Oh, it’s THAT time of year and THAT type of weather. YES! It’s Chili weather!!!
My husband starts begging for chili weekly once the weather cools off here. I decided it was cold enough, so I made a batch of one of my bookmarked recipes. I have made it before, but it’s probably been close to a year.
As always, I add, delete, and tweak everything, but the base recipe is good, too. While this isn’t my FAVORITE chili (base) recipe, I like it when I get it right, so it is in my rotation.
I found it on Food Network (Click here for full recipe) a few years ago when I was bored with my usual chili. This one has cauliflower in it, so it makes the texture interesting.
Here’s what happened last night.
I started with a glass of one of my favorite Reposado Tequilas, Excellia.
Then, I did all of my “Mise en Place”. I love that term, and does it ever make a WORLD of difference in my enjoyment of cooking?
I changed these parts:
* 1 Red Bell Pepper ( I hate, yes hate, green ones)
* Added a few more cloves of Garlic
* Always have to add more of each spice. I usually always use rounded measurements and then add more to my taste. We like flavor and spice.
* Doubled the Chipotle pepper
* Left out the tortillas
* Added a cup or so of chopped-up Baby Bella mushrooms
* Used espresso but added a little water
* Used diced tomatoes instead of whole plum (I don’t like those either) My favorite brand is Jovial Organic
* Two boxes of Kidney beans instead of Pinto. I use Wholefoods Organic 365 beans
* Better than Bouillon veggie broth instead of water
I always have to keep adding salt since I buy everything unsalted haha.
