It was Saturday morning and I was making a huge pot of chili - part of my annual fall 'freezer stock up'. I have done this many times before and the result has always been numerous meals of hearty and delicious chili that I could just take out of the freezer on those days when 'what is for dinner?' eludes me. But on this particular occassion, I was distracted, thinking about what else I needed to do that day (really, who knows), and things got a little spicy.
Saturday night we sat down to enjoy the chili that had been simmering on the stove all afternoon, and it was then that I realized that I had put way too much chili powder in; one bite and there was a ring of fire around my mouth. "Oh, this is too spicy!" I exclaimed, to which Bridget replied, "Mommy, this chili is just right." But it was not "just right"; the poor girl had tears in her eyes. So there I was, with an enormous pot of chili that was so spicy it was almost inedible. What was I going to do?
The Plan: I have separated the chili into smaller portions and frozen these portions in 13 (yes, 13) individual freezer bags. Each week, from now until kingdom come, I will be making a smaller batch of chili without chili powder, and adding some of the spicy chili to it. Hopefully, the no spice chili and the spicy chili, when combined, will result in something that is "just right" Stay tuned to hear how this unfolds; who knows I may be bringing chili to our Christmas potluck.
Future Considerations: I have made a large notation on my chili recipie to use chili powder sparingly. And, after making 13 batches of chili, I will likely not be making chili again for a very long time.
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I've done something similar a million times! It's usually when I think that I've mastered a dish and I try it without the recipe. Ultimately I add too much of something and then try to correct it. That's when the spices come out of the cupboard and I start smelling them to see what I think would work best. Unfortunately they never taste like they smell....
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day I am usually foraging through my recipe books and starting all over. I'm interested in knowing how it works out for you. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who does this.
I did this sort of thing tonight. I added basil to my large pot of tomato sauce, basil goes with tomato right? Apparently not when you have forgotten that you had already added oregano. It tastes really bad, like a sweet tomato sauce. Any ideas on how to fix it?
ReplyDeleteI was interested to see if there was an answer to over seasoning online and I came across this...
ReplyDeleteQuestion
I made chili in a crock pot and have over seasoned it with too much cayenne pepper. How can I remedy that?
Answer
An oooppps with a spice bottle eh? Milk will cool the heat so I suggest that you over garnish your chili with lots of cheese! Make sure you also have a nice bread to soak up the sauce.
You could use those two ideas together and serve your chili as you would French onion soup. Place a large crouton - a slice of Italian or French bread toasted - in a bowl or crock. Ladle the chili over and around that. Top with loads of shredded cheddar and viola! (Have a large glass of cold milk nearby just in case you really over did it.)