Chili

(the kind with ground meat & beans)

I did not grow up eating chili. A particular child with a foodie dad, I was wary of mac and cheese, the overall gooeyness and the non-specificity of the “cheese” challenged my trust. I disliked soups - smooth ones for their flawlessly (suspiciously) homogenized marriage of disparate ingredients, and chunky ones for their contrasting textures and the necessity of allowing a variety of small bits of food to cohabitate in my mouth even briefly. I didn’t eat rice until I was a teenager, which I can’t explain beyond the fact that pasta was my safety food and carb of choice.

I know cooking and eating chili isn’t a typical benchmark for broadening one’s horizons, but earlier this winter I was struck by a craving for this mysterious (to me) food. I had a vision and a flavor profile in mind, though I can’t pinpoint a first, or even a memorable chili I’ve eaten. There had to be some green bell pepper (though still no big chunks for me!) and red kidney beans. Tomato was non-negotiable, and a rich spice profile with a hint of something smoky. I happened to have everything on hand (except the green pepper which merited a quick trip to the store), and I had a rare flow state moment while composing this chili. I don’t know where I inherited my vision of the ideal chili (of the style with ground beef and beans) from, but this is it.

Note: I am not a perfectionist, and as I have made this chili on repeat all winter I’ve been more prone to lazy omissions than to making this more complicated. However one truth worth noting is that any simmered ground meat affair (eg. bolognese) benefits from freshly ground meat. Store bought ground meat tends to compact in the packaging (especially and obviously if vacuum sealed). Freshly ground meat is loose and the strands separate easily, minimizing clumps for a more tender mouthfeel. Another slightly fussy recommendation is to weigh out your salt. Meat absorbs flavor best when seasoning is added to the raw meat, but as with any stew, it’s easy to over salt if you add salt early, since the liquid reduces and flavors intensifies. If you add about 1.5% salt by weight of the meat at the beginning, you’ll end up with perfectly seasoned chili by the end. Kind of arbitrarily, I’ve been waiting til the last minute to add a morsel of brown sugar, but I don’t have a good reason for this.

Chili (makes 6 generous servings, freezes well):

2 pounds ground beef (freshly ground yields the best texture)

1 pound ground pork (freshly ground if possible)

1/2 large yellow onion, minced (I like everything to melt together! If you want more texture, dice instead)

1 green bell pepper deseeded, minced (see above note)

1 can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed also works)

2 oz tomato paste

1 can red kidney beans

20g kosher salt

1 tbl brown sugar

spices:

• 1 tbl chili powder

• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder (optional but nice for smoky flavor)

• 1 tbl cumin

• 1 tbl smoked paprika

• 2 tsp each garlic and onion powders

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp cayenne

Preheat oven to 300f. Warm a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, add a tablespoon of neutral oil (or tallow/lard!) and sauté minced onion and bell pepper for about five minutes til fragrant and softening. Add the ground meats and salt, using a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the ground meat as it cooks. Once you see some fat and liquid pooling and the meat is mostly cooked through, add your spices and let them bloom in the fat, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Next add the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add canned tomatoes, crushing each tomato by hand as you add it and adding all the liquid. Move the pot to the preheated oven, uncovered, and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring 2-3 times. About 30 minutes into the oven time, add beans (rinse off the extra starch and juices from the can before adding), and brown sugar. Taste (should be well seasoned, but add salt to taste). Serve with cornbread (I’ve been making this one).