I welcome the arrival of fall and cooler weather. Fall and winter foods are my favorite! Chili is one of the first things I make at the sign of cold weather. It’s also the food that both my husband and I grew up eating on Halloween night. The chili I make has beans and ground beef. Sometimes I change it up just a little – maybe adding some chopped pickled jalapenos or fresh chopped chilies of any variety. You’ll find my classic recipe below which started from very nonspecific directions from my mom and has changed to become what we like (and gluten free). This recipe makes 6-8 servings, which can be stretched out if you make some noodles and serve it over the noodles. It’s great left over too.

Chili

1 3/4 lbs ground chuck

1-2 T. Oil (Olive or vegetable)

1 large white onion, diced

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 – 2 T. chili powder (you can always add more!)

3/4 t. cumin

1/2 t. cayenne

1/2 t. chipotle powder (this isn’t necessary, if you don’t have it, leave it out – it just adds a bit of a smokey pepper flavor)

1 t. garlic powder

2 T. ketchup or 1 t. tomato paste

2 cans diced tomatoes, drained

3 cans kidney beans, drained (beware – many brands of “chili beans” have gluten so I use regular and season the chili myself)

2 cans red beans or pinto beans, drained

1-2 T. corn starch + water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Things to accompany chili – chopped onion, shredded cheese, sour cream, noodles, oyster crackers/goldfish crackers.

Using a large stock pot or dutch oven, put the oil and ground chuck in the pan. Cook over medium high heat. While that cooks, clean, chop and dice your onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Be sure to stir and scrape and bottom of the pan as necessary to cook all of the meat. Keep in mind that the more you break up the beef, the smaller the chunks will be in your chili. Once the beef has all browned, you can add your spices – chili powder, cayenne, cumin, garlic powder. Stir. Add your onions, celery and bell pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Turn heat to medium. Add the minced garlic stir and be sure not to burn your garlic because it will turn bitter. Add the drained tomatoes and ketchup or tomato paste. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the cans of beans. If your chili appears dry you can fill one can with water and add it. Cook on low heat with your lid askew, stirring every so often – take care that your heat is low enough for a simmer but not so high that the beans burn to the bottom. The longer your chili simmers, the better the flavors will come together and the softer the beans will get. This past week in a pinch, I put my canned beans in a glass bowl with some water and covered them with plastic wrap and then microwaved them for 4 minutes to soften them up because I wasn’t going to be able to cook my chili long enough before it would be time to eat it. This worked well to soften them up. Once you’re close to mealtime, taste your chili and make any seasoning adjustments. Remember that salt will bring out flavors. If your chili is good but not quite there, add some salt, stir and taste again. If you want to thicken your chili put 1 T. of corn starch in a glass and add 1 T. water. Stir it around to make a slurry. Then pour the slurry into the chili and stir while simmering (turn up the heat if you need to). The corn starch will thicken the whole mixture. If after a few minutes of stirring the bubbling mixture it still isn’t thick enough then repeat – be careful though because the corn starch will thicken all of a sudden so make sure that you’ve stirred it at a high enough heat to activate it before adding more.