Long-Simmered Chili

Tues. Feb. 13
The weather has been hideous: snow, followed by freezing rain, followed by more snow. So we decided that comfort was the better part of valor and stayed home (the University, as we learned later, shut down in any case). So a day for something slow cooked: chili was the choice. Started by simmering lots of pintos with a clove of garlic, a bay leaf, some oregano, and one dried red chile from Hatch, NM (the Chile Capital of the World) labeled "extra hot," split and deseeded. We read mystery novels and stirred the pot from time to time, adding water as needed. Beans sop up flavor from their liquid, and after about 3 hours they were tender and pleasantly spicy. We picked out the chile halves, because that was all the heat the dish needed. Then sautéed a mess o' onions, added 2 lbs. of chop meat (not chopped, Barbara's family lost the -ed sometime in the 1930s), poured off the not-insignificant amount of water and fat, then browned a butt-load of coriander and cumin (see below on the elective affinities of coriander and cumin) in the residual drippings. Added our penultimate can of tomatoes (gots to go shopping!), plus vinegar (see the secret revelation in the blog for the last batch). Put it all together, simmer for another hour. Serve with freshly-made corn bread. Say "Yah, Boo, Sucks" to winter.