Possumblog

One might ask...

...what, exactly, can a highly-trained rocket scientist do besides work on rockets? Thankfully, we have a highly-trained rocket scientist on staff (that being the noted NASA employee and brother of Dr. Weevil, Steevil) who apparently has made use of his knowledge of thermodynamics and physics to not only expand the borders of man's frontiers in space, but also to make chili.

HEREWITH, Steevil's Chili Recipe:

1 lb ground meat: beef, pork, buffalo or deer are all very good. Ground
turkey I like to combine with ground beef.
1 medium sized onion
1 green or yellow or red bell pepper
cooking oil
1 16 oz can diced or crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can kidney beans (in chili sauce or not)
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
2-4 chili peppers--sliced lengthwise, leave out seeds for less spicy chili
1/2 tbs salt
1 tbs black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp chili powder (for color, mostly)
couple shakes paprika
1 bay leaf
couple shakes marjoram
" " cilantro
" " rosemary
" " thyme

In pot over med-hi heat, fry sliced onion and bell peppers in the oil 'til onions start turning clear.

Dump in meat and brown.

When meat is browned, dump in can of tomatoes, feel free to rinse out can and pour that in pot, too.

Dump in garlic, chili peppers and dry ingredients, stir and bring to a simmer.

Turn to lo heat and cover, simmer for half an hour.

Dump in can of beans and bring back to a simmer.

Serve--top with shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, sour cream,
salsa, bacon bits, scallions, whatever.

::sighhhhhh:: If only he looked like Rachael Ray...

Anyway, Steevil guarantees this will produce enough impulse energy to put a man-sized payload into low-earth orbit.

LATE BREAKING UPDATE! Chef Tony emails a link to"Blue's Own Texas-style Chili Recipe" by Stephen "Blue" Heaslip, which sounds good, too, although slightly more involved with such things as allowing the chili to "rest" overnight, and the fact that it's got seven pounds of meat in it.

Chef Tony sez:

My notes, I usually make half this recipe and use all sirloin and don't halve the amount of jalapenos, works out pretty well in my opinion. I also add maybe a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of vinegar cause I like that bit of tanginess. The overnight rest definitely helps but may not be practical from the sound of your situation. Sirloin just falls completely apart in this dish, it's *really* good, but not cheap. I think the next time I make it I'll buy a sirloin roast and cut it up instead of buying steak. Oh, one last thing, you can't really brown the meat over low heat, that's kind of silly. I brown the meat in a cast iron skillet in batches and throw it into the dutch oven as I go. For the size of the pot you're talking about, this recipe may need to be doubled instead of being halved like I do it ... :)

SO, there you go!

Posted by Terry Oglesby at December 15, 2006 01:54 PM