Chili

This is a basic recipe for chili that I tend to make a lot. I made it once for a couple of my friends in New York City and we had it with cornbread (the recipe for which will be coming) a few beers as well. I remember playing this charades/taboo-like game on the phone afterwards that required someone to guess a state capital based upon different clues. The capital was Charleston and I believe Marc was the guesser and we had to get him to say "Charleston." I remember repeatedly yelling "WEST VIRGINIA" while Eugene was yelling "SOUTH CAROLINA." I don't think that Marc got it either way, but afterwards Eugene was adamant about Charleston being the capital of South Carolina, saying something about how he had just visited Charleston recently. Look it up, Charleston is the capital of West Virginia and Columbia is the capital of South Carolina. It was only weeks later when it came up again that I was vindicated. 

The chili is really easy to make and does not really have any steps that require you to be careful (except maybe pouring the liquid aminos). I feel as though every time I make it, it comes out different. There are a lot of parts that you can substitute to reflect your own tastes so have fun!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of meat
• 2 poblano peppers
• 2 hot peppers
• 1 medium onion
• 1 whole garlic
• 1 regular-sized can of beans
• 1 regular-sized can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon of chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 0.5 teaspoon of liquid aminos
• 1 cup of water

Steps

1. First take about half of the meat and brown it on high heat in preferably a cast iron pan. Make sure you really get that browning for the flavor. After you achieve that, turn off the heat and drain some of the excess fat away.
2. As the meat is cooking, mince the garlic and dice up the onion and cook them at medium heat with oil in a very big pot until they are soft. This is the pot that you will eventually be cooking the chili for a while in, so make sure it is big enough. As they begin to soften, dice up both of the peppers and throw them in as well.
3. When the onions and peppers look like they are soft, add in the browned meat, what is left of the raw meat, the beans (preferably rinsed), the crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, chili powder, worcestershire sauce, cumin, liquid aminos, and water. Basically, put everything in the pot that you have not already done. Give it a good stir to mix everything up.
4. At this point, cover it and let the whole thing simmer over a low heat for as long as you can, coming in and giving it a good stir every 15-30 minutes. In about 2 to 3 hours, you can go ahead and eat it. Pro tip though, it will taste a lot better if you leave the mixture to sit together overnight and reheat it again the next day.

Notes

• Any kind of meat will really work - I like to use ground beef, country pork shoulder cut into small pieces, ground turkey, or a blend of those. If no meat is used, I would add another poblano pepper and another can of beans different than the first can of beans, such as pinto beans.
• For the peppers, I like to use serrano peppers. You can always adjust the amount of spiciness by substituting the serrano pepper with jalapeños or anaheim chills for less spicy or with habanero or ghost peppers for spicier chili. Also, if you can get your hands on some dried chili peppers, you can reconstitute them in hot water for 10 minutes then cut them up and add them in for a smokier flavor. Don't throw away the water that you've been reconstituting the chili peppers in either - add a dash of that directly into the chili for some more flavor.
• Sometimes I will add a cup of beer or wine or whatever I am drinking in place of the cup of water at the end. I am not really sure if does anything, but it makes it seem fancy. I suppose that adding a cup of chicken broth would make a lot of sense, but I have never tried it.
• Be careful with the liquid aminos and don't add too much, they add a sort of bbq sauce-like flavor to the chili. If you don't like that, then leave it out.
• For a good flair, you can top a bowl of it with a dab of sour cream, some cheese, and some green onions.