Stiles Stilinski (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hypercompetent) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
potosi2013-07-17 09:13 pm
hypercompetent) wrote in potosi2013-07-17 09:13 pm
Entry tags:
we're bigger than we've ever dreamed
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slides casually over
"Your turn."
uwu
That's all he is, right now. Aside from the burning crush he's been hiding for literally ages, you know, it's pretty platonic. Stiles is down with that. He likes Derek--they argue a lot but it's in a married couple kind of way, bickering over everything from recipe titles to movie tastes. And he's maybe over at the Hale apartment a lot more than he chooses to admit, so what.
That's actually, probably, how he got roped into it. He's currently standing in front of the camera that Derek usually stands in front of, with said vlogger behind it, and jittering his fingers on a counter full of ingredients. By the time he gets cued in to speak, he's tried to force his nerves aside and, of course, starts with sarcasm. ] Hello out there. Yeah, I know, you were totally expecting the bearded marble statue we all know and love, but this week, you're stuck with your guest star, the more stick figuresque me. [ He points at himself with the spatula, and ends up bopping his nose when he moves too forward. ] Ow. Stiles Stilinski, amateur chef who apparently has huge shoes to fill--Can we cut that? Like a billion people are going t--okay, not a billion smartass, but a lot and--seriously? Ugh, fine.
[ All of that muttering was half off camera, and Stiles returns a couple of seconds later, making a wide, arching gesture at his ingredients. ] Since I've been so informed that all of my screwups are going to be on camera, I'm going to get this show on the road as soon as possible. Today, we're making an old family recipe of mine, since you guys seemed to really like my mom's first recipe. [ He flashes a grin to the screen. ] So today's menu is Kielbasa Chili, which tastes, literally, like a chili dog. It's awesome. Okay? Okay, awesome, let's do this thang.
[ And with a thumbs up, he's off. ]
Ingredients:
Canola oil, or another high heat cooking oil
2 1/2 pounds braising beef (preferably chuck or sirloin), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
8 ounces kielbasa sausage, diced as neatly as possible.
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (12 ounce) bottle lager-style beer. Beer and chili, am I right? Save the extra for drinks afterwards.
1 (28 ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons good-quality chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15.5-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained
1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained
Cayenne pepper, to taste
In a large Dutch oven or cast iron pot, heat a few tablespoons canola oil over medium-high to high heat. Thoroughly pat the beef dry, making as many jokes about cow tipping as you can, and season generously with salt and pepper. Working in small batches, sear the beef cubes until all sides are deep brown and a dark fond is forming in the pot. Add more canola oil to the pot if it looks like it is starting to burn. Remove the beef to a separate bowl after browning each batch. After the beef is cooked, add the kielbasa to the pot and saute for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the kielbasa and set aside with the beef. This makes the delicious manly (or womanly, depending on your chef, because ladies are badasses too. Hi Lydia!) meat base.
Lower the heat to medium. Add a couple more tablespoons of canola; toss in the onions, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 5 minutes, and try not to eat any out of the dutch oven. Add the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. Pour in the beer to deglaze the pan and remove the fond from the bottom of the pot.
Meanwhile, use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the tomatoes into chunks while still in the can. Add the beef, kielbasa, tomatoes and juices, chicken stock, chili powder and cumin into the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer the chili for 1 1/2 hours. Add the beans and season with cayenne, salt and pepper. Continue to cook the chili for an additional 30 minutes to an hour, until the beef is very tender and the beans are warm.
Remove from the heat. Bring to room temperature then transfer to the refrigerator. The chili will naturally thicken up as it cools. (I recommend serving this chili 1 to 2 days after cooking. It just keeps getting better and better.)
[ By the time he's finished his little broadcast, Stiles is surprisingly in the zone. It's not until the chili is cooking for another hour that his focus breaks, and he looks away, meeting Derek's gaze in an affectionate look that gets captured on camera. ]
sparkle
He's more than willing to let it happen, though, considering how good Stiles looks in his kitchen. He'd kind of like it to happen more often, but he's going to keep that to himself for now. After six months of growing friendship, and multiple dates that haven't really been dates because Derek won't actually refer to them as dates to Stiles, he's... actually pretty happy, even if it's just platonic. Part of him is terrified of that fact, but a bigger part is even more wary of tipping over that line. Bickering like a married couple is one thing. Being an actual couple is another.
He has to bring a hand up to cover his mouth and hide his smile-- though the way his eyes crinkle at the corners give him away-- when Stiles smacks himself in the nose, but he shakes his head when he tries to request it being cut. People see him screw up all the time, he's not going to edit or let him start over again. ] Just go, you're doing fine.
[ Rather than keep the camera on a tripod like he normally does, Derek actually holds it and follows Stiles' movements. If he zooms in on his hands at any point, he will just say it's so they can get a better sense of what he's talking about as he works on cutting up his ingredients. It isn't because he has a small crush on just Stiles' stupid hands or anything.
But there's a difference, in his episodes and Stiles', and it almost necessitates Derek manning the camera: Stiles talks with his entire body. It's an enormous contrast to the more muted movements he makes usually, absent hand gestures and shifts in his body. Stiles moves his hands, his arms, shifts his weight, rolls his head. The motions almost seem to slow down a bit when he's focused, but not enough to be completely dampened.
And he likes it.
Just as much as he likes the little look he gets towards the end, and he actually looks down at the camera's flip screen to try and hide his own expression, corners of his mouth downturned as he feels a flush of warmth in his chest. But he doesn't really help himself when he looks up from under his brow at him. ] I think I could get used to this role reversal, so I hope you're all ready for more of Stiles Stilinski's popular recipes as actually brought to you by him.
no subject
[ The whole room is starting to smell awesome--the chili's cooking in the background, and it's filling the whole house, enough that Stiles' stomach is already starting to growl. The most torturous part of cooking is always waiting, and he tries not to think about it too much and focuses instead on the flash of an affectionate look on Derek's face, stepping around the back counter and leaning over his shoulder when the camera finally comes off. ] I'm telling you, if you get hate mail, it is 100% your fault. [ Pause. ] Same if my kid's moms start asking me to cook for them. As far as they know I'm still a broke-ass college student and they'll keep bringing me food because I "look too skinny".
I hate that they're not smooching yet because there could be a smooch here.
Slouching his stance a little more to let Stiles get a clear look as he looks over the footage in the viewfinder absently, rewinding and thinking of where he needs to cut the long waits out and where he can just leave things alone. The affection lingers in his expression, and he looks over at him with the slightest turn of his head. ] I'm not going to get hate mail. If I do, they'll just be the usual hate mail I already get. [ He does, however, laugh a little at that as he closes the viewfinder. ] If they stop bringing you food, I'll start coming in with lunch for you.
[ ... was that too forward? Probably. Oh well. ]