Dad's Chili

We’ve had a lot of upheaval in our house recently, and I have been itching for comfort food. We all have those foods that make us feel warm and happy. One of mine is my dad’s chili. I had no point of reference for chili that wasn’t my dad’s until we moved to Texas, and I found out that people have OPINIONS about what constitutes chili. It makes me smile, and I recognize that what my family calls chili most other people would call soup.

My father is not the cook in our family. I have very few memories of dad cooking, but every time I remember him in the kitchen he was making some sort of soup. He made lots of soups that I have since found are traditionally made thicker (chowder, chili, corn soup), but that were much thinner when I was growing up. He really likes thin soup over any sort of stew or thicker soup, and he would fiddle with his recipe until what he ended up with fit his palate exactly. My father loves soup so much mom would turn traditional Filipino foods into soup just so he could enjoy it more. That makes visiting Filipino restaurants interesting to say the least.

This chili recipe is much more like a Santa Fe soup, and absolutely can take a bit of cheese, sour cream, and cilantro as garnish. I remember my father working through adjusting this recipe for a while before he found one he liked. I finally asked for the recipe when I was in my early 20s, and in the fashion of our family, I got a list of ingredients and an instruction to do everything “to taste.” Since none of us can be bothered to write out an actual recipe, all of us make this just a bit differently than my father, and our family consensus is that dad makes it best.

Dad's Chili

I garnished it with shredded cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, and fresh cilantro, but feel free to use what you like.

I like using avocado oil because it’s a great all purpose, neutral oil. I also get a lot of our spices whole and in bulk. We had sweet onions on hand, but feel free to use any onion you have on hand. If you don’t like crushed tomatoes, feel free to use your preferred type of tomato.

While this dish comes together quickly, it gets better the longer it sits. This means that the aromatics don’t need to be diced super finely.

I tend to eyeball the measurements when I’m adding spices. If you don’t like one of the spices, don’t add it! You can make whatever changes make sense to you.

I like to have all the spices mixed together before they go into the pot. I feel like it makes it easier to give all the flavours time to develop when I fry it in the leftover oil.

Once i have the meat going, I like to keep the onion, garlic, and peppers close by so that they can be added quickly. This dish really moves quickly, and I have definitely been caught on the hop by not having all the ingredients prepped before hand.

Add the onions and cook until translucent.

Add the garlic and stir it constantly until you just begin to smell the garlic.

Add the bell peppers and stir. You can add a pinch of salt here if you’d like. I add just a pinch here to help the bell peppers soften. The bit of extra moisture also makes it easier to stir the spice mix through.

It’s really easy to burn spices when you add them before you add the majority of liquid. Feel free to turn down the heat a bit before you add it.

Keep the mixture in the pot moving so nothing sticks. The idea is to get everything coated with the spice mixture. After a minute or so you should be able to smell the spices frying a bit.

Once you can smell the spices, add in the tomato and stir through. Make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.

I like a lot of broth in my soups, so I added 72 ounces of water. Feel free to adjust the water level depending on how brothy you like your soup.

Add the French Onion soup packet.

Add the Worcestershire sauce. My wooden spoon holds about a tablespoon of liquid, so that’s the measuring spoon I use.

While the chili is coming to a boil, go ahead and prep the beans. I like to pour all three kinds of beans into a strainer and then rinse really well under running water.

Add the beans, and bring back to a boil. The chili ready to eat as soon as as the beans are heated through, but feel free to simmer for longer. It’s even better the next day.

Dad’s Chili: Serves 6-8

• 1 pound ground beef - any ground meat can be used, but this is what dad usually uses

• 1 tablespoon neutral oil, if needed

• 1 large onion, diced

• 1 large green bell pepper, diced

• 3-4 large garlic cloves, crushed and roughly chopped

• 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin

• 1/2 tablespoon paprika

• 4-6 tablespoons chili powder

• 14-ounces crushed tomato

• 1 packet French Onion Soup mix

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 14-0unce can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 14-ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 14-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

If using, heat oil in heavy bottom pot, then brown ground meat on medium-high heat. Once browned, you can drain some of the fat if desired. Using the leftover oil, add the diced onions and stir until the onions become translucent. Add the crushed, chopped garlic and stir through until fragrant (1-2 minutes), then add the diced bell pepper and cook for about 1 minute.

Add the ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika, and chili powder to the pot and stir through. Stir continuously until the spices are totally saturated in the remaining oil and moisture in the pot. Frying the spices lightly creates an additional depth of flavour.

After a minute or so, add the crushed tomato and stir to combine. Make sure none of the spices are sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add 48-72 ounces of water, then add the French Onion soup mix and Worcestershire sauce. Stir through and simmer for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add the black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans. Bring back to a boil and add salt to taste.

Garnish as desired.