Canning Chili Con Carne

Chili Con Carne

3 quarts tomatoes, pureed

1 quart tomatoes diced

2 onions, diced

3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups pinto beans, dried

3 pounds hamburger meat, cooked and rinsed

6 to 8 tablespoon chili powder (your personal preference)

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons cumin, ground

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon beef bouillon

1 teaspoon black pepper

Place the dried beans in a dutch oven and cover with about 3 inches of water and soak for 12 to 18 hours. Then drain the bean and and add 5 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. You can add salt to the beans if you want, but I typically do not. Once the beans have cooked for 30 minutes remove them from the heat and set them aside.

Core, score and blanch 5 to 8 quarts of tomatoes in boiling water for 90 seconds, then dunk in ice water so that the skins can be easily removed, then cut the tomatoes into a small to medium dice depending on your preference. Save the tomato skins for your compost pile or you can do like we do and feed them to the chickens, they love them! Anyway, set aside 1 quart of the diced tomatoes and puree the rest. Now depending on the size and type of the tomatoes it may take 4 to 5 quarts of diced tomatoes to equal 3 quarts when pureed.

Brown your ground beef. Now typically I use cheap 73/27 for chili, after it is browned I rinse it in hot water to remove and excess fat. If you are interested in why I use the cheaper ground hamburger in my soups and casseroles check out my blog and read the article on ground beef on this blog (November 24^th, 2014).

Once the ground beef has been browned and drained add it to a large stock pot with all the remaining ingredients except the beans and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not thicken the chili, you want it to be a little soupy in order to process safely, you can always thicken it later if it is not thick enough. While this is cooking, now is a good time to prepare your canning jars and lids and get all the necessary supplies you will need to can your chili.

Fill you hot jars leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove any unwanted sir bubbles and adjust headspace as necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean dampened paper towel, add lids and process as below:

Pints 75 minutes in a weighted pressure canner at 10lbs.

Quarts 90 minutes in a weighted pressure canner at 10lbs.

Slow Cooker Series: Chili, A Cheap and Healthy Alternative

As I have mentioned in several of my posts, it is winter once again and the cool weather is a perfect time to dust off those soup, stews and chili recipes. While I love my 'Texas Style' chili recipe (see December 2011 post). Sometimes there just never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done that you need to do. That is where slow cookers or 'crock pots' come to the rescue.

These simple devices make it easy for you to gather all your ingredients and throw them in to pot, turn it on and walk away returning after several hours to a hot cooked meal. Well...not exactly, but they do make your life easier when it comes to cooking certain types of dishes. Obviously some of main advantages of fresh home cooked meals is that 1) they help rescue the food budget because it is way cheaper to eat at home than eating out, 2) you have complete control of what goes into the pot, and 3) you can load up the cooker overnight or during the day before you go to work and have a fresh hot meal waiting for you when you get home. The following recipe makes about 10 to 12 eight ounce servings.

2lbs hamburger (weight before cooking)
3 1/2 cups water
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups pinto beans, dried
1/2 cup chili powder (4 tablespoons)
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or one jalapeno, minced, seeds removed

Sort though and remove any small rocks you may find. Yes, I said small rocks, as I generally find at least one in every bag of pinto beans I buy and you really do not want to break a tooth. Add the pinto beans to the crock and cover with 2 inches of water, then soak the dried beans overnight.

In the morning drain the water (pour it in your houseplants or garden, why waste it) and add the 3 1/2 cups of fresh water to the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients (except the raw hamburger)  and set your slow cooker on high.

While the slow cooker is heating up, brown your hamburger meat. Now I take my browned (cooked) hamburger meat and place it in a metal strainer and rinse it in hot water to remove any unwanted fat. If you are using a lean hamburger meat you may not need to do this, but typically for spaghetti, soups and chili I buy the cheaper 73/27 hamburger meat (more on that later). Once you have rinsed the hamburger meat add it to your slow cooker and leave it on high for one hour.

The only decision left to make is to determine when you want your chili to be ready. If you want to be able to eat the chili within the next 4 to 5 hours then continue to cook it on high for another 3 or 4 hours. If however you are wanting to cook the chili over night, or you want it took cook while you are at the office or running errands, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 to 10 hours. If cooking overnight, you may also want to increase the amount of water from 3 1/2 to 4 cups as you will not be around to monitor the moisture content

Cost Benefit Ratio:

So lets look at the actual cost of our homemade chili versus that of three of the most popular commercially prepared chili's available on supermarket shelves here in Texas. I realize that in other parts of the country there may be different brands and prices may very, but the following prices are pertinent as of 11/2014 here in East Texas.

Hormel Chili Cook-off Series Texas Style $1.98 for 15oz can (0.13 cents per ounce)
Wolf Brand Chili, Texas Recipe No Beans $1.83 for 15oz can (0.12 cents per ounce)
Stag Chili with Beans $1.86 for 15oz can (0.12 cents per ounce)
Slow Cooker Chili $5.39 for 96 ounces (0.5 cents per ounce) A 50% Savings over store bought!


Breakdown of Slow Cooker Chili Cost:

Now the cost of your chili may vary, we typically buy hamburger in bulk or when it goes on sale at one of the Mexcian markets in Dallas/Ft. Worth Area (DFW) or Tyler as our local Walmart will price match. Looking at the sale ads and buying items when they are available at the best price like this can really cut your grocery bill signifigantly.

Hamburger $3.98 ($1.99 per pound), pinto beans 0.91 cents (0.7 cents per ounce), onion 0.20 cents (5lbs for $1.00), garlic 0.10 cents (approx), seasoning and spices 0.10 cents. Total price of about 5 cents per ounce (actually 5.6 cents per ounce) or 44 cents per serving. The reality of it is that this recipe probably has a higher meat to bean ratio than I would normally put in my chili. I usually use a ratio of 1lb or hamburger to 1 1/2  to 2 cups of beans which lowers the cost down to about 4 cents per ounce or 34 cents per serving.

Any way you look at it, making your own chili at home saves you 50% over commercially store bought chili's and the flavor as well as the nutritional value is greatly enhanced when you make your own chili. To validate the nutritional claim, let's look at the following ingredients list.

The Ingredients List:

So is making your own chili more healthy? In my opinion that is a definite yes! Just to emphasize my point, let's take a look at the ingredient list of the 'Hormel Chili Cook-off Series Texas Style' ingredients versus our homemade chili.

Hormel Texas Style: Water, Beef, Textured Vegetable Protein (Soy Flour, Caramel Color), Chili Powder (Chili Peppers, Flavoring), Corn Flour, Oatmeal, Concentrated Crushed Tomatoes, Contains 2% Or Less of Jalapeno Peppers (Contains Vinegar, Salt), Sugar, Flavoring, Hydrolyzed Soy, Corn, And Wheat Protein, Salt, Yeast Extract, Modified Cornstarch, Spices, Oleoresin of Paprika.

Slow Cooker Homemade: Beef, pinto beans, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, paprika, salt, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes and water.

Now I do not know about you, but if you are concerned about what you and your family eat, I definetely know whicih chili I would rather serve my loved ones. I am not saying that commercial chiili's are bad or that you should avoid them, I am simply stating that if you want non GMO ingredients, and wish to limit the extra stuff in pre-processsed foods that your family consumes, then making your own chili is far cheaper as well as being healthier for you and your loved ones.

I hope that you and your family will enjoy this recipe as much as mine does and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are not only saving money, but serving your family a far healthy meal that one out of the can.

Episode 2 - Homemade Chile and Chili Powder

Chile Powder

3 Ancho (Red Poblano) chile's, dried

3 Anaheim (California green chile) chile's, dried

3 New Mexico chile's dried

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
• Take a knife or kitchen shears and remove the stems of the peppers and split them lengthwise removing any loose seeds with your hand or knife.
• When all of the chiles are prepared, place them on a baking sheet in a single layer and place them in your preheated oven and roast for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the peppers on a plate or another baking sheet and allow them to cool. Leaving them on the hot baking sheet may cause them to burn which will result in a chile powder of poor quality and taste.
• Once the chiles have cooled break them up and place them in a spice grinder or coffee mill and process into a fine powder then store in an airtight container until needed.

Use any chiles you desire to give your chile powder its own unique flavor. Check out the 'Scoville Heat Index' for information on the heat of each individual chile grown. Now that you have your own chile powder, let's look at making our own special blend of chili powder to use in place of the variety of commercial blends you can find on your supermarket shelves.

Chili Powder

4 tablespoons chile powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

1 tablespoon paprika

• Combine dry ingredients into an airtight container and mix thoroughly. Use in dishes that call for chili powder such as chili, tacos, soups and casseroles.

Note: Many commercial chili powders add salt as an ingredient in their chili powders. I do not add salt to my chili powder as this allows me to increase the amount of chili powder in my dish per the recipe or personal preference without overloading the dish with sodium. Instead, I check the flavor of the dish before serving making any adjustments for salt and pepper as necessary.

Mediterranean and Mexican oregano are two different plants with a similar flavor. The most common form of oregano found on supermarket shelves is Mediterranean oregano simply labeled 'oregano'. Mexican oregano is stronger and less sweet making it more suited to the spicy, hot, cumin flavored dishes such as chili, tacos, salsa and other Mexican and TexMex dishes. Either can be used, but I prefer the Mexican oregano for my chili powders. No matter which you use, your homemade chili powder will beat the commercial blends hands down no doubt.

Episode 1 - Texas Style Chili

In this first episode we will be making an all-purpose chili which the official state food of the state of Texas. The ingredients of this chili can be easily adapted to fit your individual dietary needs without compromising the flavor and quality of the dish. Below the basic recipe I have included a list of the many variations I have made during the last 8 or 10 years depending on the occasion and guests with whom I would be dining. I hope you will enjoy this dish as much as my family and I do. 

Todd’s Texas Style Chili

1 pound ground beef, 80/20

1 (8oz) can tomato sauce

1 (15oz) can tomatoes diced

1 (15oz) can pinto beans

1 cup beef or chicken stock

1 large onion, diced

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 jalapeno, diced and seeds removed (optional)

• In a medium saucepan add 1 tablespoon olive oil and saute the onions until soft and translucent, then add garlic and saute until the meat is thoroughly browned. Add ground beef and cook until it is no linger pink.
• When meat is thoroughly browned add the beef stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce and the dry ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
• While the chili is simmering drain and rinse the pinto beans in a strainer. After 15 minutes has passed add the beans and bring the dish back to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook for another 45 to 60 minutes. Make sure you stir the chili occasionally to keep it from burning.
• Check seasoning and adjust salt and pepper per personal preference. Serve topped with freshly chopped onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

Note: If you do not have chicken or beef stock available, add water with 2 teaspoons bouillon powder. If using bouillon powder check the seasoning before adding the salt as some commercial powders are high in sodium and you may not need the additional salt. If you want a thicker chili, you can mix 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour or mass harina with 2 tablespoons with water and add during the last 15 – 20 minutes of the cooking process, personally, I prefer to cook my chili allowing it to reduce down to the desired thickness as this intensifies the flavors of the dish.

Variations:

Alamo Chili – Omit red pepper flakes and substitute two (8oz) cans of tomatoes & green chilies. If you cannot find a store brand you like, then I suggest you use Rotel brand tomatoes and green chilies.

Bunkhouse Chili – In this chili, I use equal parts red, pinto, and black beans in place of the pintos. I generally make this recipe when making a making a large batch for a group dinner. By tripling the recipe I simply use one can of each.

Salsa Verde Chili – Add one (8oz) can Green Mexican Salsa a.k.a. Salsa Verde. I use La Costena brand which is readily available at my local Walmart, it provides a medium heat, but any brand will do.

Smokey Hot Chili – Omit red pepper flakes and add 2 to 3 smoked chipotle peppers, minced. Chiptole peppers are canned smoked jalapeno’s in adobo sauce. They can be found in the Latin food isle of most major supermarkets, I use La Costena brand which is readily available at my local Walmart.

Smokehouse Chili – Substitute ¾ to 1 pound cooked leftover chopped brisket for the ground beef.

Vegetarian Chili – Saute one green bell pepper and 2 stalks of celery coarsely chopped with the onion. Use vegetable stock in place of the beef stock, and substitute one (15oz) can each of red,and black beans for the ground beef. Add one (15oz) can sweet corn liquid an all.