Jun 26 2011
Making Chili, Part II With A Warning
Do not attempt to make chili while distracted.
Today’s chili was never going to be the Midnight chili of 2009. First of all, I didn’t have any ground bison on hand, nor did I have fresh peppers or tomatoes.
I think I’ll name tonight’s chili Quick and Dirty Accidentally Edible chili. I planned to use 5-6 tablespoons chili powder, ground beef, and canned tomatoes. What I didn’t plan was accidentally picking up the jar of cayenne pepper instead of chili powder.
Have I mentioned that I just eyeball what 5 to 6 tablespoons looks like instead of actually measuring?
Yeah, I dumped that much cayenne pepper into the pot thinking it was chili powder. Fortunately, the ground beef I was using had been browned then frozen, so scraping off most of the cayenne pepper wasn’t too difficult.
Still, this pot of chili is going to be a bit hotter than I normally make. Perhaps “normally” is the wrong word to use when describing how I make chili. It’s different every time.
Tonight’s chili is quite good. In an effort to tone down the hotness, I crunched the last quarter bag of tortilla chips and added them as a thickening agent instead of flour, corn meal, or masa harina. I have been known to put a can of corn in the blender and add it to chili.
Probably the only thing I’m consistent with in making chili is that it DOES NOT include beans. I have nothing against beans, but I do not like them in chili or cooked with chili seasonings.
I also have nothing against following a recipe. It’s just not something I do when making chili. Chili is an adventure, not a routine!
