Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Best Chili We Ever Made


Our Chili recipe... it is soooo good... Our favourite!... We love it!... here goes:

2 lg. cans kidney beans (rinsed well)
1 lb. ground beef
2 - 4 med. onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
many cloves of garlic, minced
1 green pepper,chopped
2 lg. cans of plum tomatoes
4-5 Tbsp. of chili powder
2 tsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. ground cumin (the secret ingredient!)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. chili pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. cinnamon



After browning the beef, add the next 4 ingredients and cook for 10-15 minutes... stir in the tomatoes... break up with a fork... add all the spices... cook for about 5 minutes... add the kidney beans... simmer for about an hour...

It smells so good..

My assistant and son, Max... took every opportunity to goof off in the spattered mirror... he doesn't know I got a shot of him acting silly... he thought he made his silly faces faster than I could catch him.... ha ha ... gotcha! .... it was too fun to leave out of the recipe...


Most of the time, he just added ingredients and stirred... all sensible like...



Oh... can't forget the homemade oatmeal raisin brown bread.... something to soak up those hot spices and sink our teeth into... perfect compliment...



Add lots of grated cheese... we usually use 3 different kinds... probably... 'cause we just can't make up our minds... and by this time we are all really hungry... our appetites stimulated by the that wonderful aroma...



....Add a glass of wine and we are all set...


......... Salute!!!!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wine and raisin bread with chili? :-)) Gotta try that sometime!

What a cool idea to put a mirror in front of the stove! Dontcha hafta to clean it all the time?

I do my own version of the chili in Moosewood cookbook, so there's some zucchini and bell peppers and CUMIN, but not the cocoa. Good idea! And I can't do ground beef here so I've got into the habit of doing good cuts of beef, cut up small, if I can get it.

Iris loves chili! I think it may be her favorite.

And Max's hair got looong!

Sharon said...

Looks delicious.....we've got the wine and I already know that the bread is fantastic......sounds like a great dinner to me!

I can't wait to show Zoe Max's picture. I swear I can't point a camera in her direction without getting a silly face like that .....or worse!:)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Mama, the mirror.... hummm.... yes it really Should be Cleaned all the time... but...
We put it there 'cause we wanted to be able to still see the crazy view when we were turned away from it...Silly huh?
...Good idea...Chunks of beef would be even better... next time!

max could probably use a trim!

-----------------

Hey Sharon, can't wait to see some of those silly pics of Zoe!

But now I live in fear of what Max will do to get back at me for showing his... He threatened with a wry look and said "Just you wait"... oh no... what have I done!! I'm going to have to hide the camera... no telling what lunatic pictures could show up on his sight...

Sharon said...

Oh..... You're going to get no sympathy from me. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. I'm smiling just thinking about it!!!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Noooooo!!! hope he doesn't read my comments...

Ruth said...

Yes yes yes! Cumin is the BESTest! And cocoa, yes! We use that in "Cincinnati Chili" which is fantastic too.

Max reminds me so much of my friend Inge's son, Piet. But he cut off all those gorgeous curls and went SHORT!

This all sounds very lovely, and I love chili (we make it with ground turkey, or venison if we have it, which is nice too), but it makes me think you are still stuck in winter up there! I guess there is no absolute season for chili, but you will come out of winter won't you? I mean you planted snow peas! OH DEAR! SNOW peas, da da da duuuuuh, da da da duuuuuuuh.

Ruth said...

That latter was to the tune of Beethoven's 5th if you didn't catch that.

Ruth said...

Sorry! I meant first of all to say how LOVELY all the photos are. I love that you put the spices in a pretty dish. So photogenic.

Anet said...

Looks good... I haven't tried chili with cumin or cinnamon, next time I'll give it a shot. I love cumin, just used it yesterday in my guacamole. Your chili and bread look awesome and oh that Max is a cutie! Be careful Gwen, teenager- revenge can be pretty gruesome!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh Ruth you are such a tease!!

we are out of winter all right.. the daffodils have been blooming for 2 weeks and our first hummingbird was here yesterday...

and the sandy soil is so dry in my garden i had to water my little onion sets, carrots, lettuce and all... the little poppy seedlings are all doing well too!

I put 48 hills of potatoes in last week... should have had them in earlier but just got the soil prepared..

We eat Chili any time of year here... we like that it makes a big pot full so we have more time the next day to be outdoors when we aren't in the studio slaving away...

Anet...yumm...the cumin in the guacamole sounds tantalizing!! I have to try that... You are sure to know what teenagers are like... I'll take your advice/warnings!! thanks..

Lovethiscottage.blogspot.com said...

Jim says he wont believe it till he tastes it...what do we have to do to get an invite for dinner next time you make this?
kathi

Ruth said...

Well, of course that is a very good idea to make a big pot so you can stay outside. I hadn't thought of it that way. 48 hills of potatoes? I don't even know what a hill of potatoes is. You farmers have a lot to teach this small town girl. I'm sure I would embarrass Don, I'm no farmer's wife. He's the farmer, the farm hand AND the farmer's wife all in one. Wait till you see all the preserves and canning he puts up! I just sit with my eyes big, staring.

But seriously, your garden sounds phenomenal, and I'm wondering if you do this every year? have done for a while? Does it keep you very busy all summer?

Gwen Buchanan said...

Kathi, you and Jim are on the list as of now... as we eat at any hour of the evening... it may be on short notice but you'll be on it... Hopefully I'll know ahead of time.. and tell you at 5 min. ahead...!!!

Ruth... oh I am not a phenomenal gardener at all.. I just love to grow things... don't do it on such a large scale as i used to.. .. I used to have a hobby farm & grew everything, had bees for honey, beef, chickens for eggs and meat,milk goats etc. when the older kids were young... different life...
Boy you really lucked in when you found Don!!! What a guy!!!

but the lady Kathi who left a comment just before you, now she is "Gardener Extraordinare"... and she is extraordinary in almost everything she does!! She has a mini horse farm, 2 cottages, a B & B, she's a Watercolor painter, amazing cook and preserve maker, etc, etc. ... and a carpenter on top of all that !!& I have prob. left 20 things out!!

Ruth said...

Oh dear, Kathi sounds like a force of nature! I guess it's all about doing what you love, right? I mean to me it sounds overwhelming and like so much work. But I'm guessing y'all don't think of it that way, it's what you want to do. Since reading the Wabi-sabi book, I'm starting to get into more of a free-flowing groove, just DO-ing and not over-thinking it. I've always been a Starer-out-of-windows, which I suppose comes with the poetry writing.

Yes, I am soooooo lucky to have found Don, in many many ways.

Don said...

Chili is so good. I wonder what its history is? Now I'm going to have to look that up. I like the mirror too, they have such a sneaky way of reflecting things.

I am not such a catch, Ruth doesn't tell you all the things that I do/don't do that drive me nuts (and her!), so please don't think more highly of me than is necesary!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh you are humble too Don... ahhhh that's even better... She better hang onto you tight!!!

sandy said...

Wow, wonderful recipe but even more fun was seeing Max in the mirror...hahaha!!!

too funny and enjoyed the post today.

s

William Evertson said...

Look at this - we start talking about food and your blog has 17+ comments before I even open it! How fantastic is that - you've got an art and party blog - the best kind. Love Bill

Gwen Buchanan said...

Too bad you didn't live closer Bill, you could join us for sup... Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Oh, do I ever envy your ability to cook, chop wood, paint, carve wood, solder, draw... the list just goes on and on and on... you are amazing. By the way, what time is dinner?!? Sounds awesome! :D

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ahhh Kathy, but from my point of view, your ability to care for people in your daily work is so admirable ... you are doing the greater good...

Morna Crites-Moore said...

Forget the pasta - I'm wanting the chile. I think I'll have to make some myself, so thank you for the recipe!

Gwen Buchanan said...

We made some last week .. hope you like it..
Just took a loaf of my favourite bread from the oven.. I have to make a loaf a day... hungry people 'round here... it's such a good recipe...