Dec 20 Beef Chili

Serves: 1 small army

• canola or other vegetable oil
• 2 pounds beef, cut into 1/2" or smaller pieces
• salt and pepper
• 2 very large onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons ground New Mexico chile
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 28 ounce cans diced tomatoes
• water or broth
• 2 large green bell or other mild peppers, chopped
• 2 cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• additional salt to taste

I had just returned from London on Tuesday evening, so, of course, I decided to invite several friends over on Thursday. And just inviting them over wouldn't really be enough, so I decided to whip up a big batch of chili, some vegetarian chili for the non-carnivorous members of the group, and a pecan pie for good measure. Several friends were coming and I was hoping for some leftovers, so I made a lot. At the end there was about a gallon of chili left, so I guess I made enough. Anyone not planning to feed an entire battalion might want to reduce the quantities a little.

I follow a very particular methodology when purchasing beef for making chili. I find the cheapest cut of beef at the butcher, and I buy that. Chili is, after all, a preparation meant for tougher cuts of meat.

I added a little oil to the pot to coat the bottom, heated it up, and then browned the meat in about three batches, adding salt and pepper to the meat as it was cooking. Meat, much like mushrooms, won't brown if you crowd the pan. It just turns the pan watery and the meat gray, which is not at all the same as browning, so I was good and took my time browning the meat in small batches. I was not concerned with cooking the meat through, just with getting some good color on the outside.

With the last batch of meat removed from the pan, I added the onions. Once the onions had softened a bit, I added the garlic to the pan, then all of the browned meat along with any juices that had collected in the dish it was setting in. I let all of that cook another minute or two.

To avoid burning the chile, which can make it bitter, I shut off the heat, then stirred in the New Mexico chile, the paprika, and the cumin. I let that heat up a few minutes, then poured in the tomatoes and the rest of the seasonings. I then filled one of the empty tomato cans with water and added that to the pot as well. I turned the heat back on and brought it all up to a simmer.

If I had been thinking, I would have added the chopped bell peppers about the time I added the garlic, but I had forgotten about them, so I tossed them in as everything was coming up to a simmer. Once the chili was simmering, I turned the heat it as low as it would go and covered the pot. I let it cook, stirring infrequently, for a couple of hours until the meat was nice and tender.

Chili is one of those dishes that can bring out some very particular passions in people about how it should be prepared. Some people will insist that certain rules must be followed and some ingredients eschewed to make an authentic version of the dish. The wonderful thing about being the cook is that you can throw all that out the window and just make the dish you want to eat, which is what I did. I figure people who care about the rules are free to follow them when they're doing the cooking. I like beans in my chili, so that's what I added.

If I had been feeling especially industrious, I would have started with dry beans, but having just returned from abroad, I felt no such need. Instead, I added my canned beans at the final stage of cooking and let it simmer a few minutes longer. I then added salt to taste. I could have adjusted the seasoning by adding some additional ground chile or cumin, but it was pretty tasty as-is, so I served it up.