Uncle Sam's Cincinnati Five-way Chili (Skyline-style)

Here's a yummy and hearty recipe from my brother and Betsy's uncle.  

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Cincinnati Five-way Chili (Skyline-style)
guest post by Uncle Sam

Souce: a pamphlet from the American Heart Association years ago

Serves: About three

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger (lean for healthy, fatty for tasty)

2 medium onions, diced (one onion to cook, one to serve raw as a garnish)

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teas chili powder (or 1/2 teas red chile flakes) 

1/2 teas ground cumin

1/2 teas ground cinnamon

1/4 teas ground allspice 

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz. can, NOT drained)

1 can kidney beans (14 oz. can, drained and rinsed)

3 T apple cider vinegar

2 T (heaping) semisweet chocolate chips

Grated cheddar cheese (as a garnish)

1/3 lb. spaghetti 

Brown the hamburger and sweat about half of the diced onions in a large pot. Bloom the minced garlic (heat directly against a cleared portion of the inner surface of the pot) for about two minutes. Bloom the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, and allspice in the pot for about one minute. Add the tomatoes, kidney beans, vinegar, and chocolate chips. Simmer (the longer the better, all day if you have time, adding water if necessary). Cook the spaghetti to al dente in a separate pot about 15 minutes before serving. 

Serve in bowls, placing the chili directly on top of the spaghetti. Garnish with diced raw onions and grated cheddar cheese.

Note: the proportions of beef and bean can be  modified (if you don't have enough beef, use another can of beans). 

Chili

This is simply a basic meat and bean chili and the recipe served me well for many years.

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Chili                                 

Adapted from an old recipe shared decades ago by a friend named Joyce from our first Air Force assignment
Yields a Dutch oven full of chili.

For the beans:

2 cups pinto beans, sorted and brined overnight in 2 quarts of water and 1 1/2 T salt
1/2 onion
1 carrot cut into 2 inch chunks
1 stick of celery cut into 2 inch chunks
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
Water

Before cooking, drain the beans from the brine and rinse in a colander. In a large saucepan (I used a 4 quart pot) place the beans and the vegetable aromatics (onion half, carrot and celery chunks, garlic) and bay leaf. Cover generously with water (an inch or two above the level of the beans) and bring to a boil, watching so you avoid a boil-over. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for several hours until beans are done (the amount of time this will take depends on the age of the beans but mine took about three hours).

The rest of the ingredients:

1/2-1 pound of ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 teas salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teas pepper
2 T chili powder
1 can tomato paste
1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes)
1 (4-oz) can of diced green chiles or 1/2 c frozen chopped chiles, or to taste
1 cup water.

In a Dutch oven cook the ground beef, onions, and salt together until browned. Add the garlic and cook for half a minute or so until fragrant. Move the mixture to the edges of the pan and place the spices in the center of the pan and toast for a minute. Stir the spices into the meat and add the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes until the paste has darkened. Pour in the liquid from the whole tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes by hand or in the blender or food processor and place in the skillet. Stir in the green chiles and water. Bring to to strong simmer and then lower the heat and simmer for a couple hours stirring occasionally. If it gets too thick add some more water or some of the bean broth.

Note: To streamline this process you can worry less about building flavor. Add the garlic, spices, and tomato paste together. Then stir in a can of crushed tomatoes and the green chile. Continue with the recipe.

When the beans are done and are beginning to break apart remove some of the bean broth (hold a generous amount in reserve) and all the spent aromatics. Drain most of the remaining liquid, if needed. Pour the beans into the meat mixture in the Dutch oven. Stir well. Add some of the reserved bean broth until the chili is the consistency you prefer. Stir again and cook together for an hour at a low simmer. Check the consistency again and add more bean broth if needed. Taste for seasonings and add salt. If you like spicier chili add more chiles or stir in a bit of powdered cayenne. Serve with warm cornbread.

Smoky Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

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Smoky Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

Source:  The Washington Post

Serves: 8

This is a vegan chili but I cooked up a little chorizo as an add-in for meat eaters. It is yummy either way.

1 T oil
2 c chopped onion, about 2 medium onions
4 c cubed sweet potatoes (3/4-inch), about 1 1/4 pds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle en adobo, finely chopped, or to taste
1 T ancho chile powder
2 teas ground cumin
1/2 teas smoked paprika
1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes, diced or whole and crushed before adding
3 1/2 c cooked black beans, rinsed and drained if from cans (about 2 1/4 15.5 oz. cans)
1 1/2 c homemade or purchased vegetable broth
1/2 teas salt
1 avocado, for garnish, optional
1/4 c snipped chives, for garnish optional

Start heating the oil over medium heat and add the onions once it shimmers. Stir frequently and allow onions to cook until translucent and tender. Add the sweet potatoes and the garlic and cook until the sweet potatoes are beginning to get soft, about 10 minutes. Add the chipotle en adobo, ancho chile powder, cumin, and smoked paprika. Stir constantly while the spices become fragrant and mixed in, about a minute.

Add the tomatoes, beans, and broth and raise the heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer slowly uncovered. Stir occasionally until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30-35 minutes. If you want to change the consistency, add more broth.

Stir in the salt and taste and adjust.

Serve topped with chopped avocados and chives.

Notes:

You can find chipotle en adobo in many supermarkets these days; otherwise it's available in a Mexican market.

I made this with home cooked beans and since I used aromatics (carrot, onion, celery, garlic) while cooking the beans, I used bean broth instead of vegetable broth.

Canned diced tomatoes usually have calcium chloride added which keeps them in a consistent diced state and they don't break down with cooking. It's a matter of preference whether you use them. If you like your tomatoes to dissipate in a soup or stew, break or crush whole tomatoes but if you like chunks of tomatoes in your dish, use the diced version.