Mom's Favourite Chili

This is the kind of chili that lives in a hand-written index card box, the dependable family recipe that gets pulled out the second the temperature drops. Nothing fancy: ground or chunked beef, kidney beans, canned tomatoes, and the quiet herb trio of basil, oregano, and bay that distinguishes this version from a heavier Tex-Mex pot.

Browning the meat in butter, then pulling it out before sweating the onions and peppers, gives the vegetables room to soften and sweeten without competing for fat or heat in a crowded pan.

The long simmer is where this chili earns its keep. Forty-five minutes is a minimum. Closer to ninety lets the chili powder and cumin bloom fully and the kidney beans give up their starch into the broth.

Pro Tips

• Toast the chili powder and cumin in the fat for 30 seconds before adding the canned goods, this wakes them up and rounds out raw spice flavor.
• Use whole canned tomatoes and crush them by hand for a chunkier, more rustic texture than diced canned tomatoes give.
• Drain and rinse the kidney beans well to keep the chili from going sludgy.
• Save a splash of the bean liquid to thin if the chili reduces too thick during the long simmer.
• Pull the bay leaf before serving, the flavor’s done its job by then.

Variations

• Stir in a square of dark chocolate or a tablespoon of cocoa near the end for a Cincinnati-style depth.
• Add a chopped chipotle in adobo for smoky heat.
• Use half ground beef and half ground pork for a richer, more complex meat base.