Chili: One of the few dishes my dad cooked, that he learned for survival in college. Modified some by my study of "La Cocina Mexicana"
BEEF- a cheap cut, you're going to cook it "long time" The tougher the meat the thinner you slice it. Ground Beef? Maybe if you know it's really good or it's
"ON SPECIAL $" * If you have the time: start with a beef soup bone and a bay leaf or three and cook up the broth. Onions: mo'strong mo'betta. In half, then thin slices, then across: you want to AVOID big round flats with tough skin left on, or root cluster clumps. The onion is for flavor, not for extra chewing or choking, right? Garlic: trim the root end of each clove, den mosh dem! Wham! with the flat of a cleaver, discard peels, then chop random quick'n'dirty not TOO uniform and fine. Tomatoes: not bloated "Tomate Bistec" but any medium-size snappy-flavored cooking type, slice so you have bits no bigger than pinky tip. Peppers: Sweet, OK , or Mexican salsa types, but not "Tomate Bistec" unless that's all that's in the garden, avoid if possible types bred to use as tennis balls, or survive long shipping, But if what's in the garden is abundant and ripe, go for it, but discard any super tough skin. Texture should be primarily cooked beef, soft beans and small onion slices. There's a zillion different peppers, try them all. Go for ground hot peppers in quantity only if you know the stuff is fresh. If you have picante fiends in the crowd, buy some dry Chiltepine chiles at the Latin Market, let-em crumble the chiles on between their fingers. If you try that, remember to wash your fingers well before getting the gunk out the corner of your eye, or getting amorous with yr. honey, (or yourself for that matter.) Go a bit easy on the Comino/cumin, Chile is Gringo Cuisine! (or Tex-Mex mebbe) Don't Worry: any veggy from the Americas can be added, I've never made chili the same way twice. Back in the day I would have at least half as many Champaign bottles of cold homebrew beer as guests, pues, ya no tomo yo. I've also often made good 'ol American corn bread, (and not seldom it was with blue corn I grew, and sometimes with butter I churned.) On Holidays with the right crowd and no one driving home, the butter might be green, and not just from parsley. Don't worry about making too big a potfull of chile either: it freezes well and you can even make extra and freeze containers for emergency meals, but to defrost in a hurry you boil a bit of water in the pan first or "nuke it" if you do that. *you can also sub for beef any varmint you've deleted from tearing up the garden: (Nutria, Woodchuck, Rabbit, etc.) or use whatever venison/elk your hunter friend laid on you, or? How many things have I missed???
