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Dutch Oven Chili

Now that the holidays are over, I thought that it was time to clean out the fridge and get rid of the leftovers that no one was going to eat. I found that I had four huge tomatoes that were just at the limit of freshness, as well as several nice jalapenos and Anaheim peppers. I haven't used my Dutch oven in a while, so I thought that I'd take a crack at making some chili with it.

Last night, I cleaned and soaked a pound of black beans. This morning I drained them and put them aside while I got the rest of the chili going. While I was heating the oven to 250F, I heated up the Dutch oven on the stovetop. I chopped a couple of onions, a dozen (maybe more) cloves of garlic and all the peppers. I sauteed them in the Dutch oven until the onions were becoming transparent. After that, I roughly chopped the tomatoes and tossed them in, juice and all. I simmered it together for a few minutes, stirring until they were blended. After that, I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. On top of that, I added ancho chili powder, red pepper, coriander, cumin, oregano, allspice and some sea salt. Finally, I stirred in about a cup or a cup and a half of raw cashews.

Next, I stirred in the beans and then topped of the pot with chicken stock (more leftovers). I brought it to a boil again. Then I put the lid on the pot and put it in the oven.

Seven and a half hours later, out it came. Magnificent, if I do say so myself. Served it with some leftover low fat sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
Wonderful idea for this time of year. So . . . this is my project too for this weekend. I like using three beans . . . Black, Red Kidney, and Chick Peas. I have almost nothing in the fridge . . . and it has taken a lot of inventive cooking to clear the fridge of the Christmas excess. . . so its off to the store tomorrow to get some peppers, mushrooms, etc. etc. etc.
 
Sounds great, I like a dutch oven cooker for many things. I believe there is a book called meals in minutes that cooks everything in a dutch oven.
 
I did wash it down with some nice beer. I found a couple of bottles of Three Philosophers from Brewery Ommegang in the fridge in my garage that I had forgotten about. Very nice combination.
 
So I'm guessing that this is vegetarian chili. Didn't see any meat in it. Sounds good except that I'm not a fan of black beans. If you had said pintos then I'd be saying great instead of good.
Myself, I've been thinking of using beef jerky to make some chili with. Just to see what happens. Jack Link's makes beef steak nuggets that might be good too.
 
So I'm guessing that this is vegetarian chili. Didn't see any meat in it. Sounds good except that I'm not a fan of black beans. If you had said pintos then I'd be saying great instead of good.
Myself, I've been thinking of using beef jerky to make some chili with. Just to see what happens. Jack Link's makes beef steak nuggets that might be good too.

It is vegetarian. We'd been doing a lot of BBQ'ing over the holidays and my wife and kids were on meat overload (don't understand it myself). The cashews stand in pretty well for meat--adding a different texture to the mix. I only used black beans because that was the first bag that came to hand when I reached into the pantry. It's not my usual choice when I make chili, but it worked well this time.

I bet jerky would be good. I would think that it's going to rehydrate significantly, especially if you slow cook it. You'll still have that intense taste of the dried meat. When I have a recipe calling for mushrooms, I often use half fresh/half (rehydrated) dried, just to get the same variety in flavor.
 
Real chili does not use tomatoes or beans.

It looked pretty real to me, and it was definitely substantial when people tried to eat it. I didn't actually make any effort to measure its materiality, but I'm pretty sure this was real. Unless life is an illusion.
 
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