Christopher's First (and Second) Chili

As I mentioned last week, some blog posts take longer than others to complete. This one was actually started about two or three weeks ago, depending on how you count the days. There were two different batches of chili involved from start to finish. And at least 4 recipes, when you really come right down to it.

You don't have to look to closely at this, because you'll see the same photo again at the end...

So, without further ado, here's the intro video, from October 14th:

The recipe that we were working off of for the first batch of chili - the one that went to work with Christopher - looked something like this:

Definitely more than the 4 ingredients of my mom's chili, but - believe it or not - still fewer than the other recipe we'd found. 

Basically, we started with the solid ingredients that you'd expect:

The thing in the lower right is a poblano pepper that I roasted over one of the burners of our gas stove, and then peeled. 

And a bunch of spices and stuff:

This was actually the set-up for batch two. The ingredient list from batch one was being used for reference and modification.

We followed the random recipe from the Internet as our starting point, going by what we figured just made sense. Remember: These two batches were the first times Christopher had made chili, and it was a much more complex version than I'd ever made, so there was a certain amount of guesswork involved.

We started with a bunch of chopping. Onion, poblano, jalapeño, and ancho. (Did you know that ancho chiles are simply dried poblanos?)

The first time through this recipe, we used two large onions, but the result was a little sweeter than we'd have liked, so we went with just one onion this time.

The next step in cutting was the chuck roast - about 1.25 pounds' worth - that went into about 1.5-inch cubes.

See the new recipe being written as we went along?

As a nod to both my mom's recipe and the recipe we were working off of, we had ground beef - and bacon - to add, as well.

I think this photo looks upside down.

First into the pot (with a little oil) were all of the vegetables.

Honestly, at this point, you could have about given up and walked away. The house already smelled amazing.

Meanwhile we fried up the ground beef and bacon in a separate pan (in part to keep from getting all the extra fat in the chili). 

Who else just wants to dive into that with a fork? 

A quart of beef stock goes in with the veg, and it all simmers so that the flavor really blends.  

For once - an action shot that I didn't have to juggle the camera for !

In this, the second batch, we strained out most of the vegetables from the stock once they'd cooked down.

This is kind of a personal choice moment. I really like more stuff in my chili. So I would have left it all in - and I may not have been overly careful in straining...

Once the broth was out of the pan, we browned the cubed roast on all sides, then added the ground beef and bacon in.

I suspect that this is the photo where we completely lose the interest of any vegetarian or vegan who might have made it this far. 

Next stop: two 28oz cans of tomatoes. These could be whole (though you'd want to break them up a bit while stirring) or diced. We chose diced. 

That's not my hand! 

I have to admit that it looked a little sad with the tomatoes, at first.

But then the beef stock went back in along with some garlic...

...followed by a bunch of spices... (This is the point in the recipe where my mom would say it's time to "tart it up" - spices and spice levels are up to the person putting them in.)

Based on our notes, I believe this photo has 6 tbsp of Chili powder, 1/2 tsp each of Coriander, Cumin, and Cloves, and 1 tbsp of Cinnamon. 

...and pepper...

Let's just say "a whole bunch" of both black and white pepper.

...and even a bay leaf.

That's 1 Bay leaf, on top of 2 tbsp of Paprika, 1 tbsp of Cayenne, 1 tsp of Thyme, and 2 tbsp of Brown Sugar.

Honestly, at this point, once it warms through you'd be done. 

But if you'd prefer it to be thicker and less soup-y, you can leave it on the stove to simmer and eventually the liquid level will slowly go down.

And, slightly more eventually, you can ladle yourself a bowl of chili and put a dollop of sour cream on top.

I feel kind of bad that I didn't get any better final pictures of this. It was a much prettier bowl of chili than the photo belies. 

So, how was it? Well, the first batch - the one that was "a little sweet" was fine, but definitely needed some tweaking. The second batch - the one in the photos, above - was certainly not overly sweet...

As I mention in the second video, I know that this isn't exactly a "recipe" post - it's more of an idea post. But if you start with the basics - meat, tomatoes, and spices - you're on your way to making your house smell amazing - as well as making yourself a really satisfying dinner.

Happy fall!

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So, is chili a cozy food for you? If not, what is? Minnesota winters get pretty long, so I'd love to know what's on your list!