S and I got back from our road trip in the States last Monday. Somewhere in Indiana S ordered chili with her pulled chicken sandwich, and only then did I notice that I had completely forgotten chili even existed. When I lived in Boston you could get it in practically any diner, but back home in Finland it had slipped my mind altogether. Yesterday I wanted something hearty and warming to be waiting for us when we came back from our walk along the waterfront. I basically had three options in mind, a potato, pasta or bean based casserole.
When we crossed the border from Georgia into South Carolina on our way from Savannah to Charleston, we passed a small roadside shack selling Carolina Cider Company's products. One of the food souvenirs I bought there was a jar of Sweet Fire Bread & Butter Pickles And Peppers, sweet and sour cucumber slices with jalapeños among them. My guess is that they are made for the company somewhere in Texas and simply given another label, but whoever makes them, they are to die for. From the second I opened the jar I've had a huge craving for anything jalapeño.
Fresh jalapeños are hard to come by in Finland. The shops sell Dutch or Israeli "green chillies", and the package never says what kind they are. For the chili I used ready-sliced jalapeños, two hundred grams of them. I read somewhere that the pepper is named after Xalapa, the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, where it has traditionally been grown.
After the jar, going for beans was a no-brainer. The tricky part was finding a recipe, as there are literally thousands of them on the net. Browsing them, I learned that chili has been the official state dish of Texas since 1977, and that many Texans apparently wouldn't let a bean anywhere near theirs. Mine has four cans of them. The recipe below is based on one I found on Recipezaar, a site where home cooks post their own recipes, modified to my taste. I actually misread the instructions and used coconut instead of cocoa, but I found this chili lovely all the same, and S can't keep her hands off the leftovers, so I guess I did pretty well.
The cooking itself is easy. I first fried the onions, garlic and beef in a pan and stirred in the Maizena. The Maizena thickens the chili, and stirring it into the meat first keeps it from going lumpy in the pot. Meanwhile the beans, crushed tomatoes, jalapeños and spices were heating up in the pot. A four litre pot is not a bit too big when the beans alone take four cans. Once the meat was in, the chili simmered on low heat while we were out. If it doesn't taste hot enough, you can still add some chili or cayenne powder.
Recipe card
Antti's Mean Jalapeño Chili
- Serves 6-8
- Simmering 1-2 hours
- Pot 4 litres (1 gal)
You will need
| 350 ml (1 1/2 cups) | diluted veal fond |
| 1 can | crushed tomatoes |
| 200 g (1/2 lb) | sliced jalapeños |
| 2 tsp | coconut powder |
| 2 tsp | crushed cumin seeds |
| 1 1/2 tsp | dried oregano |
| 1 tsp | crushed fennel seeds |
| 1 tsp | ground black pepper |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 2 tbsp | granulated sugar |
| 4 cans | kidney beans in chili tomato sauce |
| 1 | whole single-clove garlic, sliced |
| 2-3 | onions |
| 500 g (1 lb) | ground beef |
| 100 ml (6 tbsp) | Maizena |
Method
- Chop the onions and garlic, and fry them together with the ground beef until golden brown. Stir in the Maizena and mix well.
- Meanwhile combine all the other ingredients in a 4 litre (1 gal) pot. Heat until the chili starts to boil, add the meat and let it simmer on low heat for 1-2 hours.
- If the chili is not hot enough, add some chili or cayenne powder.
- Serve as is with grated cheese or with tortillas, or sneak it cold straight from the fridge.
2 comments
Cracking looking recipe. I love Mexican food! Great photograph, too.
Scott, welcome to Doughboy! Loved the pics at your blog, too!