When the weather begins to turn cold again, I get a hankering for all those cold-weather dishes that I haven’t had in a while. Today, with great, wet snowflakes falling outside between freezing raindrops, is certainly crying out for chili. Fortunately for once, I was ahead of this particular weather trend.
While we were still enjoying warm sunny days during the past week, I was plotting ways to use up a whole mess of end-of-season peppers. And one of my favorite things to do with a big, unruly pile of assorted use-it-or-lose-it produce is to throw it all into my largest pot, with a bunch of spices, and let it simmer for about a half a day. (See where the cold-weather bit comes into the picture again?)
Start with a Big Mess o' Peppers
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This is East Coast Chili, or Chili with Beans (as I learned from my Other Half Who Is From Texas—there was a bit of cross-cultural confusion the first time I announced intentions to make chili and then added that I needed to pick up the beans). This has become one of his favorite dishes, however, and he is always in charge of cooking and seasoning the meat.
This is also a very vague recipe (as my own cooking recipes often are—I like to improvise and season to taste), but there’s a lot of latitude for variation.
For example, I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes left this time, so I used canned; if I have any fresh, I like to throw them in. Likewise, if you don’t have a Big Mess o’ Peppers to use up, just pick up some of whichever varieties you prefer from the store. You can use dried beans if you prefer—I use canned, because I’ve had too many instances when I’ve followed all the instructions for soaking and preparing the beans, and still ended up with a bunch of hard little lumps that refused to soften up.
I start by heating a couple tablespoons of olive oil in my largest pot, and adding the chopped garlic. While the garlic is simmering, I like to add a couple shakes of hot pepper flakes or one whole dried arbol chili, and just a pinch of the spices—cumin, chili powder and a little freshly ground black pepper.
When the garlic is golden-browned, add the tomatoes (make sure these are chopped and ready to go if you’re using fresh). I like some chunks, so I used one can of diced and one can of crushed tomatoes. After the tomatoes, I add the beans. Now, with the pot at a simmer (keep an eye on it that it doesn’t stick), you can turn your attention to chopping and adding all those peppers.
Chop, chop!
I chop the peppers in batches and add them to the pot to start simmering. I like to vary the size of the pieces—not only is it pretty, but the texture is pleasing—with a vague rule of thumb that the hotter the pepper, the finer I chop it.
For a vegetarian chili, you can stop at this point and it will be delicious. For carnivores, the next step is to brown the meat. I figure on adding the meat to the chili about an hour before I want it to be ready, to allow all the flavors to mingle. Drain the meat thoroughly before adding (I use a slotted spoon to scoop the meat into the pot). Simmer for another hour or so, and enjoy!
Harvest Chili
olive oil (enough to coat bottom of a large pan)
6 cloves garlic, chopped
dash of red pepper flakes or 1 dried arbol chili
2 24 oz. cans tomatoes (I use one diced and one crushed) or several cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 16 oz. can pinto beans
1 16 oz. can red kidney beans
1 24 oz. can black beans
peppers (I used about 8-10 poblano, 3 anaheim and a couple cherry this time; in the winter, I use around 6-8 jalapeños, several anaheim or poblano, depending on store availability, and supplement, if needed, by adding a dried arbol)
1 lime (juice and zest)
chili powder (about 1 tbsp.)
cumin (about 1 tsp.)
freshly ground black pepper
2 lb. ground chuck or chopped stew beef
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. each ground and whole cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt (or 1/2 tsp. per pound of meat)
Brown garlic in olive oil, adding pepper flakes or dried chili and a pinch of spices to the oil as the garlic is simmering. Add tomatoes when the garlic starts to brown, then add beans and bring to a simmer. Add chili powder and cumin to taste. Continue to simmer for at least several hours, up to all day. Chop and add the peppers while the chili is simmering. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
About an hour before serving, brown the meat with the 4 cloves chopped garlic and remaining seasonings, drain thoroughly and add to the pot. Simmer for an additional hour or so. If the chili isn’t spicy enough, add a dried arbol pepper to simmer the last hour.
Note: If you want to serve the chili in a pumpkin bowl as shown in the top picture, scoop the seeds from a mini-pumpkin (jack-be-little), add a teaspoon of butter and loosely replace the lid; microwave for about 4 minutes until soft, checking every 2 minutes. When the pumpkin is tender, fill with hot chili and serve. These are as delicious as they are photogenic.
A Month of Sundries 
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