What are you eating today? What are you reading or watching….listening to?
Be safe, be well, be kind, share and find some things to laugh about…take a nap…wear your mask…get vaccinated and boosted …we are all in this big primordial bowl of life together.
Other chili recipes I have posted in the past: “Snow Day in Nashville….Black Bean Mole Chili…”
Black Bean Chili for a Winter Day and Gruyere Cornbread
Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 lb. lean ground beef (optional for you vegetarians)
- lots of Rancho Gordo Chile Powder
- 3 tablespoon dark, unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 to 2 tablespoon ground cumin, to taste
- 1 cup strong brewed black coffee (can use leftover from your morning cup)
- 2 cans black beans, drained (add an extra if you are making vegetarian version)
- 1 large can fire-roasted tomatoes
- sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For Cornbread – Recipe for “Black Skillet Cornbread” from Anne Byrn’s cookbook “Skillet Love” with a few things added in by me.
- 2 tablespoons bacon grease or veg oil
- 1 3/4 cups self-rising white cornmeal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup veg oil
- 1 1/2 cups full-fat buttermilk (or mix plain yogurt with milk if you do not have buttermilk)
- 1-4 tablespoons water (optional
- 1 generous tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere Cheese (could use Swiss or White Cheddar in a pinch)
Directions:
- Saute garlic and onion in olive oil in a pot over medium high heat until slightly translucent. Add in ground beef and brown, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks.
- Sprinkle chile powder, cocoa powder and cumin over browned meat and stir to blend well. Cook another few minutes while stirring.
- Add coffee, black beans and tomatoes to the pot along with 4 cups water. Bring chili to a boil, turn heat to simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- While chili is simmering make the cornbread. Put bacon grease or veg oil in a 12 inch cast iron skillet (I used a 10 inch which works fine) and place in cold oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Whisk together the cornmeal and flour in a bowl. Stir in the oil and buttermilk. Add a bit of water if it seems too thick.
- Add the black pepper, thyme and shredded Gruyere, stirring to blend well.
- When oven is preheated, remove the skillet and pour in the cornbread batter. The batter should sizzle. Return skillet to the oven and bake until the cornbread is dark brown, 12 to 17 minutes. At this point I pull the skillet from the oven and turn cornbread out onto a plate, flipping the bottom side to the top and put it back into the hot skillet, returning to the oven for another 5 minutes so the cornbread is crispy on both sides.
- After I pull the cornbread from oven I leave the skillet on top of the stove to keep warm until ready to eat. Turn cornbread out onto a cutting board, bottom-side up and cut into wedges or squares.
- Serve chili in bowl with pieces of cornbread, and if you like it hotter than hell have some bottles of hot sauce at the ready. Bon Apetit and stay cozy.
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