Good morning everyone! Hope ya'll are staying safe and warm. We had a strong cold front move in here to the Panhandle of Florida. Last night was perfect to build a fire and cook a pot of chili in a cast iron dutch oven. Another "direckly on the coals" moment. Beautiful night and yummy chili. I'll post the link here to my Youtube video of me cooking and then I'll give you my special recipe below that. In this video, I talk a little bit about the history of "traditional" chili. I'll make another blog/video that goes into more detail about that subject.
Cooking Chili over a Campfire
The recipe for my chili (remember "low and slow" is what you want for any chili, stew, or gumbo):
-Preheat cast iron dutch oven over fire, using a rack or a tripod.
-Add 1 pound of hamburger meat and 1 pound of ground sausage (any type will do).
-Brown meat and drain the grease.
-Add 2 Tablespoons of minced/chopped garlic (more or less to your taste, I like a lot of garlic). Let meat and garlic cook for 5 or so minutes.
-Add 1 green bell pepper, chopped, 1 onion, chopped, and 1 jalapeno, seeds and white membrane removed and chopped. Place lid on pot and cook until vegetables are tender. I leave the lid cracked to get some of the smoke from the fire into the pot. Gives the chili a great taste!
-Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes plus 1 can of water (rinsing out the crushed tomatoes can). Place lid on pot and cook for about 5 minutes.
-Add 2-3 Chipotles (I use canned Chipotles in adobo sauce) depending on how spicy you want your chili.
-Add 1 teaspoon of Chili Powder (or more if you want it spicy, I would add a little at a time and taste it before going full blown spicy), about 1 teaspoon of Thyme leaves, and 2 Tablespoons of Cumin. Now, for me, Cumin makes or breaks the Chili. I love the taste of it. You may want less or you may want more. I usually end up adding another Teaspoon to Tablespoon of Cumin before it's all over with. You'll have to adjust to your taste. At this point, I normally add about a Teaspoon of Garlic Powder as well, but I didn't in the video from last night. Replace the lid, slightly open, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
-Add 1 can of Ranch Style Beans (or any canned bean that you like, Ranch Style is my favorite for Chili because it has a great taste). I don't like a lot of beans in my Chili. If you do, you can add 2 cans or mix your beans, Pintos and Black beans, Ranch Style and Black beans, whatever you prefer. Then, add water by filling up the can and rinsing out all the leftover goodness into the pot. Replace lid and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
-At this point, check your Chili to see if it needs more liquid, depending on your preference. Some like it more soupy, some like it more chunky. Then taste it to see if it needs more seasoning.
-Replace lid and let it low simmer for another 10 minutes, at least, before eating. The longer it simmers the better it gets.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! My family loves it. Secret ingredient: Cumin!
Here again is the link to the video: Cast Iron Chili over Campfire
Thanks for visiting and I hope you watch the video. If you like my content on Youtube, I hope you will hit the "thumbs up" to Like the video and click on Subscribe. Hit the bell and click on "All" to get notified when I upload future videos.
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