Forty degrees, dark and rainy in October means the crock pot must be used. Nothing makes a dreary day better like good food simmering all afternoon in the kitchen.
I had been craving chili, so peeked around a bit in the cupboard to see if this was a likely idea. I learned to cook from my mother, by observing what she did. And what she would do was often collect a handful of this and that from here and there, producing a wonderful meal. What appeared to be a mysterious, tiny foil wrapped something from the freezer, a handful of dried beans or noodles, a little packet of this, and few slices of that... it all turned out to be something delicious.
So today I used that method. Here is what I found:
beef stock
a can of chili beans
kidney beans
black beans
diced tomatoes
Good! This is basic chili. Now what else to make it wonderful?
A sauteed onion
1/2 clove of fresh garlic
What luck! A chili flavoring packet... but that never has quite the taste I want so:
2 tblspns tumeric
the same of garam masala
extra pepper and cinnamon
lots of paprika
Now we are getting somewhere! Its tasting like good stuff now...
I decided to run to the butcher and get some good fresh local beef. Its the best in town.
Browned that beef (no shrinkage because its so fresh and lean, and an awesome taste!)
Then I remembered that I had cooked up lentils last month and frozen them into 2 cup portions, so:
2 cups thawed, cooked lentils
and bonus freezer find: 1 cup of beautiful curly black wild rice.
And here is the kicker:
1/2 spaghetti squash that did NOT go over well, baked and pureed,
along with 1/2 a jar of roasted sweet red peppers I picked up on a whim.
Now we are talking Chili! We ate it with a layer of thinly grated sharp cheddar, then some saltines, then a little layer of baked lays, and a dollop of sour cream on top of all that.
Oh baby! Even my picky eater had two bowls full!
Can I use a few more exclamation points? !!!!
Chili success on this cold autumn day. :)
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