My Chili Recipe

Hi!

It's starting to cool down a bit, so I've started making chili. I titled this post "My Chili Recipe" but it's really more of a philosophy. I'll list ingredients and amounts (assuming 24 cups), but it's really the approach that I think works for me. Let's start with the base. Here's what's in it:

- Four medium-sized tomatoes
- Two large Anaheim green chili peppers
- One large white onion
- Thirty ounces of tomato sauce
- Two teaspoons of ground cumin
- Three tablespoons of chili powder
- One-and-a-half teaspoons of pepper
- One teaspoon of celery salt
- One teaspoon of salt
- Two cups of water

This isn't very spicy. Ever since I discovered Dave's Gourmet, I know I can make any dish as hot as I want without having to worry about special peppers or powders. I can always add heat later one bowl at a time. What makes my approach different is that I put all that stuff in the blender so that my chili doesn't have chunks of vegetables leading to huge variations in the taste of each bite. For this batch size, I'll split everything into two blenders-full of ingredients and use the water to rinse the blender afterward so that none of the good stuff is left sticking to the side...

The base is put into a crock pot (slow cooker) at least eight hours before serving. I cook it for a long time on low to ensure that the beans are soft and everything else in the pot takes on the flavor of the base. What else goes into my chili depends on what strikes my fancy. I've added all of the following at one time or another:

- Kidney beans
- Garbanzo beans
- Northern beans
- White beans
- Black beans
- Corn
- Carnitas
- Ground turkey
- Ground beef
- Macaroni
- Rice

Basically, any kind of beans or meat would be fine. My rule of thumb is that if I'm adding meat (~1 lb), pasta, or rice, then I use four fifteen ounce cans of beans/corn. If not, I use six. I dump the cans of beans/corn one at a time into a strainer and rinse them off, removing casings and anything else that wouldn't look good on a spoon. I brown the ground meat, but don't fully cook it as if I were making tacos. When I use carnitas, it's usually purchased already spiced in packages (from TJ's) that are normally used in burritos. The rice is usually boil-in-a-bag or microwaveable. Rice and pasta shouldn't be added right away. In fact, the pasta (uncooked) shouldn't be added until ~20 before serving. A cup of either is plenty.

While it's cooking, I stir regularly, but not often. At first, it looks like there will be a LOT of liquid, but much of it will cook off...more will be absorbed by the pasta during its cooking. Even on low, the chili will be VERY hot, so I usually turn the heat off as I add the pasta. Stirring the pasta in and recovering it will ensure that it stays pretty hot and still cooks the pasta.

I've found over the years that I've experimented more and tried different kinds of meats and beans. It's fun and we usually end up with enough to last a few days. Serve with corn chips, soup crackers, or corn bread (The TJ's brand box is REALLY good.) and enjoy!

Take care!
Matt