CHILI

If America should have a "national food" of record, I believe that chili should be given serious consideration. I fixed a pot this morning and have felt good all day. Chili does that for a man. It is both robust and subtle. As for taste, hmmmnn, hmmmnnn, good!

While many do not feel that they can take the time to prepare a good pot of chili, reaching instead for a tv dinner/frozen entree, I find the preparation enjoyable. My appetite is honed as I add each ingredient. As the food simmers, I enjoy the scent it emits. I even like the bubbling of the brewing chili.

As I cook, I often find myself humming a song or bursting into song. Folks, when you can sing, you don't need a radio--and I can sing!

One of the interesting things about preparing the pot of chili is that the odor changes as different ingredients are added. I never tired of it at all, and the scents worked on my imagination something fierce. Well, there it is! I'm exposed as being an ogre. People, I can put away some food! (I realise that such commentary opens me up for serious criticism from that crowd which is much concerned with global foodstocks.)

I never really get fat. My body is a high-burner, I guess.

Today, I put a very large pot-skillet on a gas stovetop, and began. My first cooking effort had been rice, so, after removing the greater part of that to a container, I left a respectable amount in the pot. After pouring in more water, I added navy and black beans, which I had ground to powder in my coffee bean grounder, and stirred it into the rice & water brew. At the same time as this was happening, I was defrosting a package of frozen , low-fat beef (ground) in a microwave. I put into the pot a good sprinkling of chili powder, black pepper, red "hot" pepper seeds, Italian herbs, garlic (3 cloves-diced)and onion (one-diced). After stirring these ingredients, I added a can of Hunt's tomato sauce, the ground beef, a diced tomato, two small, diced, redskin potatoes, and six diced baby carrots. Now, this wasn't rushed, and I got to savor the scent of each, as it joined the mix. More chili powder was added, as well as black pepper. Another can of Hunt's tomato sauce, and a can of Walnut Acres organic baked beans were added. The latter due to my prejudice that bean-based chili should "show" some whole beans. All these and a bit more herbs and I'm done, but for the stirring into a proper texture and appearance.

As I certainly planned to eat a part of my chili as soon as possible, I prepared a "background" for the chili to rest upon. My choice was four jumbo eggs, which were partially cooked, covered with Sargento sharp cheddar cheese, and reheated. When this base was completed and crowned with chili, I felt like a king. Some may sneer: "a hobo king!" I'm not offended at all. I am a "man of the road." And for me, a big bowl or plate of chili is the American food of record.