Poor Richard’s Almanac

It’s time for chili. October 7, 2012

Silence Dogood here. Last night, I was reading one of my favorite magazines, Backwoods Home, and came upon an article about making great chili. Now, our friend Ben loves chili, and now that it’s cooling down, it’s certainly time to start making it. So of course I plunged into the article to see if I could get some tips. Yikes.

Not to say that the chili in the article would have been bad; the photo of it looked delicious. But it would have taken 3 hours of standing in the kitchen working nonstop and every pot, pan and bowl in the house to make, not to mention a food processor.

To me, one of the beauties of chili is how easy it is to put together. We don’t have a food processor, we wash our dishes by hand, and I’m not good at standing for long stretches. If you’re not up for a marathon, I suggest that you try my quick, delicious chili recipe, below. Pair it with some hot-from-the-oven cornbread, or warm tortillas for dipping, and some crunchy coleslaw and you’re good to go!  

               Silence’s Quick Spicy Chili

1 40.5-ounce can kidney beans (dark red, light red, or plain red are all fine)

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 large fresh tomato, diced

1 large green (or red) bell pepper, diced

2 large sweet onions (Vidalia, WallaWalla or 1015 type), diced

6 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped

extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chili powder

hot sauce (we like the smoky flavor of Tabasco Chipotle in this)

1 tablespoon each dried oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary

Trocomare or salt (we like RealSalt) to taste

cracked black pepper to taste

Pour a generous amount of olive oil in the bottom of a heavy Dutch oven or other capacious pot (I love my LeCreuset Dutch oven for this). Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion clarifies, then add the dried herbs, Trocomare or salt, pepper, chili powder, and a few generous splashes of hot sauce. Next, add the chopped fresh tomato and green or red pepper. When the pepper starts to soften and the tomato liquefies, add the canned diced tomatoes, stirring well, then the kidney beans, again stirring well to mix. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the chili is very hot. Serve in bowls, topped with shredded white Cheddar cheese and/or sour cream, if desired. This will serve four to six people, depending on how many insist on seconds or even (shriek) thirds.

This chili keeps well and can easily be reheated and eaten as-is, or used as a filling for tacos or burritos or as a layer in a dip for tortilla chips. (You know the one, with layers of guacamole, beans, salsa, sour cream, and cheddar.) If you use it in the dip, mash it first; people tend to be a bit disconcerted if they see a whole kidney bean on their tortilla chip.

However you eat it, enjoy! And think about all those dirty dishes and steps you’ve saved.

            ‘Til next time,

                      Silence