Chili and cornbread, with a fake beer for a fake newsman.
The wind was howling like all the banshees in Ireland and the weather wizards were making snow noises, so last night I cooked a basic chili con carne to stave off pneumonia, chilblains, and the Galloping Never-Get-Overs.
This recipe, from Melissa Clark at The New York Times, is a favorite. It calls for ground lamb, white beans and poblanos, but I went with ground chicken thighs, pintos, and a mix of green bell peppers and Hatch chile.
And this morning is as you see.
Naturally there are onions, garlic, ground Hatch red chile, jalapeños, cumin, coriander, Mexican oregano and other bits of this and that.
This version is not nearly as richly flavored as the original, and for that I blame the chicken thighs. Ground turkey thighs might have been a better substitute, but that would have meant a trip to Keller’s, where the vast meat counter encourages deficit spending.
Likewise, poblanos would have been preferable to the bell peppers, but roasting them in that wind might have brought the fire marshals.
Herself contributed some delicious cornbread and a green salad (not pictured) fortified with clementine segments to ward off scurvy.
Beans and cornbread don’t always fight. Sometimes they go hand in hand, like corned beef and cabbage.
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