Chili

This is an elaborate combination of Brandon's mom's chili, several online recipes, and our own magic touches. This chili is never quite the same and it does not require actual measurements or even specific ingredients. Usually makes 8-10 large servings....we'll be eating this all week. When preparing your ingredients, keep in mind the size of your crockpot.


Please note - If you plan to make dried beans, you want to soak your beans the night before (at least 8 hours). If you plan on pressure cooking the beans, soak beans with similar cooking times in the same jar.
Click here to view directions on preparing dried beans.

Ingredients

• BEANS! - 4-6 cups of dried beans (probably about 8-12 cups of cooked/canned beans). We use dried beans, usually a combination of Pinto, Black, Kidney, Red, Great Northern, and Navy. Brandon says the kidney and red beans are essential for chili... but I say you can still make the chili without them. You can substitute canned beans for dry beans if you're lazy.

• Onion - This time we did 1 whole medium sized red onion, you can use any shape, size, color, or amount you want. 
• Leek - We happened to have a leek today, so we threw the whole thing in.
• Poblano Red Peppers - We had 3 of these delivered in our produce this week so we used all three, normally we would usually use 2 cans of diced green chilies and sometimes bell peppers (all colors) if we have them on hand. 

• Bean Juice - 2 Cups - Save when cooking dried beans or from the cans... if you forget just use some water or more beer.

Adding bean "juices" to second container to save for later

• Tomato Sauce - 1 Can 
• Petite Diced Tomatoes - 1 Can with some of the juice drained
• Tomato Paste - 1 Can
• 1 lb Ground Turkey or Beef - We typically use the the ground turkey breast, if the ground turkey is not white meat it tends to taste gamey and takes away from the chili. (That's my opinion)
• 2-4 Cloves of Garlic
• Hot Sauce - We use Tapatio or Valentina or both depending on what we have. A couple good shakes of each bottle.
• 6 oz of Beer - We usually use PABST, but you can use whatever you want.

Extra Ingredients - These are for after the chili is finished and are not required.

• Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Saltine or Oyster Crackers

Seasonings and Spices - More of any can be added to desired taste after the chili has been cooking for a couple of hours.

• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Chili Powder - approx. 2 teaspoons
• Cayenne Pepper - 2 pinches
• Tumeric - Dash
• Paprika - Dash
• Cumin - Dash
• Basil - Pinch
• Oregano - Pinch
• Sage - Pinch
• Thyme - Pinch

Equipment

• Crockpot If you do not have crockpot you need one, go buy one now. You could slow cook on the stove in a big pot all day, but that's just silly.
• Pressure Cooker - You need this to cook your dried beans. If you use canned beans no pressure cooker needed. Or you can cook your dried beans the slow way on the stove in a pan, it will take at least an hour, if not more. The pressure cooker takes about 10-20 minutes (including heat up, cooking, and cooling times).
• Strainer
• Frying pan

Directions

If cooking dried beans, start pressure cooking similar timed beans according to pressure cooker directions. While beans are cooking start other prep. You may need to cook beans in batches depending on how much beans you use and how big your pressure cooker is. Do not over fill your pressure cooker.

Chop onion, peppers, leeks, and any other veggies you plan to add. Chop to your own desired size.

Chop, mince, dice, or crush garlic as desired and add to crockpot. We always keep a jar of minced garlic on hand; if you have fresh garlic, even better!

Cook ground meat in medium frying pan over medium heat until fully cooked. You may saute onion and peppers separately if desired, but they will cook just fine in the crockpot.

Drain cooked beans in strainer and save 1-2 cups of bean juice. A handy suggestion for saving bean juice is to place your strainer in a larger bowl or container. This way you save all the juices and can just scoop some out with a measuring cup.

See strainer inside bowl on to the right of Brandon

Add drained beans (as they finish cooking) and veggies to crockpot along with 1-2 cups of bean juices. You can continue to add ingredients as the subsequent batches of beans finish cooking. Honestly, it really doesn't matter what order you add ingredients, we like to have a base of beans on the bottom of the crockpot before adding the veggies to make it easier for mixing.

Add cooked meat.

Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes.

Add seasonings.

Add Beer and hot sauce.

Mix it all together, make sure your crockpot is plugged in and turned on. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Stir occasionally, if chili starts burning to side or bottom of the crockpot, turn it down.

All the ingredients you added were pre-cooked so you can start tasting your chili and adjusting the seasonings as soon as it's hot.

As a side note, we are not super fond of crazy spicy food, so our version of chili tends to be on the mild side. You are welcome to add jalapenos, spicy peppers, more chili powder and cayenne, and/or hot sauce to kick it up to your spicy standards. *BAM*

Once the chili is done (approximately 4 hours after cooking on high, 6 to 8 on low) scoop it into a bowl and add shredded cheese, crackers, and sour cream as desired.