Chili

Servings: 8-10 bowls

Storage Life of Ingredients: 1 year

Gluten Free

Loads of meat, some beans, a little tomato and a whole lot of chili peppers! The chili powder is freshly ground and mixed with a plethora of other spices to make this a very flavorful (as well as hearty and satisfying) meal.

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Additional ways to use:

Makes great topping for baked potatoes and chili dogs.

Pictured Process

Add the baking soda, salt, and 2 Tbsp water to the ground beef in a bowl. Mix it around until the ingredients have been distributed. (shown below in the red bowl) Seems weird, right? Why baking soda? Here's what Cooks Illustrated says about a baking soda bath for meat: "Briefly soaking meat in a solution of baking soda and water raises the pH on the meat’s surface, making it more difficult for the proteins to bond excessively, which keeps the meat tender and moist when it’s cooked."

Next, toast your ancho peppers for 5 minutes after carefully seeding and tearing into 1" pieces. Don't forget to seed! Unless, of course, you like a crazy spicy chili.

Add the peppers and the other "Spice Ingredients" into a food processor. Process for about 2 min, until the ancho peppers are finely ground. Place the spice mixture into another bowl to free up the food processor. (shown above in the black bowl)

Process tomatoes in the food processor (no need to clean) for 30 seconds, until the tomatoes are blended and no chunks remain.

Heat oil in a skillet and add the onion. Cook for 4-6 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Add the ground beef and brown. This should take about 12 - 14 min.

Once the meat is browned, add the spice mixture and the chipotle peppers.

After cooking for a few minutes, add the 2 c water, the beans and their liquid, sugar, and the processed tomato. If canning, do not add beans. Those can be kept in their cans and added after opening the canned chili.

Bring this to a boil, cover, and transfer the dutch oven to the oven. Yes, I know the picture above does not show a dutch oven. I took these pictures when making chili to can and freeze.

Cook for 90 to 120 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 min.

Add vinegar and stir. Serve with lime, red, onion, chips, and cilantro. Enjoy!

This chili can also be pressure canned and frozen; however, there are some changes that should be made. When canning, guidelines from "" state that starches and dairy products should not be used in recipes as it can interfere with processing. So, I've removed starch products and figured that if you are adding beans that have already been canned anyway, there's no reason to let it take up room in your mason jars.

When it comes time to prepare your chili, heat up the chili in a sauce pan and add your beans to it. Then you can add any toppings you like. Because the meat processed for 90 or more minutes, you will not need to put it in the oven for almost 2 hours. Each batch of chili fills approximately 2 quart jars.