Chili, like stew, is something that is best with variations to each batch. Here is a plan, not a recipe, for chili.
Fill a 3-gallon stock pot about one-quarter full with dry beans (usually pinto). Be sure to go through the beans and remove any dirt clods and rocks and yucky looking ones. Rinse them off and put them in the pot. Add water to the pot until there is at least twice as much water as beans. Bring to a boil, turn heat off, and wait one hour (or just cover with water and let soak overnight, it's a 0-carbon method but I rarely remember the night before). Drain of as much liquid as you want — none, half, or all. Return all beans to pot.
Cook up about two pounds hamburgers with onions and maybe some green pepper and garlic. I cook hamburger with onions and green peppers in large batches and freeze for later in 4-cup containers. One or two containers is about right.
Add water to at least two inches above the level of the beans. Add ingredients:
- cooked hamburger with onion and green pepper
- about one tablespoon salt
- about 2 cups of tomato paste or about 4 cups crushed tomatoes or sauce
- about 2 tablespoons molases
- enough chili powder to look right and taste right, maybe 1/3C to 2/3C
- if you have tons of zucchini, throw in up to 8 cups of grated zucchini
GRANOLA BARS
Mix and spread out on a cookie sheet:
- 4 cups rolled oats (quick or regular)
- 1 cup wheat germ or bran
- 1 cup seeds — we like sunflower seed
- 1 cup chopped nuts — we like almonds
Pour toasted mixture into bowl. Add:
- 1-1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup oil — we like olive oil
Put back in oven for 14 minutes. Pull out and let cool overnight. Next day, work a spatula under one side and run around sides, then slide out in single piece onto cutting board. Cut into little squares and keep in air-tight container.
PANCAKE SYRUP
Mix 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar (organic, fair trade), and 1/2 teaspoon mapleine. Bring to boil for 2-3 minutes. Cool and serve.
PEPPERONI
3 lbs. of ground meat (beef or pork or mixture)
4 teaspoons liquid smoke
4 teaspoons black pepper
4 teaspoons mustard seed
4 teaspoons fennel seeds
4 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
2 heaping teaspoons curing salt
Mix everything together and chill in frig for 2-3 days. Roll into two-inch diameter logs and place on roasting pan. Dry in "warm" oven (170F) for 7 hours. Turn the logs every two hours. Slice or eat whole.
HOMESTEAD BREAD
This is just a normal bread recipe, modified for the things we can grow on our own land.
Mix:
- 4-1/2 C wheat, ground into flour
- 1/4 C flaxseed, ground
- 1 T yeast
- 1/4 C sugar
- 2 T gluten
- 1 T salt
- 1 C cream
- enough milk to total 3-1/4 C
ZUCCA BARS
Mix:
2 C winter squash, cooked, pureed
1-1/3 C sugar
3/4 C cream (or a little bit less vegetable oil)
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
2 C whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
Pour into greased 11"x17" pan. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes.
WHEAT CRACKERS
I love these crackers. It's a miracle if any survive longer than 24 hours.
Mix:
2 C whole wheat flour, finely ground
1/3 C sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T gluten
Add in a blender and mix until crumbley:
3 T butter
Then add and knead well:
1/2 C milk
You can roll these out and cut up. I use my pasta maker set at the largest settling and then lay the flats on a greased cookie sheet. Cut the sheets up on the cookies sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350ºF for 12-14 minutes. Cool completely.
