The Great American Race

With "the Great American Game" just finished and the "the Great American Race" coming up on Sunday, it seemed like the perfect time to make a large a pot of chili and then to follow it up with a good dose of some of our new arrivals.

Part #1) Let's start with the chili.

A lot of people ask me for my chili recipe because, well, I make a good bowl of chili. The problem is, I don't really have a recipe. I also don't really do the whole measurement thing when I'm cooking, preferring instead to let my sense of smell and taste guide me. But since, it's a frequent question, here's a approximated version in a nut shell. Most people don't know the secret indgredient IMO of a good bowl of chili - vinegar. Believe me - it makes all the difference. The most common mistake people make when cooking is not using enough of the handful of things that enhance the wonderful flavors of your dishes (that is, salt, citric juice such as that of lemons and vinegars iof various types). If you don't believe me, make gazpacho some time. It's real easy. Try one bowl with no vinegar to finish it off. Try another with cheap red wine vinegar. Try a final one with good, aged red wine vinegar. I'll bet that you can tell the difference. It's the same idea here.

My easy version is as follow:
- One large chopped green onion
- Two large chopped spanish onions
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 T garlic
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. ground pork
- beef suet
- 3 large cans of diced tomatoes
- 3 small cans kidney beans



Put a large saucepan over medium heat. Put a few chunks of beef suet into the pan until it becomes liquid. Add the minced garlic, being careful not to burn. Add green pepper and cook until begins to soften. Add onion until it begins to soften. Add pork, beef and chili poweder and begin to brown. One the meat has browned the whole way through, drain tghe excess moisture and fat from the chiili. Put in your tomatoes and kidney beans and a salt and pepper to taste (this is more than you think - maybe a 1/4 cup each). Cook for as long as you can on a slow simmer, three hours or even over night if you can. Take a taste about 1/2 hour before serving and vinegar to taste. Try about a third of a cup, let it simmer for 10 minutes, and if it's still not piquant enough ad some more and repeat until you have chili with some flavor.

By the way, this makes a lot of chili, but it even goes further (and tastes better I think) if you cook up a big bowl of white rice and top the rice with the chili and then chopped red onion and sharp chedder cheese. Also, if you are interested in Texas Style Chili (chili with no beans) this recipe is complicated but the results are worth it...

Next time: finishing your pit stop with wine.