Chili con carne

Texas-style chili with beans, without unorthodox additions. Like all family chili recipes, this is the One True Chili and all others are laughably inferior -- but in all seriousness, people do seem to like this chili an awful lot. This started out as my (Sarah's) mother's chili recipe; her chili is a lot like Lady Bird Johnson's "Pedernales River Chili", but with the meat edited out to suit her vegetarian lifestyle. This version puts the meat back in and ups the spices (though not the heat) quite a bit.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef (e.g. ground chuck roast)
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 2 poblano chiles, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper powder
• 1 29-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 29-oz can black beans (or 2 15-oz cans)
• 1 29-oz can pinto beans (or 2 15-oz cans)
• 3 bay leaves

Pointless self-indulgent dissertation on the meaning of words

Chili is a sensitive subject. When making vegan chili, I can usually hand-wave my way around the religious discussions because I've already firmly established myself as a heretic, but when making proper meat-containing chili, I am forced to choose a side. Is chili a soup, a stew, or a sauce? I say "none of the above" -- chili as a main dish is a curry of beans, peppers, tomatoes, alliums and spices. You don't improve chili by taking out the beans, or by adding corn, zucchini or other random dissonant ingredients. If you're still with me, this recipe is for you.

Concerning Chili; or, 50 pages of irrelevant front matter which no-one requested

(Yeah, that was a Tolkien joke in a chili recipe. Sue me.)

If you can't find canned diced tomatoes, you can substitute more canned crushed tomatoes, or canned whole tomatoes that you've pressed through your fingers to crush. If you don't have 80/20 ground beef, plan to increase the fat content with vegetable oil or partially drain the meat accordingly -- if using 73% lean beef, bail out 2-3 tbsp of fat after cooking the meat; if using 90% lean beef, add 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil before adding the meat to the pot.

If you're squeamish about spicy food, you can omit the cayenne pepper. My family adds additional hot sauce to this recipe, but tolerance for spicy food is a strongly regional thing. I mean, you should enjoy what you're eating.

Chili powder is also strongly variable. In this recipe, I assume you're using a chili powder made mostly of powdered ancho chiles (ripened and dried poblanos), with small amounts of oregano and garlic added. This is the traditional chili powder sold in most American grocery stores, and if you buy the cheapest chili powder available it's generally safe to assume this is what you're getting. You can totally substitute this with dried anchos pulverized in a spice grinder, with good results. If your chili powder is significantly different than grocery store chili powder, or than something like Penzey's "Medium Hot" chili powder, you may want to adjust the cayenne pepper in this recipe.

Actual Directions, you know, the Useful Kind

In a small bowl, mix the red pepper flakes, chili powder, cumin, coriander, onion powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper.

Heat a large pot or dutch oven, at least 8 quarts, over medium-high heat until warm. Add the ground beef, season with 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1/2 tsp salt, and begin to brown and separate it. Once the meat is brown on all sides and starting to cook through, add the onion, poblano and red bell pepper. Don't drain the fat from the meat unless you're using beef with more than 20% fat. If this troubles you, you can curse my name while not draining the fat, but seriously, don't do it. Saute this mixture until the onion begins to turn translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute until the raw garlic smell is gone, about 2-3 minutes more.

Add the contents of the spice mix and stir for 1-2 minutes more, until the cumin begins to smell toasted and the fat has been emulsified by the spices.

Pour in tomatoes and beans, including the canning liquid. Add the bay leaves. Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very low simmer.

Let simmer, covered, for as long as you like. One hour is a good minimum; after about 8 hours, the chili should be removed from the stove and refrigerated or the beans will begin to break apart. Salt the pot to taste before serving -- you will probably want about 1/2 tsp more than I've called for here.