Easy farm chile
Tonights struggle was with our american love of easy to eat foods. There are days when I don't want to cook, when it's just easier to pull a can out of the pantry and heat and eat; one of my staples is canned chile, and it's just time to break that habit.
Here's the recipe - 15 minutes to dinner
One large onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
One jalapeno pepper
One green pepper
1lb ground beef
One small can tomato paste
1 12oz can beer (I just use the cheapest beer; doesn't make much difference)
3 tablespoons chile powder
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar, but I like apple cider)
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed (plus more to taste)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (plus more to taste)
Salt to taste
2 cans Kidney beans, drained
Dice the onion, green and jalapeno peppers and saute' in oil in a 2 quart sauce pan until onions transparent, on medium heat
Add the ground beef and cook until browned
Add the tomato paste and stir in.
Add the beer, watching the consistency of the mix. You want it a little thick; keep adding until it looks like you think it should.
Now stir in the chile powder, vinegar and cumin. Taste it. You'll probably
want to add more cumin. Stir and taste, stir and taste, until you get it the way you
like it. A pinch of salt to finish it.
If you'd like a variation, you could add a couple of teaspoons of sugar and see what that tastes like.
Stir in the kidney beans, warm them, and serve.
So when I cook this, I'll cook a batch that is 8x bigger than what I've listed above -- couple of gallons of it -- and I'll pressure can it into 1 pint jars, roughly the same size as a canned chile. And like magic, I've got my easy-to-eat food.
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3 comments:
I am going to have to print this. I usually make chili in my crock pot and use beans, hamburg, tomato sauce, a packet or two of the chili seasoning, and that is it. Your looks so much better. Plus Phil does not like chili so if I made this and canned it, I could still have it when I want it. How long do you can the pints for?
Why recan caned beans?
Cook your own beans - its not hard, but cheaper and tastier.
In Texas and since moving away we make the simple meat chili with no beans etc. Then when I serve it I set up a chili bar. Fresh chopped onions, black beans, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, and grated cheese. Then everyone can layer on the fresh ingredients in just the way they like. Some may want to pass it under the mbroiler or microwave it to melt the cheese. Of course you want some buttermilk skillet cornbread to go with that.
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