Chili
From: Kevin Goebel
Serves 6 - 8
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground round
4 large (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 large (30 ounce) can kidney beans
1/2 to 3/4 bunch chopped celery (approximately 6 cups)
1 large coarsely chopped onion (approximately 2 1/2 cups)
1 can (13 ounce) mushrooms - stems and pieces
2 to 4 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 jalepeņo pepper (optional)
2 cloves finely chopped garlic (optional)
Procedure:
Brown the ground round in 2 large skillets (cast-iron preferred), add onion, garlic, and celery while browning. Use a spatula or knife to roughly chop up tomatoes while they are still in cans. Add the tomatoes and rest of ingredients.
Edible after 30 minutes of simmering, tastes better after 60-90 minutes of cooking. Excellent to cook the night before and let it sit. I usually have a few buttered saltine crackers with this dish. This chili freezes well.
An option to canned mushrooms that I've tried in the past are strongly flavored dry mushrooms (found in some groceries, health food stores and gourmet shops). Unlike the canned mushrooms, added for texture and visual appeal, the dried mushrooms are strong enough to flavor the chili. I usually pre-soak 1/2 to 3/4 cup of dried mushrooms in a measuring cup for a couple of hours before starting the chili, and then add them (and the liquid) to the chili when I add the tomatoes
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