Storiography is the documentary work of designer Christiana Aretta.

Three weeks ago, I harvested nearly 10 pounds of green tomatoes from my Yellow Boy tomato plant before I ripped it out of the ground to make way for winter planting. I had grand plans for an entire week’s worth of green tomato recipes – green tomato ketchup, savory green tomato pie, fried green tomatoes. After finishing the green tomato ketchup, I sat down at my computer to research recipes. When I got up again, three weeks had gone by and all but 3 tiny tomatoes had ripened.

So I decided to make chili. Now, before I get started on a rant about chili and especially the horrendous state of chili in DC, let me just state that 8 years of living in Texas have quite heavily influenced what I expect chili to taste like: rich, dense, layered and spicy. In fact, the spicier, the better.

Obligatory Chili Rant: Apologies to the President but what they serve at Ben’s Chili Bowl is not chili. It’s so far from what chili should be that, if chili got together and had a family reunion, BCB chili would not be allowed in the family picture.

The inspiration for this chili came from this recipe I found on Epicurious – I modified it quite a bit, upping the amount of seasoning, reducing the amount of meat, changing the type of beans and adding mushrooms and soy sauce. (For slightly more hoity-toity variation, you could also use red wine in place of soy sauce or, if you’re feeling particularly boozy, you can omit both the soy sauce and the broth and just use beer.) And, of course, substituting fresh yellow tomatoes for boring ol’ canned red ones.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 3 large onions chopped
• 2-3 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
• 1 head of garlic (about 8 small cloves), chopped fine
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 cup chili powder
• 4 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 10-12 baseball-sized yellow tomatoes
• 1/2 pound of brown mushrooms
• 1/2 cup dried pinto beans (or 1 can prepared beans)
• 1/2 cup dried black beans (or 1 can prepared beans)
• 3 cups of beef or chicken broth
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• favorite toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, saltines, bread, tortilla chips, chopped cilantro, etc.

Preparation

1. If using dried beans, place beans in a pot and cover with double the amount of water. Bring to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Cover, turn down heat to low and simmer until beans are cooked for two hours, checking periodically to check water levels. Add water as needed. Set aside.
2. Chop onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms coarsely. Remove seeds and ribs from jalapeños and chop finely. Peel garlic and chop finely. Heat oil in a sautepan and saute onions until semi-translucent. Add garlic and jalapeños and saute for 2 minutes. Add beef and brown well, breaking up any stubborn clumps with a fork.
3. Throw in tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, spices and broth. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for around an hour, until chili starts to thicken. Ideally, let the chili set for a day before serving to let the flavors chill out and mingle.
4. Serve topped with your favorite stuff.

Postprandial Notes: I actually made both a vegetarian and a meat version of the chili for a Social Justice Camp planning meeting. This round, I merely omitted the meat but in the future, I will increase the amount of mushrooms and probably include kidney beans for greater bean variety.

1 Comment: