Cold, snowy day after Christmas + Head Cold Tommie = CHILI!
I haven't made this recipe since last winter, because it takes 3-4 hours to make, and the rest of the year I'm somewhere out on my bike rather than indoors cooking all day. But in the winter, especially on a snowy day, this is the perfect activity.
I also went ahead and baked a loaf of "Lighter Wheat" bread (see picture) from my Bread Baker's Apprentice cookbook. This bread baking thing is not as hard as I thought it would be. With my eternal quest to control all substances that enter my stomach, I'm happy to have overcome my initial trepidation and am now on my second type of sandwich bread as well as homemade bagels.
Anyway, enough on the bread. As I said, the chili takes forever to make, because the recipe calls for dried beans. None of the steps is really difficult to do, so if you have an afternoon free, this is a rewarding dish that makes your home smell very yummy, and the result is a completely authentic tasting chili. I can't put down John Grisham's newest book, "The Confession," so I had a great afternoon of primarily reading while the bread and chili did their things in the kitchen. Come to think of it, I also fit in a half-hour of yoga while they were cooking. Wow. I actually accomplished a lot this afternoon. Huh.
I was tempted to give this dish 4.5 stars because of the time factor, but the truth is, it is too good, so it gets 5 stars. Oh, and BTW, I dumped in like 4 heavy shakes of cayenne pepper to add some kick. It's not in the recipe, but I just feel like chili should make your mouth tingle.
