A Pot of Chili

Whenever we have cold, frigid weather, it is always a perfect time for soup or stew or chili. And believe me, it was COLD and very FRIGID, but not nearly as cold and frigid as I had originally thought. When I read the temperature on my phone it said the weather was -11* as a high and the low would get down to -20*. Though this is NOT unheard of here in Colorado, it is pretty rare. That just made me cold thinking about it. Silly me. I did not see that my phone was set for Celsius, not Fahrenheit. So instead of being in the negative numbers, it was a balmy +9* F for the high and about 0* for the low. Still VERY cold, but nothing like what I first thought. Either way, it was still a perfect night for a big pot of hot chili to warm us up from the inside out. Chili Con Carne

It was a simple dinner of chili served over a baked potato. That was all we needed to help take away the chills of the day.

We had some smoked brisket in the freezer that Larry took down, so it all got thrown into the chili, along with some red and green peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, onion, kidney beans, and all kinds of good chili seasoning. I like lots of stuff in my stuff, and I love good, hearty, meaty chilis and soups. I just cut it all up and threw it into the slow cooker for a few hours.

Many moons ago, when I was still out in California and working for a National Corporate food service provider, whenever we had leftovers of just about everything, at all got thrown into the soups and the chilis. They often became “kitchen sink” soups, stews or chilies, and they all disappeared everyday. Our customers loved it. We never threw anything away if we didn’t have to. I still do that today.

I combined all the seasonings, tomato paste and beef broth together, then tossed it with all my vegetables and beef before adding it all to the slow cooker. Once everything was in the slow cooker, I walked away for about 4-5 hours, only coming back to stir it all up occasionally.

The hot chili just hit the spot and warmed us from the cockles of our hearts down to the marrow of our bones. The hot chili definitely took the chill out of the air and warmed everything up nicely.

On the cold winter days, stay warm, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.