Chili

OH. MY. GOD. I've run out of onions in the house! I can't believe it. I haven't had to buy onions all summer long, and at long last, I've run out. We've been getting them in our CSA box all summer long. Spring onions. Walla Walla sweet onions, & red onions. Suddenly, no more.

Luckily, I had shallots and scallions from the grocery store on hand.

1 cup carrots, 1/4" dice
1 cup celery, 1/4" dice
1 cup scallions, chopped
1 shallot, rough chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1/2 cup of bacon, diced
1 lb ground beef
beef stock, as needed
1/2 cranberry beans, fresh (or other beans are fine, too)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cups roma tomatoes, *peeled & chopped

-Render the bacon pieces in a pan. Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and sweat until they just start to become tender.
-Brown the ground beef in a pot with a little olive oil. Add the spices, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine the spices & meat.
-Add the vegetables and bacon to the ground beef, and cover with beef stock.
-Add the cranberry beans. If you are using canned beans, do not add them yet.
-Add the tomatoes, and any additional stock if needed.
-Cook for two hours.

*A popular way to peel tomatoes is to remove the core stem, score the opposite end in a small "x" with a paring knife, and boil them for 15 seconds. After boiling, plunge them into an ice bath to stop the cooking. The scored end will have loosened the skin, and the tomato is ready to be peeled, ready to be chopped to desired shape. This blanching method may also be used with peaches and nuts. Also known as concasse tomatoes.

This is just what I did for my chili. I feel like everyone has a chili recipe they like. I actually don't, not that I think any are bad. I'm just not good at sticking to a particular one. I picked one out of a chili recipes book, a friend bought for me with her Marlboro cigarette points, just as a reference. I encourage you to do tweak my recipe all you want. I know I probably will in the future!