Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Chili season's here!

For the past three days I've been working on a pot of my special 3-bean vegetarian chili. I was inspired by the cooler nights to make some although I normally wait another month or so to make the first batch of the year.

To begin, I saute onions, garlic, celery, and and assortment of diced peppers in olive oil.

When everything is soft, I start adding vegetable stock and water. Then in go the dried beans that I've soaked overnight. I always use black beans and dark and light colored kidney beans. And a dab of liquid smoke.

When the beans are soft, in go diced fire-roasted tomatoes. And sometimes a bit of tomato paste. Then the spices: chili powder, more garlic, cumin, cayenne, and sea salt. After another hour or so of simmering, I begin to taste to adjust the seasoning. The final touch is a bit of masa corn flour mixed with water added to the pot for thickening.

As with any chili, this gets better and better as the days go by. A huge pot rarely lasts more than 3 or 4 days though. And when we get down to the last little bit, I make burritoes :)

I can't wait to start making all of my favorite fall/winter foods: vegetable soup, chicken soup with egg noodles, apple pies, pumpkin bread, shepherd's casserole....mmmm...!

No comments:

Post a Comment