This is the first in a series of recipes for our favorite party foods. We eat this chili every Halloween, Christmas Eve, Superbowl, and on a bunch of other occasions year-round. Our kids love the leftovers spread over baked tortilla chips with melted cheese -- chili nachos! Enjoy.
The Guv has done a lot of spectacular things for me in our almost-twenty years together, but the very nicest gesture he made involved making chili for me when I was fighting bronchitis while seven months pregnant with Dash. You have to understand: I had to teach this man how to boil water. I'll never forget that phone call; I was still in college, and he and our roommate -- we'll call him Jack, Three's Company-style -- called to ask about making pasta. "It says to add the pasta when large bubbles are breaking on the surface," he said. "But there are only little bubbles on the bottom of the pot." I deadpanned: "That would be because the water isn't boiling yet." Oy. Anyway, the Guv's progress from that to making my mom's chili for me is Peace Prize-worthy (hey, at least he did something to deserve it!). And boy, did he cook it... and cook it... and cook it... and, by the time he declared it "done," he had made chili concentrate. Seriously, he should've called Campbell's or something and bottled that stuff, it was so well-compacted. Fortunately, boiling water (and a little tomato juice) came to the rescue, and that chili? It was delicious, flavored with the sweetest love.
At some point after that day, chili became our family staple for gatherings. We'd make it when the Guv's parents came to visit, to eat with friends while watching sports on TV, when someone was sick... We toyed with different recipes, figuring that cooking it in a crockpot would be a little more foolproof than, ahem, risking boiling it down too far on the stovetop. After much tinkering, we came up with our most-requested recipe: Trail Chili, Colorado-style. Today, I share it with you:
The RoxAndRoll Family Trail Chili
Ingredients:
2 lb. organic, grass-fed beef (85/15)
1 large Spanish onion, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
16 oz. can tomato sauce (called puree in some places)
16 oz. can light red kidney beans undrained (the liquid is a key thickener)
16 oz. can dark red kidney beans drained and rinsed (then again, too much thickener can be bad!)
16 oz. can Whole Foods brand spicy black beans (optional; rinse for less "kick")
4 oz. can diced green chiles (drain for less "kick")
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (optional; use only if beans, tomatoes, etc. are low salt)
Directions:
Brown and drain ground beef with onion; dump in crock pot.
Add all remaining ingredients to crock pot; stir.
Cook on "high" setting for up to 4 hours, or cook on "high" for an hour then switch to "low" for up to seven more.
Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, black olives, green onions... and, of course, love.
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