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Passport & Plate - 2 Day Chili

USA | Thursday, March 13, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
2 pounds pinto beans soaked over night
2 pounds lean mince beef
One and a half quarts Moms Mexican stewed tomatoes see recipe below
1 can of tomato sauce 16 oz...or more depending on consistency
3 or 4 cloves fresh garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
8 glugs of lea and perrins about 1/4 cup
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili powder
1 or 2 jalapeno size depending. For hotter Chili add the seeds
1 large yellow onion chunked
4 shakes Italian seasoning
For hotter chili use 1 or 2 habanearos
1 and a half quarts water.

Mexican Hot Tomatoes Recipe

20 med tomatoes blanched with skin removed, chunked up...whatever is ripest in Moms garden
5 stocks center cut celery chopped
8 cloves garlic
2 small green peppers
5 jalapenos depending on heat.
Salt and pepper
1 large onion yellow chunked
Put in large pot bring to boil turn down and let stew until they smell good. You do not want them completely broken down.

 

How to prepare this recipe
This recipe takes two days to make...start by putting two pounds of pinto beans in cold water to soak overnight.

While beans are soaking make Mexican hot tomatoes, or pull them out of the Freezer if you are lucky enough to have them there.

To make Mexican hot tomatoes blanch 20 or so tomatoes, varying kinds are fine, but a few romas thrown in are good...blanch tomatoes for 4 minutes then put in cool water. peel tomatoes and chunk. Put into large pot, add 5 stocks center cut celery chopped fine, 6 to 8 cloves of garlic smashed, 2 small green peppers from garden chopped into small chunks. 5 jalapenos from the garden chopped, seeds and all thrown in, 1 large yellow onion chunked. Add all the ingredients to the pot and cook until nearly broken down. after cooling you can freeze these and use in the winter.

Day 2

Fry minced beef and drain
Drain and rinse pinto beans
add all ingredients to large crock pot or in our house the Chili pot.

If you are cooking this in a crock pot cook on high for 12 hours then low for 6 hours, stirring occasionally and watching liquid level...Tasting periodically to see if you need to add more salt or more hot peppers for taste. It is ready to serve when the beans are soft, but not completely broken down.

To cook on stove top being to boil then reduce heat cooking on med low heat stirring every half hour or so. Tasting periodically to see if you need more salt or hot peppers and watching liquid levels.

This recipe works better in a crock pot.

 

The story behind this recipe
I grew up a little bit all over the world, but this recipe is one that travels with me. It was my Great grandmothers chili recipe that she used to make on the mining claim in Sawyers Bar California. She was born on the claim along with her 12 brothers and sisters...Her son, my grandfather was born there and my mother while born in the Bay area of California was raised there. They were poor and chili was an easy thing to make that went a long way. You didn't necessarily have beef in it, sometimes there was no meat, sometimes it was made with bear or moose (when we lived in Alaska) or god knows what...It was best not to ask. This recipe has been cooked over campfires, in crock pots...and for a short time my Grandmother shortened the cooking time by making it in a pressure cooker...that stopped in the early 1970's with a badly capped pressure cooker, resulting in 1 ruined kitchen and a near death experience for Peter the basset hound...after that no one in the family, to my knowledge ever used a pressure cooker again...for anything. When we lived in Callahan California, we had a log cabin on 99 acres, and we were very poor. Mom and Dad used to buy the huge cast off potatoes, the over ripe fruit from Harry and Davids and 50 Gallon trash cans full of pinto beans for the winter...We ate a lot of Chili...Life has changed, I live in Ireland and have for the last 20 years...last year I was home for 5 weeks and my Mom and I and my brother went a lot of places, had wonderful meals...when i came back from my holiday a friends, who know I love to cook etc. asked what the best meal I had was...I thought about it...and without a doubt I said my moms chili...I go home each summer to help her with the canning and garden etc...and it shows in the taste of this chili...and the love it is made with..