Monday, March 13, 2017

Awesome: 6 Chile Chili con Carne

Been busy as hell on the homestead.  Will have some posts on a great homemade lox recipe, and one about a farmer's table/desk I'm building out in the shop.

But this one is about my World Famous (in my mind) chili recipe.  Although today it's a balmy 70 degrees, we just went thru a big cold spell.  A cold spell dictates one of two foods for me:  homemade soup or chili.

This really is good, folks.

Oh, and don't give me any lip about what real chili, or chile, or chilli has in it.  This is mine, I call it chili.  If you don't like it, buy yourself a can of Dennison's.

It takes two days - at least - if you're using your home prepped and stored beans.  By the way, the dried pintos I used in this recipe were dated 5/17/2008.  Yeah, they were nearly 9 years old.  They had been vacuum sealed with an oxygen absorber in the pack.

I added a heaping tablespoon of baking soda (as noted in the recipe) during the overnight soak, and they came out as tender as a Harvard student's psyche.  Well, maybe not that fragile...

6 Chile Chili con Carne

This chili has a bunch of heat, but won't blow the back out of your head.  Great, deep flavor, with a heat that dissipates fairly quickly.  No tomatoes were harmed (or used) in this awesome chili.

Ingredients:

(Lbs = pounds, C = cups, T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon)

2 lbs dry pinto beans
2 1/2 lbs raw ground pork or beef
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
4 C beef bullion
1/2 C Chile powder
1 T black pepper
1 T white pepper
1 T chipotle powder (powder, not the peppers)
2 T minced garlic
1 T cumin powder
1 T oregano
2 T kosher salt

1 t red pepper flakes
1 t cayanne pepper
1 t cinnamon powder


Preparation:

1.  Rinse the dry beans in cold water, and pick out any stones or other garbage.  Place the beans in a pot or bowl, and cover with at least 2 inches of water.  Let them soak over night.  If the beans are old, add a heaping tablespoon of baking soda to the water to help them rehydrate more easily. Supposed to help with farts, too.

2.  The next day, take your soaked beans, put them in a large soup pot, and cover them with 2 inches of water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on medium heat until they are soft, but still intact - about 2 or 3 hours (it takes mine 3 hours since I'm at 5000 feet elevation).  Add water as necessary and stir (about every 30 mins).  Don't burn your damned beans!  After they're cooked, transfer the beans and the juice to another bowl.  Don't you DARE throw out the juice!




3.   Take your pork or beef, and over medium high heat, brown it in the large soup pot.  Do NOT drain the fat.  After slightly browned, toss in your diced onions and the minced garlic and continue cooking until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

4.  Toss in all of the rest of the ingredients - beans, bullion, spices - everything.  Bring this to a boil.  




5.  Reduce to a simmer at medium heat, and cook uncovered for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it thickens considerably.  Check it regularly and give it a stir so it's not burning in your cheap-ass pots.




6.  Now here's the hard part:  Let it cool off to as close to room temperature as you can get it.  Hell, throw it in the fridge and eat it the next day.  You'll be tempted to eat it right away, but hold off for as long as you can.  It will be worth the wait.  When ready to eat, reheat it and serve with a pile of grated cheese, some onions and a dollop or two of sour cream.  I like mine with either flour tortillas or saltine crackers... or both.


Maybe a bit more than the 1 cup serving size....

Note:  If you're going to use pre-cooked canned beans, you'll need about 2 1/2 quarts of beans and juice.  I've got no idea how many cans of what size you'll need.  Do the math yourself.

Yield:  16 servings of 1 cup

Well, if you didn't screw up these simple directions, you'll end up with about a gallon of chili, give or take a couple of cups depending on how hot your stove cooks.

Home canning:  If I were to home can this, I'd only add 2 cups of the bullion, bring it to a boil, and pressure can it.  At sea level to 1000 feet of elevation, 75 minutes at 10 lbs weight for pints.  Adjust per the instructions with your canner for higher elevations.

Since the beans are already fully cooked, you're not going to lose much of the liquid getting sucked up into the beans.  Just make sure what goes into your jars has enough fluid so that the center of the jars gets fully cooked.

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I can attest that this is great over big ol' hot dogs with a healthy sampling of fresh chopped onions.


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Copyright 2017 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com

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