C is for Chili

Read through a few chili recipes from the NYTimes Cooking App and settled on a mix of three of four recipes using roughly the ingredients below.

Ingredients 

makes about 4 servings. or 2 servings for a very hungry person

• jalapenos (for main chili and optional topping)
• red bell pepper
• small can of crushed tomatoes (should actually use large can)
• couple of table spoon of tomato sauce
• small onion
• cucumber (i had half left in the fridge so threw this in the mix.probably not required as part of any chili recipe)
• can of kidney beans (didn't know there were regular and dark kidney beans until I saw both in the store)
• many spices and flavorings (see spice section below): salt, pepper, cumin, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper flakes, hot sauce.
• garlic
• ginger
• lime (half juiced)
• cilantro and cheese (for topping after cooking)

Simmering

Prepare all ingredients and cut/dice as needed. Heat oil to bottom of pan, add garlic and ginger. Then add peppers, jalapenos, and onions to sautee until onion becomes translucent. Add everything else (except lime juice) and cook. Stir frequently and cook on low/med heat for 1 hour or more. be sure to taste for spice and salt. Don't worry if the mix looks a bit watery to start with. the stuff will cook down. Add lime juice to the last 15 min or so.

Topping and Garnishes

chop up cilantro (or parsley or some other fresh herb of choice) and slice up more jalapeno to add to the chili. I made rice so my dinner was chili over rice with cilantro/jalapeno/shredded Mexican cheese. Not pictured are some rosemary bread and semolina bread toasted and buttered. 

Spice line-up

This photo below includes too many spices than necessary. I'd like to think cumin, nutmeg, salt, garlic, and lime were the key ingredients. I also threw in this pepper mix which has cayenne, chipotle flakes, and paprika. Half a lime was juiced and put toward the latter half of the simmering process.

Notes for next time: 

• get the larger can of crushed tomatoes (48oz) instead of using a small can of diced tomatoes (14oz).
• try actually using a bit of clove.
• Time cooking of rice a bit closer to 2nd half of simmering. I cooked it too early and ended up worrying about rice getting cold. 
• try adding ground meat (beef or turkey)
• I think it was a bit much to have rice and bread (not pictured in photos). Will probably go for one or the other in the future. 

Also want to thank A., who showed me the best vegetarian chili and the secret of spices. and also to Manhattan Chili in GCT which has delicious chilis and great corn bread too. What's in your favorite chili recipe? Are you really particularly about the meat, beans, or specific spices?