Chili varies more than practically anything else on earth. I don't put beans in mine at all, usually. One pot with peeled fresh tomatoes, lots of onion, garlic, celery, green pepper, the spices, anything else that looks good. Another pot to sear the fine-cubed meat, sometimes pork, sometimes beef, often both. Seared meat goes into the tomato pot, add some stock and a bottle of beer, bring to a boil and simmer all day. I like to cook it the day before, chill at night and skim the fat.
Two kinds of hot peppers here, one 3-5 inches long, light green, and hot, one tiny, less than an inch, bright red, and devastating. Can be mixed or used individually, depending on the desired final temperature. I like to serve it with chopped sweet onion and green pepper roasted, peeled, and chopped, which can be stirred in before eating.
I cook a lot of beans, but usually as soups, with meat and spicy sausages.
I like cooking the kind of food you can make in enormous pots, out of which small armies can be fed.
That chili, or those bean soups, would go well with the garlic bread I was just talking about, and a salad of very fresh watercress, with a yogurt and fresh dill dressing...
Maybe I'll move back to the mountains. Didn't earn much then, but we sure ate well. Different now, though we still do ok. Lots of seafood. |
