Chili, Chocolate and Chihuahuas
The Lovely Wife has jetted off to the great Midwest, leaving me behind to sort the pages of an unruly poetry manuscript in the company of Apollonia, the six-pound terror of Texas, and Ozymandias, her doting, but worried, twelve-pound shadow. As noon departs I note hunger’s first tentative touch, and head to the grocery store for supplies. I’m craving chili, but not having a particular recipe in mind, decide to see what strikes my fancy.
Ah, the sun at last!
No more rain, the yard’s drying.
Our dogs, shivering.
For my chili base I’ll sometimes toast dried ancho peppers, rehydrate and puree them, but I’ve recently replenished my chile powder stock (ancho, chipotle, New Mexico, cayenne, smoked paprika) and feel just a tad lazy, so I’ll use the powdered stuff. But I pick up a poblano, some jalapeños and two onions, and on my way to the meat counter, grab a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes and some spiced tomato sauce. I examine the beef and nothing entices me (ground beef is anathema, and don’t even mention beans!), but a few paces away I spy a small pork roast, and place it in my cart alongside a 16-oz bottle of Shiner Bock and a bag of chocolate chips.
Knowing my plans, the
cashier smiles and shakes her head.
Milk chocolate chips?
Shuffling the manuscript pages, I ask the dogs for their input. But Apollonia declines, preferring to nap in a sunbeam, and Ozzie is too busy pacing to bother with poetry. So I turn to the impending dinner, chop onion, dice peppers, mince garlic, measure out the various chile powders, cumin and oregano, cube the pork, and brown it in the Dutch oven.
Ozymandias
sits by the front door and moans.
Wind rattles the house.
Once the meat is seared, I saute the veggies, dump in the canned tomatoes and chile powder mixture, add the meat, coating it with the spices, and then pour in the Shiner Bock and heat it all to a near-boil before reducing the temperature and allowing it to simmer for an hour, at which point I stir in about four ounces of the chocolate chips and a teaspoon of garam masala. I let the chili simmer for another hour, then remove half of the pork, shred it with a fork (it’s very tender), and return it to the pot, stir, taste, and add a little salt. Done. I ladle out a bowl, pour a La Frontera IPA, and eat. Not bad, I think. Not bad at all for the first chili of the season.
Beer in hand, I burp,
the dogs stirring underfoot.
Only four more nights…
Aww! The dog looks desperate. But cute! I hope each day is as eventful as this one!
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Ozzie is indeed cute. It’s too bad that I can’t feed the dogs chili – we’ve enough for a much larger pack. 🙂
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Haha. I hope you get fed these 4 days. Your chili recipe is express and good.
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We’ll manage to eat. 🙂
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The absence of one’s ‘lovely wife’ creates a giant vacuum in stomach and soul.Your post described it so well!
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The dogs are almost always with her when we’re apart, and they don’t understand her absence.
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This is bloody beautiful. I will clink my coffee cup to your beer in salute, sir.
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Cheers! This morning it’s coffee. Later on? Who knows.
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You made me hungry, Robert. But alas, chili is not easy to come by here on this side of the world.
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Years ago we considered moving to Europe, with Italy being our likely choice. My main concern was poblano peppers. Where could I get them? But here I am, still in Texas.
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Well we all have our priorities. But if I had known I couldn’t get Sabrett hot dogs here. . .
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I do enjoy these gourmet sessions.
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Poetry makes me hungry!
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I could believe a tsp of cinnamon, or a tbsp of instant coffee, but chocolate chips? Hmm… Still, I have to credit you; my DH lives on frozen pasta dinners & sandwiches when I’m away.
Good thing your cute little pooch can’t eat chili; apparently chocolate is poison to them.
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I’ve been known to place a stick or two of cinnamon into chili. Chocolate isn’t as far-fetched as you might think – it’s used in some mole sauces. It’s quite nice in chili – acts as a thickener, sweetens it a bit, adds a richness that’s difficult to duplicate.
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Cinnamon red wine and black beans, tomatoes with chili spices and ground chuck.
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I’m in the beer and chunks of meat camp. 🙂
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Sounds delish!
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I’d never tried the pork chili with chocolate combination before, and found it to my liking. Tasty!
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You’re a man of many talents. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks, Belinda. I do manage to keep us fed. 🙂
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That sounds really good.
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A tasty meal for a cold night.
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Poetry, narrative, chili, and two dogs. Phenomenal collection of pleasures.
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The dogs are the greater of the pleasures. Right now they’re napping – Oz murmurs and grunts quite a bit, while Apollonia snuffles delicately from time to time. Delightful, homey sounds.
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So darn cute.
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They are! And sweet.
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RO wins the poetry cook-off, hands down.
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Ha! Am just about to heat a bowl of chili for lunch. Dunno what’s for dinner.
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Chocolate chips and garam masala! I’ve made plenty of chili in my day, but this I gotta try. Thanks for the inspiration!
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You’re very welcome. It’s made to my taste, and probably isn’t for everyone, but I like it. I’ve also tried garam masala in taco seasoning (I make my own) and even in an otherwise mostly traditional ragu.
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I love it! What a treat to have haibun treated so lightheartedly!
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Thanks, Nadia. I don’t usually write and post in real time (or nearly real time), but this was fun. The haiku are lacking, but they were written in the moment, and I enjoyed playing with the idea.
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What they lack in perfection of form they gain greatly in spontaneity. It’s almost like an internal joke. And it meshes well with the juxtaposition of working on a manuscript and the quotidian task of feeding oneself. That’s not well put, but I think you’ll know what I’m trying to say.
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Oh, yeah. Not everything has to be perfect. And it was fun – the writing, the cooking, the eating, and the dogs, of course.
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It is REALLY nice to know that there are others “out there” in the Interverse who know what haibun/zuihitsu are! 🙂
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I think the cooking, the verse and the prose go well together 🙂 Chilli and chocolate make a good team. I make spicy chocolate chip cookies with chilli as one of the ingredients – but only dark chocolate, please!
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Oh, chiles and chocolate go well together. I make a great ancho fudge pie that’s to die for.
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What REALLY like about this post is how your “mundane” life is woven through the poetry or vice versa. Publishing poetry leaves out the fascinating parts of life that lead to the poetry, so to have your daily prose mixed with poetic verse symbiotically is a real treat.
The supposedly “mundane” in life is much more fascinating than what ends up on our resumes. So thanks for including the existential poetry of meat and masala in your life. 美しい!
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I celebrate the ordinary, Daniel. That’s where life exists.
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All the lovely variations of chili and beer. The spontaneity of this post was a lot of fun. I really appreciate (ground beef is anathema), My friend’s Mom in San Antonio who taught me to make chili said very negative things about ground beef. I make a nice mole sauce with chocolate to use on post-Thanksgiving turkey tacos and a nice pork green chili recipe I love. Now I have to go make dinner, my mouth is watering.
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I consider chili a stew, and I don’t make any other stew with ground meat. And I prefer the taste and texture of a braised meat. But that’s just my personal take on chili. It’s not a quick dish, but an evolved, layered one. At least that’s my hope. 🙂
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Did someone say dinner? Your recipe sounds awesome!! Here’s to four days of food adventures. Great post, Cute pup 😃
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Thanks, Dorinda. The pups are very cute, and much fun.
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Mmmmm, I’m hungry now! Sounds delete full. I am procrastinating about dinner. I think men cook way better… Jx
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I enjoy the process – from shopping for ingredients to dicing, chopping, organizing and timing various elements, even washing the dishes as I go along. 🙂
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i very much enjoyed this cooking story/poem. if you run out of chili and make another grocery run may i suggest, pork steak, the blade bone in cut. marinate for 4 or 5 hours in red wine vinegar, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, a little canola oil, fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary. along with as much garlic as you can handle. chilies would be nice too. perhaps a fresh serrano or a fresno. a very hot grill and maybe 4 minutes a side. enjoy! it’s what was for dinner last night along with a local zinfandel.
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i forgot the brown sugar and honey.
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Got it.
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Wow, John. This sounds delicious. We roasted a five-spice powder marinated pork tenderloin a couple of weeks ago. It was also very tasty, especially in sandwiches. I’m craving rice today, so I may prepare a simple fried rice dish. Or not. It’s too early to think about dinner. A late breakfast is in order!
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pork tenderloin is under consideration for the family christmas dinner. or maybe a nice pork shoulder. or prime rib. or… sadly no ham. none of the nephews like ham. what’s up with that?
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I’d go with the ham. Let them eat cake. 🙂
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exactly. however, i still have to live with my wife so it probably isn’t going to happen.
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Well, yeah.
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Exquisite.
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Thank you.
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inspired chili recipe.
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Thank you, Lois.
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Lovely little story! Elegant and warm. Your talent is delightfully rich and versatile.
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Thanks, Pat. The chili was certainly warm and rich!
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Love the poetic turn of phrase as you talk about cooking. It gives an ethereal light to what might otherwise seem like a mundane task. Your dogs sound like they are full of personality!
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I specialize in the mundane! 🙂 Yes, the pooches are full of life and mischief. Much fun.
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But I think it takes a great talent to take mundane experiences and make them interesting! My kitties are also full of fun! Animals are great
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Thank you. I firmly believe that the mundane isn’t so, well, mundane. It’s extraordinary in its own way.
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Reading this, I feel good.
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It’s probably the chocolate!
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Now to add “recipes and cooking” to the ways you inspire. 😉 Thank you for inspiring me to start writing again. The day-to-day is our greatest fodder. ;))
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Thank you for your kind words. The once-in-a-lifetime occurrences can be wonderful, but I don’t think I’d like a steady diet of them. The day-to-day is where I live, where I find what some might call inspiration.
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Reblogged this on Taralinda Muses and commented:
Really enjoy this Poet’s writing- and now recipes!
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Thanks for reblogging! I love to cook, but don’t write about it much these days. At least not in a linear fashion. 🙂
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Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness.
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Thanks for reblogging.
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Oh yum! The chili and the haiku.
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The chili was far better than the haiku, but I had fun doing both. 🙂
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Prose and verse combination much appreciated. More! – Wm. Eaton, Montaigbakhtinian
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There are always second helpings of chili in our house!
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A little late reading this recipe. Two things I would change. Fresh green cayenne is a must for good chili, and where I’m from chili without beans ain’t chili…..
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Hmm. I’ve never tried fresh green cayenne, but would certainly be willing! But as far as beans go, no true Texan would allow them in chili. There was quite a big controversy about the bean issue in Texas chili approximately fifty years ago, and I stand with the victors. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂 Of course, when making vegetarian chili, I use beans – either black or pintos. My sister uses kidney beans in her regular chili, which I believe renders her ineligible to vote in Texas.
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I spent a lot of years in central Texas and that is where I learned to use beans to make the best chili. Try it with dark kidney beans and get a surprise. I grow my own cayenne and prefer it to all others. The Bohemians around Temple understand the art of chili more than any place I’ve ever been,
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Ackkkkk! Those Temple heathens! They also likely used ground beef (which is what I grew up with in Central Texas). The dish developed as a beef and chile concoction, with no mention of beans in historical accounts (as if that mattered). We’ll have to disagree on this one. 🙂
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Lovely dog–and the recipe for the chile sounds good–thanks for sharing!
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Thank you.
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Beautiful dog..!! Beautiful picture..!!
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Ozymandias is indeed beautiful, and quite the character. Thank you.
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You’re welcome Robert..!!! : o )
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My pleasure Ozymandias..!!! : o )
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“Ruff, ruff,” Ozzie says, which is Chihuahua for “thank you,” or “rub my belly,” or “have you any bacon”?
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As I am a great lover of chili, chowders, and soups.. and have an adorable 10 lbs worth of trouble, in the form of a RatChi, which is to say, part Rat Terrier, and part Chihuahua; I loved this peice.. and all others I have read here.
Namaste ~
Elyse
mselyse.com
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Thank you, Elyse. Years ago we adopted an elderly RatChi. What an attitude! We loved Maury, and enjoyed his presence for five years before he succumbed to old age.
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