One of my favourite cold weather comfort foods is chili con carne. People seldom use the full name anymore and have shortened it to chili.
Although this dish was originally Tex Mex (from the border area of Texas and Mexico), I can recall my mom at home in Canada making her version of it when I was a child. Mom always called it by its full name.
In researching chili for this post, I was surprised to learn that the dish was introduced to eastern Canada in the early 1900’s. I wondered, given the distance, how that could be? Further reading explained that a group from San Antonio introduced it at a chili stand at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. This explained a lot, because Chicago is much closer and Canadians were very well represented at that fair.
There are many variations of this hearty meat stew, and I make it a bit differently each time.
The one in my feature photo has carrots, red bell pepper, button mushrooms, onions, celery, and three bean varieties with the lean ground beef and diced tomatoes. I prepared it in my Instant Pot, as I do all of my soups and stews. Pressure cooking has a way of locking in and enhancing flavours, which is key in one-pot meals.
We like our chili either over a baked potato, or with a side of toast. Sometimes I garnish it with shredded cheese and/or sour cream.
If you eat this dish, what sides do you enjoy with it? I’m always looking for new ideas.
I used the Touch Retouch App to clean up the bowl. As I did this, I recalled cooking competitions on TV, and how the chefs always wipe the edges of the dishes and bowls before serving.
By doing this task digitally, I was able to finally realize why that’s done.
Here’s the dish before cleanup.
Much more appealing with the dishing up smears removed, I think. Do you agree?
Radically Retired 