This week’s bean dish was chili with vaquero beans. My original plan for this week was a lentil dish, but after rummaging around in the basement freezer, I realized we had tomatoes, tomato paste, and beef, so a nice hearty bowl of chili came to mind. Perfect for today’s snowstorm, which dropped four inches of snow on us.

I used a conglomeration of three recipes: This one from Rancho Gordo, my mom’s, and this one from Serious Eats.

It had:

• 1lb cubed beef from Hemlock Hill Farm, down the road from us
• 1lb Vaquero beans
• 2 Red onions
• Garlic
• Dried chiles (ancho, mulato, pasilla, and guajillo)
• Mexican oregano
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Tomatoes from our garden
• Homemade tomato paste
• Beef broth
• 1 can of lager
• Fish sauce
• Chocolate
• Worcestershire sauce
• Bourbon
• Salt
• Pepper
• Turbinado sugar

I liked the vaquero beans. They have great coloring, which they retain even after cooking. They also mostly retain their shape. They I soaked the beans for about 6 hours before cooking them, which sped up the cooking time.

A few thoughts on the chili:

• I think this was my first time making chili with a bean other than kidney. I think it is worth experimenting more in the future.
• I prefer cubed beef to ground beef, as it gives a more beefy flavor. It does take longer to cook though.
• I started using dried chiles instead of powder in 2017, and I’m probably never going back. They add more depth to the flavor. I toast them, soak them in boiling water for 10 minutes, take the seeds out, then blend them with some broth and tomato paste. The blended mixture goes into the pot.
• The fish sauce, chocolate, Worcestershire sauce, and bourbon were tips from J. Kenji to build up the flavor complexity and umami. Mostly recommended. I might skip the bourbon and sugar next time, though I’m curious how the flavors will meld in the fridge overnight. I tasted it before and after adding the bourbon at the end, and I think it stood out a little too much for me.

I prefer Fritos with my chili:

I rarely make the same recipe twice. I can’t resist riffing on it and adapting to what we have on-hand. That said, there are elements of this I’d use in a future batch. I only make chili once a year or so. Perhaps I should make it more.