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Artful shopper: October is chili month
"Chili is not so much food as a state of mind. Addictions to it are formed early in life and the victims never recover. On blue days in October I get this passionate yearning for a bowl of chili, and I nearly lose my mind."
-- Margaret Cousins
I wonder if the folks who do all those PR alerts were familiar with Margaret Cousins' musings when they named October "National Chili Month?" Or maybe it's just that October is the moment when there is enough of a chill in the air that it brings to mind hearty flavorful dishes like chili.
Whatever the reason, it's finally cooled off enough that I'm feeling Cousins' passionate yearning. A yearning that can only be satisfied at home. No restaurant can turn out chili that's as good as the version that comes out of your kitchen.
If there are any secrets to making chili it's to use quality ingredients and to make it the day before you plan to serve it so the flavors can meld and deepen. Also make sure your chili powder and other spices are fresh (buy them bulk at one of the coops so you can update your supply often).
Years ago I was on a panel of judges for a chili contest. After the contest, three of us asked one of the participants for her recipe. She wasn't the winner of the contest (her chili didn't quite meet the criteria); nevertheless, it was the one whose flavor appealed to us the most.
It's the chili that I've made for more than 20 years and passed on the recipe to my sisters and friends -- all of whom have gone on to make it a staple in their cooking repertoire. But the most surprising aspect of this chili recipe is that it's vegetarian. It's also totally satisfying without the meat. (And since this is also "Vegetarian Awareness Month" it's a doubly good recipe to try.)
VEGETARIAN CHILI
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
2 medium yellow onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 large sweet peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (use a color other than red so they show up in the tomato sauce)
1 35 oz. can plum tomatoes
1 1/2-2 pounds fresh tomatoes, cut into bite-size chunks
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon each: dried oregano, basil and ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (lightly ground in a mortar and pestle)
1/2 cup each: fresh parsley and dill
1 15 oz. can each: dark red kidney beans and garbanzo beans
Heat the oil in heavy pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, zukes and peppers and saute about 10 minutes. Add undrained canned tomatoes, spices, fresh herbs, salt/pepper. Cook uncovered about 30 minutes over low heat. Stir periodically so it doesn't scorch. Add beans and cook about 15 more minutes.
Serve with condiments of your choice. Serves 8-10.
As much as I love this vegetarian chili, I have to admit that I've been making a version that uses chicken in recent years. It's my variation on a recipe for "Harpoon Chili" that appeared in a great little 1990 book, "Recipes from the Night Kitchen: A Practical Guide to Spectacular Soups, Stews, and Chilies" by Sally Nirenberg.
Harpoon, the local ale that Nirenberg uses in her chili, gave the recipe its name. I substituted Burning River ale from Great Lakes Brewing Co., out of Cleveland, and named my version accordingly. (For those who don't drink alcohol, I've also substituted vegetable broth with no noticeable difference).
BURNING RIVER CHILI
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions: 1 red and 1 Vidalia, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons dried chili flakes
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 small zucchini, diced
2 green peppers, seeded and sliced into strips
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
2 15 oz. cans red kidney beans, drained
2 20-oz. cans whole tomates, chopped
1 bottle Burning River ale
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, poached and cut into bite-size pieces
Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add garlic, onion, spices and cook (covered) about 10 minutes. Add beans, zukes, peppers, tomatoes, ale and cook for about 30 minutes. Add chicken and cook until heated through.
Garnish with a few crumbles of goat cheese and some chopped cilantro.
I've added and subtracted all kinds of ingredients over the years. The marginal notes alongside the Burning River recipe mention 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, the same amount of basil, 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds and 1/2 cup of roasted red peppers as well as 2 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa and 1/2 cup plain pumpkin puree.
That's what's so great about chili: You can make the recipe your own with your special preferences.
A bowl of white
When I want to serve chili with a more sophisticated emphasis, I make white chili: no chili powder, no tomatoes, no red beans.
You keep the basic ingredients -- garlic, onion, cumin, oregano -- and then add beer for the liquid along with navy beans and/or garbanzo beans as well as chicken. To get that chili zing, use fresh Serrano or jalapeno peppers that you've seeded (wear rubber gloves) and chopped, adding them according to your personal heat meter.
Garnish with white cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped cashews and cilantro. (I often put the chopped cilantro on the table to pass because, though I adore it, I have a number of friends who actively dislike it and you don't want to ruin the dish for them.)
Add a green salad, one of the specialty breads from a local bakery and you're set for a memorable meal.
If you prefer cornbread with your chili, there's a lovely recipe for "Sage and Honey Skillet Cornbread" in the November issue of Bon Appetit (the one with all the Thanksgiving ideas). The cornbread is cooked in a cast iron skillet and when you flip it out to serve, the whole sage leaves that were on the bottom of the pan are on top of the cornbread, creating an elegant presentation for what is usually thought of as a very basic bread.
