Happy Autumn, everyone! Well, maybe not happy, since this is the weather that greeted me yesterday:

Talk about inspiration for something warming.

You know that scene in “Ratatouille” when Anton Ego is stopped dead in his tracks when he smells and tastes Remy’s ratatouille because it so acutely reminds him of his mother and his childhood? That’s what this dish is to me. Not only does this chili remind me of autumn and thus it was my first dish I happily made for the season, but it so embodies my vision of my mother in the kitchen.  Almost every Sunday in the fall she would make a huge batch of soup or stew, whether it be chili, potato soup, beef tomato rice, chicken noodle, etc, and always make it an all-day affair. Even when I would come home once in awhile from Cornell my mom would still make a batch at an ungodly hour on Sunday morning so I’d have a few Tupperware containers to take back with me.

The chili was always the best though. I remember asking my mother for the recipe time and time again to which she would always reply “There’s no real recipe – it’s a method, and every batch is different, you know that.”

So here is my version of my mother’s method, which she learned from her own mother.  It’s such a simple dish, with very few (and cheap) ingredients. It’s all about time and layering flavors (like any good soup or stew) so this isn’t something you can whip together on the fly and eat 20 minutes later (in my dreams).  I use almost all the same ingredients my mom and grandma do and did, except I change the cooking method a bit to keep the texture of the veggies a bit sharper and I up the spice level quite a bit.  The celery adds such a nice freshness to the chili and alongside the sweet tomatoes, nothing feels or smells more like autumn to me than this dish.

Grandma Esther’s Chili (with my interpretation)

Makes about 10 cups chili

I try to keep things a little figure-friendly by using a mixture of 90/10 ground beef with lean ground turkey.  I also double the veggies to give the chili a really hearty feel with fewer cals than adding more meat.  And the Tabasco is not a usual contender here – I only realized well into the process that I had no cayenne in my pantry (although I am still 100% sure it is in there somewhere) so I subbed with the sauce since it’s just cayenne and vinegar.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces 80/20 or 90/10 ground beef
• 4 ounces ground turkey
• 1 green bell pepper, diced, divided in half
• 1½ unsweet yellow onions, diced, divided in half
• 1 cup diced celery, divided in half
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 28-ounce can tomato sauce + 1 14-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• ½ tsp paprika
• 1½ TBL chili powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne (or 2 dashes Tabasco if you realize you don’t have cayenne… like me)
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. In a large dutch oven, brown the meat by breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon or fork.  Once the meat starts releasing some fat, toss in half the green pepper, onion and celery.  Season liberally with salt and cook over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes until very tender.  Taste for seasoning.
2. Once the veggies are tender, add the spices and stir, letting them cook for a few minutes to really bring out their flavor.  Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 28-ounce can of tomato sauce. Stir, and bring to a low boil.  Do not taste for seasoning here – the flavor will change quite a bit as it cooks so if you have a heavy hand here, it will become an anvil later.
3. Simmer over medium heat, covered, for about an hour.  Stir every 10 minutes.  Once an hour has elapsed, begin tasting for seasoning. Add more salt, paprika, chili powder, cayenne as needed.
4. Add the rest of the veggies and as much more tomato sauce as you want (depending on how saucy vs. thick you prefer it).  The point here is to have some very tender, soft veggies with some that still have a bit of a bite so you get a lot of texture and layered flavors.  Again, season for taste.
5. Cook an additional hour, stirring every 10 minutes.
6. Serve with shredded Colby jack cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, fresh chives, goldfish crackers, saltines, or anything you prefer.  Chili is the ultimate accessory-friendly dish!

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