Hot, thawed in the refrigerator and reheated in the microwave, bowl of chili covered in cheese.
One day when I didn't feel like cooking one dang thing and remembered we had chili hiding out in the freezer, I snapped exactly three photos of our leftover chili thawing and reheating process-of-the-day because I remembered I'd posted that I put leftover chili in the freezer for an easy dinner another day. I went on to describe the different ways chili could be thawed and reheated to accompany those images.
To follow up, I decided to expound on the topic a little bit with the Black Bean and Corn Chili I'd recently made, froze, and thought would thaw in time for lunch the next day. Luckily, I took photos. Lucky for who, I don't know, but I've got 'em to share.
Leftover Black Bean and Corn Chili -- thawed and reheated from a frozen state
I transferred a 3-cup plastic dish of chili from the freezer to the fridge, expecting it would thaw by morning, giving me a hearty, homemade meal for lunch at work.
One day when I didn't feel like cooking one dang thing and remembered we had chili hiding out in the freezer, I snapped exactly three photos of our leftover chili thawing and reheating process-of-the-day because I remembered I'd posted that I put leftover chili in the freezer for an easy dinner another day. I went on to describe the different ways chili could be thawed and reheated to accompany those images.
To follow up, I decided to expound on the topic a little bit with the Black Bean and Corn Chili I'd recently made, froze, and thought would thaw in time for lunch the next day. Luckily, I took photos. Lucky for who, I don't know, but I've got 'em to share.
Leftover Black Bean and Corn Chili -- thawed and reheated from a frozen state
I transferred a 3-cup plastic dish of chili from the freezer to the fridge, expecting it would thaw by morning, giving me a hearty, homemade meal for lunch at work.
Wrong.
When the chili was still a pretty decent-sized brick this a.m., I left it in the refrigerator to continue thawing over the course of the day.
When I got home and was hungry, that chili bowl looked like it could be thawed completely.
After popping the lid off and giving it a good stir to determine the exact state of the situation, I found that sure enough, it was ready for some heat.
Rodney wasn't in the mood for chili, so I opted for a shortcut: the microwave. But first, I transferred a portion (majority) of the chili to a glass bowl. I don't know that I buy into the dioxin-from-plastic craze of email spam, but why push it? Besides, I wasn't going to eat the entire 3 cups of chili in one sitting, believe it or not.
I nuked the chili bowl (loosely covered with the lid to fit the bowl in order to prevent spatters) for 3:30 minutes on 5 (aka 50%) power stirring at about halfway and again after the microwave beeped.
And sprinkled cheese on it.
And ate it.
And it was good. Maybe not as good as reheating in a saucepan on the stovetop, but still good. What is it about that stovetop that makes chili so good?
It does make me think, since this chili was just aged a couple days in the freezer, that the last batch we'd thawed and reheated was simply old. This chili wasn't lacking in spicy-heat or juiciness.
So take note: chili sitting in the freezer 6 months may lose spicy-heat and juiciness, but slightly aged, days-old chili loses nothing. It isn't any different than day one. If it is, it's not discernable to my simple, non-discerning palate.
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