Chili con Carne

A spicy, meaty, American classic - perfect for a stormy evening at home

What can I say? Although I grew up in an Israeli home, I was still in California and you cannot escape that influence (why would you want to?)

One day, I was seriously missing home, so I went to the local Tiv Ta'am - a supermarket with imported flavors for us ex-pats. I found spices for Chili - and I knew immediately what I wanted to do next.

But how can I serve Dan Chili con Carne without a bread bowl and cheddar cheese? So I bought some cheddar cheese and went out in search of a sourdough bread bowl. I found nothing. So I decided to bake bread bowls at home. I'm saving that adventure for another post because I ate the chili con carne in a normal bowl, with cheddar cheese, and it was fantastic.

If I were being true to the tradition, I would serve it not only with shredded cheddar, but also with fresh, chopped onions on top. But I'm allergic - so I left that out.

If you keep kosher - you can also serve it without cheddar. It's still delicious.

So how do you make chili con carne with no tomatoes and no onions? Let me tell you:

Ingredients:

1/2 k"g ground beef

1 eggplant - cubed

1 red bell pepper - chopped

2 carrots- chopped

1 hot pepper - chopped

4 cloves garlic - chopped

2 tbsp gluten free soy sauce

1 tbsp date/maple syrup

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1.5 tbsp chili spice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cinammon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sweet paprika

2 spoons oil

1.5 cups water

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a deep pot

2. Cook ground beef and spices (only 0.5 tbsp of the chili spice at this point!)

3. Once the meat browns, add the garlic and hot pepper. Saute another minute

4. Add in the veggies (not the beans) and stir. Let cook, covered, for 2 minutes. Stir. Add a pinch of salt.

5. Add the soy sauce and date/maple syrup. Stir

6. Add the beans, stir. Add another pinch of salt and the rest of the chili. Stir.

7. Add the water. Stir.

8. Cover the pot and let cook for 30 minutes.

9. Uncover the pot, stir, and let cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

10. Once the sauce thickens, serve!

Serve in a bowl (or bread bowl), with shredded cheddar on top, and fresh bread on the side. Enjoy!

If you have leftovers, that's great! It tastes even better the next day: