NEXT STOP....the PRODUCE department

If you don't grow your OWN herbs, see if they have FRESH ones available....such as:

CILANTRO....indispensable in this recipe! Well, you can substitute with CORIANDER if you have to, but TRY for the real thing!

LOVAGE....difficult to find, but you can substitute with CELERY LEAVES.

GARLIC....of course! As much as your taste-buds can tolerate!

BASIL....gives a special "lift" to the flavor of tomatos! If you MUST settle for the dried leaves, use 'em sparingly.

Get PLENTY of ONIONS!

The brown-skinned Spanish varieties are best for this recipe. It's impossible to have too many, so plan for a generous amount!

BELL PEPPERS, TOO!

Be as ample with these as you are with the onions!

GREEN CHILI PEPPERS

Another indispensable item! Some folks are tempted to buy them in cans, but they just ain't the same.

JALIPENO PEPPERS

Here's where discretion is the better part of valor! It's easy to overdo it with these lethal monsters!

SUPER HOT REDS!

This one is strictly optional! If you want your chili to be authentic, I suppose you hafta include some of these...but think TWICE before you do!

THIS MIGHT SURPRISE YOU!

But I use CANNED tomatos in MY chili! If you can find a truck-farmer (in season) with vine-ripe fruit, go for it! But you KNOW super-market "toms" are, for the most part....SAD!

Look in the canned-goods section for the BIG containers...some markets even have them in the GALLON size.

SPECIAL NOTE: Sometimes canned tomatos are a bit on the "sweet" side. But you can correct that by adding a cup or so of strong black COFFEE!

BEFORE YOU HEAD FOR HOME.....

Do you have CUMIN in your spice-rack? If not, pick up a few ounces....QUITE a few!

You probably have chili-powder on hand, but in MY opinion, it gives the chili a metalic taste. That's why I stick to CUMIN!

Betcha thought I forgot beans, didn't-cha? Well, I DIDN'T!

NO BEANS in this recipe. If you want 'em, serve 'em as a SIDE dish! Pintos are a good choice. (But NOT the red kidney-beans, puh-leeze!) You can pep 'em up with your favorite salsa if you choose.

READY TO "FORMULATE"?

Well, here you go.......

Did you....just by chance...stop at your local Wal-Mart and pick up a pressure-cooker? (They carry a nice 4-quart model for around $20!) It's gonna save you a lot of time if you have one.

If NOT....get out that stock pot and throw in the chicken. Add just enuf water to submerge it and toss in the FRESH herbs you just bought. (Don't forget to mince the garlic!)

Stew until the meat is just about ready to fall off the bone. If you're using the stock-pot it's gonna seem like it's taking forever! But in a pressure cooker it's a matter of minutes....well, maybe a bit longer....

But whlle it's cooking, cut your beef and pork (trim off the fat, of course) into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.

Cut up the onions and peppers (remove the seeds and be extra careful with the "hotties"! Rubber gloves are recommended!) Put 'em in the processor and give them a "coarse" chopping. You don't want to pulverize 'em!

Be sure to put the cubed meat and chopped veggies in the "fridge" if you're expecting long interval before the chicken is done

You're not gonna believe this, but when the chicken's stew-session is over, you're gonna take it OUT of the cooking liquid and set it aside. You're finished with it where your chili is concerned! You're only gonna use the STOCK it left behind.

NOW THE FUN BEGINS!

It's gonna take awhile, but you're gonna brown all that beef and pork you cubed while the chicken was cooking. You'll probably hafta do it in "batches"...depending on the size of the skillet you're using.

Salt and pepper...you know by instinct how much you need.

Drain the browned meat cubes and add to the chicken stock...which is either in your pressure cooker or the stock-pot.

Toss in the coarsely-chopped veggies and start another stew-session.

AGAIN....cooking time in the stock-pot is gonna take a LOT longer than a pressure cooker, but you want the meat to be super-tender.

While that's going on, get your tomatos ready to be added to the meat that's simmering away in the chicken stock. If you bought stewed or diced tomatos, good for you! But if they're whole, squeeze 'em into a mash. Use your hands....nobody is gonna know!

In a separate kettle, bring the tomatos to a simmer and add enuf CUMIN to excite your taste-buds. It'll take more than if you were flavoring with chili-powder, but you AIN'T!

A few hefty dashes of Worcestershire sauce will further enliven the tomato flavor.

ON THE HOME-STRETCH!

The meat and veggie-mixture is done!

Everything goes into the stock-pot and simmers for as long as it takes for all the flavors to meld and taste JUST RIGHT! You can alter seasonings during this process....salt, pepper and/or cumin. You might even want to add a dash (or more) of Tabasco!

THE LONGER IT SETS....
THE BETTER IT GETS!

And it freezes well! I have even canned it...which is perfect for a "quick-fix"! No thawing time!

SO ENJOY!

Illustrations on this site came from Linda, Sweetheart Webmaster at GRANDSTAND GRAPHICS

http://grandegraphics.crosswinds.net/index.html