Thursday, December 12, 2019

There's Something To Be Said For Mindless Repetition

Wednesday morning, I started brewing a cauldron of chili as soon as I got up. It WAS already 10:00 a.m. So not an outrageous hour for chili. I'd gathered my ingredients the day before. As soon as I popped my morning thyroid pill with a full glass of water, I set to work.

Let the record show that Mrs. HM does not claim to be a four-star Michelin chef. She barely cooks anything from scratch. Doesn't follow a recipe. I've made chili so many times that I can do it on autopilot.

I put the ground beef in two skillets to brown. We always have a large pot of chili, to last four days minimum, and Farmer H is quite the carnivore. As the beef simmered, I put stale bread along the edge to soak up the grease, for a dog treat. The dogs love chili day!

I also opened my cans of beans on the cutting block, and dumped them in the pot. Two chili beans, a large can of Save A Lot baked beans, black-eyed peas, diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano, and tomato sauce. Then I added a packet and a half of powdered chili seasoning, and a can of water.

I set that on the back burner, and started the wet ingredients. A dash of Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, Heinz 57 sauce, BBQ sauce, ketchup, Frank's Original Hot Sauce, and some minced garlic from a jar. I brought it to a boil, then simmered for 10 minutes. Thing is, I couldn't taste the chili, because I can't eat until an hour after my thyroid pill.

By now, the ground beef was done. I scraped it into the pot, and set about dicing two onions to brown in the greasy skillet. I scraped them into the pot, turned it off, and went to have a rest in the La-Z-Boy. 45 minutes had elapsed.

After about 30 minutes of computer time on Hippie, I returned to the kitchen, gave my cauldron a stir, and took a taste. Mmm...nothing else needed!

Nailed it! Without even a taste. Farmer H said it had a really good flavor.

4 comments:

River said...

Sounds like something both my sons would love, but since they already make their own versions I won't tell them abut yours. I don't eat the stuff myself. Hot things like chilli and curries etc set off my rosacea, so I feel like my turning tomato red face is blowing up like a balloon, even though it isn't. The feeling is actually painful and can last a few days, so I no longer eat the foods that cause this reaction.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
Yes, people have their own version, and that's the one they judge all others against. Mine is not very spicy. It's diluted with the assorted beans, and a lot of sauces to counteract the chili powder.

I used to work with a guy whose wife had rosacea. Her face turned red, but I didn't know it hurt, too. She had to watch what she ate.

River said...

A flare-up doesn't always hurt, it depends on the individual and what they ate to cause the flare up. I can get a flare up from too many coffees in an afternoon, but it doesn't hurt, I can just feel the flush coming on and then leaving a few minutes later. But accidental chilli on a pizza or anywhere else, is a more severe reaction, that's why I'm careful to specify when ordering, because when cooked on a pizza, it can look like capsicum (sweet bell pepper).

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
I occasionally get a flush from Diet Coke. I guess it's the caffeine. Doesn't happen often. No rhyme nor reason.