Local, Organic Comfort Food

Sunday was a nice, quasi-typical Sunday for us. It was highly-relaxing (after an uber-busy work week, plus a garage sale thrown in for fun), we got some stuff completed, and while it was still humid, was kind of dreary. If it had been colder, it would have felt like an autumn day -- which are our FAVORITE types of days. Dave's a "drizzly" fan and I'm an autumn fan, which is why we're risking a possibly rainy wedding day in October.

Regardless, I was going through several of my new "real food" cookbooks and pondering what we had to cook. My decision came down to free-range chicken soup or chili -- and the newly-popping jalapenos in my garden helped me to decide.

From workman.com

I used the cookbook Food to Live By by Myra Goodman. It's an enjoyable book to simply read, given that the author is a mom who raises her kids on a working farm, so I figure "If she can do it, certainly I should be able to." Here's my version of her recipe...

"Foggy Day Chili"
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 c. diced yellow onion (for me, it was 1/2 an onion)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1-1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef (mine was from a farm from our town!)
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
several good sprinklings of cinnamon (my addition)
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, undrained
1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans, undrained
1 can (28 oz.) crushed or diced tomatoes, with their juices
1 tsp. salt, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Dried red pepper flakes (optional)
1 minced jalapeno pepper, seeds removed (depending on how hot you like it)
A handful or two of semi-sweet chocolate morsels (optional -- I added them to my bowl since Dave could "taste chocolate" -- if I hadn't told him he had it in his bowl, he wouldn't have noticed, I'd bet)

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until onion and garlic are soft, not browned, about 1 minute longer. Add the beef, and break up with a wooden spoon.

2. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the spices (except the red pepper flakes). Cook, stirring frequently, until the mean is cooked through; ~7 minutes.

3. Add the beans and tomatoes, with their liquids, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let the chili simmer, gently stirring occasionally until thickened and the flavors are concentrated, about 45 minutes. (If it's not thickening to your liking, remove the cover to evaporate some liquid.

4. Add the salt and taste for further seasoning (including the pepper and red pepper flakes). Add minced jalapeno and chocolate (if using) and stir. Serve with cheddar cheese or sour cream, if wanted (we didn't).


We ate the chili with a simple corn muffin that Dave prepared -- his first ever. All we did was add Jiffy corn muffin mix with a handful (give or take) of thawed frozen corn and a diced jalapeno, baked off, and enjoyed with butter. It was the perfect pairing. Delish!

Seriously, this was a pretty easy meal to make. You should try it! It's my new go-to chili recipe. Oh, and the onion and garlic were from the Herkimer Farmers' Market, as I said, the beef was local and grass-fed (and the jalapeno was from my backyard), the beans were organic (one wasn't, but I felt better because it was locally-made), as was the can of tomatoes; pretty much everything except the spices and chocolate were either locally-grown or organic. Not too shabby, I think. At least, it was absolutely delicious. I foresee it being dinner tonight, as well. ;-)