step for him as he is my pizza roll loving guy, so the fact I somehow got him to agree to eating something that does not go into the microwave for 90 seconds is amazing! He does actually cook good meals for himself, but I enjoy cooking for more than myself, so it makes me excited that I get to do that at once a week.

Since he is stepping outside of his comfort zone with food, I have been trying to find recipes that are things I know he will enjoy even if they are gluten free or gluten free and vegan.

I got all three of these recipes from Chloe Coscarelli’s Chloe Flavor cookbook but modified the firehouse chili recipe to fit a current protocol I am following, so no diced onions or minced garlic. You will not see this part of Chloe’s recipe in this post, so if you truly want to make the chili how she does then go buy her cookbook (it is amazing – I also got the chance to stop by one of her restaurants while in NYC; more on this in a different post). However, I promise you that the chili is great without those two ingredients!

These recipes serve 6 to 8 people, but my fiancée and I enjoyed the leftovers for a week or so after making! Also, all three of these recipes are gluten free and vegan.

Cookware and Utensils, You Will Need:

• A large saucepan

• 2 small sized mixing bowl

• 1 medium sized mixing bowl

• A large mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid)

• Measurement utensils (1TSP, ½ TSP, 1TBSP, ½ TBSP, 1C, ½ C, 1/3 C, ¼ C)

• A wooden stirring spoon

• A rubber spatula for getting the donut mixture into the pan

• A KitchenAid or handheld mixer

• A toothpick

• A cooling rack

Ingredients for Chili:

• 1 TSP chili powder

• 1 TSP paprika

• 1 TSP onion powder

• 1 TSP oregano

• 1 TSP ground cumin

• 1 TSP ground pepper

• 2 TSP sea salt

• 1 C water

• 1 medium diced green bell pepper

• 2 TBSP tomato paste

• 1 can diced tomatoes with the juices (28 oz)

• 2 cans red kidney beans that are drained and rinses (15 oz cans)

• 1 TBSP pure maple syrup

• Fresh avocado

Ingredients for Cornbread Muffins:

• 1 C gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)

• 1 C cornmeal

• 2/3 C sugar

• 2 TSP baking powder

• ½ TSP sea salt

• 1 C almond milk

• ½ C vegetable oil

• 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

• ½ C fresh or frozen corn kernels

Ingredients for Whipped Maple Butter:

• 1 C vegan margarine that is at room temperate (I used Miyoko's )

• ¼ C pure maple syrup

Directions:

Let’s start with the cornbread muffins, so when you are done with the chili and can instantly serve everything together when it is warm:

Cornbread Muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with lightly greased paper liners

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the almond milk, oil, and apple cider vinegar.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. DO NOT OVER MIX!

6. Add in the corn.

7. Pour the cornbread mix into the lined muffin pan. These should be filled up about 2/3 of the way full.

8. Bake for 20 minutes; the muffins should be golden when you take them out.

Chili:

1. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, black pepper, and salt.

2. In large saucepan that is on medium-high heat (my stovetop has a range of 1-10 and I put mine on 7), heat the olive oil until it shimmers. Once it shimmers, add the diced green bell pepper and cook for about 10 minutes / until very soft.

3. Add the water, tomato paste, diced tomatoes with their juices, kidney beans, and maple syrup on medium heat (I put my stovetop on 5) for about 15 minutes. Make sure to stir frequently.

4. Once you like the taste of the chili, take the chili off the hot burner and scoop the desired amount into a bowl.

5. I added fresh avocado to the top of the chili.
   

Whipped Maple Butter:

1. In a medium bowl, put the vegan margarine and maple syrup.

2. Whip the two ingredients together until the ingredients are light and fluffy.

3. Put this immediately on the cornbread muffins!

4. This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week

Now put all three of these together and enjoy! My fiancée really enjoyed all of these recipes and was very impressed with how moist and soft the cornbread muffins were. The cornbread muffins are head to resist, especially with the whipped maple butter, but the butter is not necessary to enjoy!

I stored the leftover chili in a glass container with a lid in the refrigerator for up to a week. I put the leftover cornbread muffins in a glass container with a lid as well but kept on the counter!