One of the things I love so much about Michigan is the fact that we get to experience all four seasons. @ericvancewalton recently shared an article with me that said:
I have a theory: I think that when someone is talking about living somewhere warm— Phoenix or Los Angeles or something—and says “but I would miss the seasons,” what they’re actually saying is that they would miss the fall.
While I do love the fall, I actually appreciate all of the seasons as well. About the time you are done and over the cold weather, spring greets you with with renewal and growth. Likewise, when the hot weather really starts to become oppressive, that is when fall swings around brining a crisp chill to the air.
It's this time of year that I like to throw together a great big pot of chili. I freeze it and then I enjoy it through the long cold winter.
I'd love to tell you that I have a recipe and you can follow it to make your very own pot of chili, but that would be a lie. The fact is, I just kind of throw stuff together and hope it turns out well in the end.
In the case of this chili, I started off with some ground beef that you see above. I was browning it in a pan out in the garage so it wouldn't smell up the house. My wife is not a fan of beef, greasy fried beef even less so. The bright side of that is the fact that I get to enjoy all the chili myself!
This beef came from my brother in law who purchased half a cow earlier in the year. It is a little fattier than most ground beef that I would normally purchase, but you can't really argue with free, plus the extra fat just gives it more flavor.
No matter how fresh meat is that you purchase in a grocery store, there is nothing better than meat that came right from the packing company to your freezer. It seriously just tastes better.
I added some of this Kinder's rub while I was cooking it up to start the layers of flavor that I was going for in my chili. We picked this rub and a couple other flavors up at our local Sam's Club or Costco a while ago. I enjoy trying them out on different things.
In addition to that, I started to gather some of the accompaniments I planned on adding to my chili. For a good base you need some tomatoes of course (unless it is white chicken chili or something like that). I used to use diced tomatoes in the past, but this time I wanted to try crushed tomatoes. I don't like big chunks of tomatoes in stuff unless it is a BLT or something like that.
I also added some tomato paste to layer more of that tomato flavor. In addition to that I added chili beans in a mild chili sauce, a little bit of Oktoberfest beer, and finally some premade baked beans.
My wife questioned me about the Bush's Baked Beans and I explained to her that I wanted to add a little sweetness to the chili to cut the heat I might add and to also cut the flavor of the beer.
Many recipes call for you to add sugar to counterbalance the acidity, I used the beans instead and added no sugar.
I then added a large onion and two jalapeno peppers (seeded and veined).
Some green pepper.
And finally some garlic.
Then, in true midwestern fashion, it all goes into the crock-pot and slow cooks for a good six to eight hours.
I set it up on a table outside (once again so it wouldn't stink up the house), and let it go for about six hours to ensure the metallic taste that canned tomatoes can have would go away. I also wanted to ensure the beer had plenty of time to cook down. I probably would have let it go another two hours, but it was starting to get dark and I needed to bring the crock-pot in and get it cleaned.
Here you can see a very sloppy picture of the somewhat finished product. I am pretty sure that I took this picture about halfway through. The end result was cooked down a bit more and had a bit darker hue.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also added some garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and other spices to the mix before I stared cooking it. That is kind of important and I apologize for neglecting to mention that earlier.
Right now all of the chili is frozen in individual containers in our freezer, but I am already itching for the day I can bust one out and enjoy it for a weekend lunch or dinner.
Are you a chili fan? What is your favorite recipe? Secret ingredient?
I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!
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All pictures taken by myself or @mrsbozz