It's cold. Make Chili!

Winter is not exactly my favorite time of year. I mean, I like snow. I like sweaters, and turtlenecks, and hats. I like making soups and hearty food. But....BRRRRRRR it's freakin' cold out right now! Too cold to be outside. Someone should really tell that to my dog, Snickers, who seems not to notice, and wants the usual long walk every day. Oh hell to the no, little doggie.
Wait, what was my point? Oh yeah...soup/warm hearty food. CHILI. Mmmmm....
So very many ways to make chili. Beef, turkey, chicken, vegetarian. Black bean, pinto bean, white bean, kidney bean. I like them all. Today, I am going to give you my favorite recipe for good old beef chili. Whenever I make this, people stare as I add the ingredients, but once they taste it, they are hooked. I can't take full credit for the recipe. About a million years ago, I worked in a French Bistro in Philadelphia called Odeon. At the time (1988), it was groundbreaking. The first wine cruvinet in the city. A beautiful setting, with very authentic French cuisine. In the back of the house, though, family meal was always a wonderful ethnic melting pot. The pastry chef, Marcia Laskos, loved to cook as well, and she entered her recipe in a chili contest with the newspaper, and won. This recipe here is tweaked from Marcia's. I learned a lot from her. She was also my favorite barstool buddy after our shift was over. Odeon had the BIGGEST martini glasses I have ever seen...

If you are planning a party for the upcoming big football game, or want a good one pot meal, here you go. Make the chili, bake some cornbread, crack a beer, and enjoy.

2-3 pounds coarse ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 TB minced garlic
1 red and 1 green pepper, diced
1/2 pound bacon, diced (you can leave this out if you don't eat pig)
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup strong coffee
1 cup beer
1 chipotle chili, or 1 TB chipotle paste
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 TB ground cumin
1/2 cup dark ground chili powder
1 TB dried oregano
2 small cans of kidney beans or pinto beans, rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon until it starts to render fat. Add onions, pepper and garlic. Cook until starting to brown. Add meat, and cook until no longer pink. Add tomatoes and all other ingredients, up to the salt and pepper. Simmer for one hour or more. Skim any fat that has risen to the surface. Taste and season.
Take the cinnamon stick out before serving!
You absolutely can substitute ground turkey or chicken with this recipe, and if you leave out the bacon, it becomes pretty healthy!
Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped onion, cornbread, whatever else you like.
Beer or a full bodied South American red goes well.

Stay warm. We'll do some more soup recipes in the coming days.