I love weather where I can get up want to put on clothes and  warm food like oatmeal for breakfast!  This morning I turned on the space heater in the office for a bit.  This means it’s time to cook things that will give me quick comfort food during the colder weather.

One of my favorites  for winter is chilli con carne–a version that I learned from a cook who spoke no English,  by watching it being made.  I’ve only made one modification to that original “recipe”–and that has been to add some sun-dried tomatoes; otherwise, it’s as I saw it made originally.

This is not a recipe that has fixed amounts–you’re going to have to taste and season it to suit yourself.  It’s a bit time consuming, but since it’s a large quantity and freezes well, it’s well worth the time and effort.

You can manipulate the “heat” by leaving in some seeds from the chile peppers, or by adding cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to achieve the desired hotness.  I usually leave the seeds in about half the chile peppers–I’d consider it mild to moderate in heat, depending on the particular batch of chile peppers.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices bacon or fatback minced, browned and reserved
• 6 to 8 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 3 pounds beef, diced or coarsely ground
• 3 pounds pork, diced or coarsely ground (shoulder preferred to loin)
• 4-5 chipotle peppers in adobo (1 small can)
• 2-3 dried ancho chilli peppers, toasted and crumbled (seeds removed)
• 2-3 dried guajillo or pasilla  negro chilli peppers, toasted and crumbled (seeds removed)
• 1/2 cup minced garlic
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup masa harina, toasted; cornmeal can be substituted if you don’t have masa harina)
• 32 ounces of beef broth/stock
• kosher salt to taste (approximately 3 teaspoons)

Assembling the chili:

1. In a large dutch oven, sauté bacon until brown and crisp; remove and reserve.
2. Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of fat, reserving excess, and add the chopped onions; cooking slowly until caramelized.
3. Meanwhile, toast the dried chilli peppers by holding in the flame of a burner until aromatic.  Remove seeds and crumble.
4. Toast the masa harina in a small skillet and set aside.
5. Add cumin and coriander to the onions and sauté until aromatic.
6. Add garlic and sauté for about 1 minute.  Remove to a bowl and set aside.
7. Add additional bacon fat if needed, and brown meats in small batches, transferring to the bowl with other ingredients.
8. Remove excess fat from dutch oven, and deglaze by adding beef stock.
9. Transfer meats and other ingredients from the bowl to dutch oven, add chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and salt.  Stir in the toasted masa harina.
10. Cover tightly and place the dutch oven in a very low (275 ° to 295 ° F) oven and allow to cook for approximately 4-6 hours, tasting and adjusting seasoning as needed.  Add water or more stock if it becomes too dry, but I prefer this to be a thick chili.

I’ve tried this once in a crock-pot or slow cooker, and just not been happy with the final result.  I think that the oven cooking allows just enough evaporation and concentration to do good things with the flavor that just cannot be gotten with a crock-pot.  It was certainly edible when done in the crock-pot, but just lacked a little something.  Were I doing this in hot weather, I’d certainly use the crock-pot, but since the weather is cooler now, the oven heat is not a problem, and I get to savor the aroma as it cooks.