WINTER CHILI
Winter chili is downright fantastic. I love this stuff. There's something about having 4 feet of snow on the ground (Which, ugh. I most certainly do right now) and having a nice warm pot of chili on the stove. Winter chili is an interesting beast, however. It's not what you'd expect. It's a mild chili, and it has no tomatoes. It's also creamier than normal chili, for that comfort food feel.
I should confess, I'm eating this as I write. This recipe also easily doubles, and when it does you can feed a small army for pennies.
Ingredients:
1 lb Sweet italian sausage (BE CAREFUL OF THE SODIUM. You'll feel a salty sausage in this, it'll seriously impact the taste. If you can't find a less salty sausage, go 50/50 with plain ground pork)
1/2 julienne small white onion (cut it from top to bottom in half, then set it down and slice into it from top to bottom to form little petals.)
1/2 medium diced green bell pepper
1-2 cloves chopped garlic, to taste
1 small can corn
2 cans cannelini beans, drained well but not rinsed
1 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder, to taste. I use 1.
s+p to taste (light on the salt, if any. The sausage will provide enough)
1/4 c water
splash of olive oil
So, decase your sausage. Cold pot, of a fair size, with a splash of olive oil, set on medium low heat. When the olive oil is warmed, add the sausage and gently brown while breaking it up as best you can. When the sausage is mostly cooked through, but still slightly pink, add your onion, pepper, garlic, cumin, and chili powder. Mix it up really well, then cover it and sautee it until the bell peppers are nice and soft, but still have a bit of tooth to them, and the sausage is cooked through. Add the corn and cook a bit longer, maybe 3 minutes, then add your beans. The reason you don't' rinse them is we want the starch from the beans to thicken up the liquids in the pot. Cook this for maybe another 5 minutes, until nice and warm, then add in the water and cook for a tiny bit longer, until you've got a nice creamy base in the chili.
That's it, really. This is a wicked simple meal that can be made in about 15 minutes if you're even moderately handy with a chef's knife. Obviously you could add more veggies to this if you wanted, I'm fond of adding in sliced mushrooms and diced carrots. However, for how easy it is to make, it's got a depth of flavor that hints at a really long preparation time.
Great garnishes for this are sour cream and some shredded sharp white cheddar cheese.