Chili

I don't have a picture. Chili pretty much isn't the best looking dish but it is packed with so many flavours. I first browned local sirloin beef and local ground beef in a stew pot with some olive oil. I did this browning in several stages to make sure all the meat had a secure spot to some hot metal.

I chopped up carrot, celery, and onion along with several cloves of garlic from Trisha's grandfather's garden (this garlic is in the ground now for us next year in our back yard).

I made a fresh chili seasoning with paprika, ancho chili powder, cumin, coriander, dried hot chilis, dried mustard seed, oregano, pepper, and salt. Several of those were whole and toasted and then everything was ground up in a mortar and pestle.

The veggies were sweated out after the beef. They were removed and I de-glazed the pot with what was leftover in a hot chipotle salsa jar we got at the City Market last week and some water to clear the jar. The smell coming from the pot was amazing at this point with the salsa, vegetable, and browned beef aromas. Everything was added back in. Then, about 6 large tomatoes I had frozen from a local farm were blanched to remove the skins and added in. They dissolved and mixed in with everything else.

Simmered this with a couple bay leaves for quite awhile and then added dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and sugar. Trisha made some bread.

A great dish for a windy rainy Sunday.