I cook without cans, boxes, or bags. Fresh ingredients from the outside edges of the store are my go to. This is 100% the result of food additive allergies that make it impossible for me to, ah, keep processed foods down. It’s not pretty. We won’t elaborate on that one.
In any case I have had to learn to cook everything from raw ingredients. No bottled spices, no canned tomatoes, no pre-cooked beans.
I save bone broth from cooking a roast in the crockpot from another meal or from soup bones cooked for the purpose. I drain the liquid off into a glass jar before final preparations for the roast or shredded beef. Sometimes I do buy jarred organic bone broth, but I always check the label to be sure there are no additives.
What I didn’t know is how easy it is to cook this way, how much more satisfying the process is , and how phenomenal the results are.
Traditional Fresh Chili
A homestyle, chili made from only fresh ingredients, nothing canned, bottled, or packaged. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, dry beans, and fresh beef. The beans cook all day and then it just takes 30 minutes to put together.
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Prep time: 30 minutes -
Cook time: 8 minutes -
Total time: 38 minutes
Ingredients
| 2 | cups beans, pinto or kidney or both |
| 1 | yellow onion |
| 3 | red, yellow, or orange bell peppers |
| 2 | Jalapeño peppers |
| 2 | cloves garlic |
| 1.5 | pounds ground beef |
| 2 | tsp salt |
| 1 | tsp black pepper, ground |
| 1 | cup beef bone broth |
| 6-8 | tomatoes, large |
Utensils
- Crock pot
- Large pot
- Cutting board
- Chef’s Knife
- Large wooden spoon
Steps of preparation
- In the morning add 2 cups of dry pinto beans, kidney beans, or a combination, to a crock pot and fill the crock pot with water. Turn it on high and let it cook all day.
- Wash all of your fresh produce.
- Begin heating a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Splash a bit of olive oil or scoop a spoonful of coconut oil or tallow in the pan and allow it to heat.
- Cut your onion in half and then remove the outer layer. Cut the onion into slices and then the opposite direction to dice. Add the onion to the pot with the hot oil. Stir the onions every now and then to keep them from burning. Turn the heat down if they brown too quickly.
- Cut the bell peppers in half and pull out the stem and seeds with your hand. Rinse the inside of the pepper to remove all the seeds. Then dice the peppers and add them to the oil with the onion.
- Now, cut the jalapenos in half the long way. Use a spoon to scoop the seeds out. Be careful, the jalapeño oils can burn your skin, and will definitely burn your eyes, if you touch them after touching the pepper. Most of the heat is in the seeds. You can discard all seeds, keep all seeds, or somewhere between, depending on the amount of heat you want. Dice the peppers and add them to your pot.
- Add 4 cloves of garlic, diced. Then salt and pepper.
- Next, add in the ground beef. Cook and stir until the beef is completely browned through.
- Add beef broth to your chili. Turn the heat up to high. You can add more broth or water if needed for your preferred consistency.
- Finally, cut the tomatoes into chunks, discarding the stems. There is no need to peel them. Add them to the pot with the beef and peppers.
- Drain the water off the beans and then add them to the pot as well. Let the chili heat all the way through, stirring frequently. Once it is boiling, it is finished and you can pull it off the heat. Taste it and add salt if needed.
We usually eat chili with tortilla chips, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream. But it is also excellent with corn bread, on top of baked potatoes, or as Navajo Tacos.
