Ryan and Taylor Do Planet Earth: 3 Bean Pumpkin Chili

So I've been on a fall foods kick and what says fall more than chili. I saw this recipe on Meet Me In The Kitchen for Black Bean Pumpkin Chili and thought, hmmm pumpkin + chili = totally fall. So I figured I'd give in a try but between looking at the recipe and making my way to the kitchen, it took on a life of its own.Now, if you're like me you like your chili thick, chunky and spicy. My dad makes the best chili I have EVER had. Every fall, for as long as I can remember, my dad would get out this HUGE pot (So big a small child can fit in it. In fact there have been many children pulled around the house in this pot, predominately I remember Brianna hiding in the pot.) And in would go cans and cans of whole, peeled tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, and who knows what else. And after what seemed like days of simmering on the stove, we'd have chili... for a year. The chili would go into the freezer and we'd take some out to eat or to take people's houses to eat. It was delicious! It still is delicious and I hope there's a bag ready to be pulled out of the freezer when I'm home in December (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

There's More...

Since I've been living on my own, I've made chili a couple of times. Never has it been like home, but still its always been better then that watery runny stuff you get in a can or at a restaurant. Anyways, pumpkin in this batch really made me excited.

Now as you know, we don't buy canned goods so for me this was a little labor intensive. I happen to be the kind of person that enjoys being in the kitchen. I don't mind chopping and peeling and separating one bit actually. There's something relaxing about it, for me that is.

Below you'll find what I did and a few notes for what I'll do next time. This would be a perfect thing to take to a football party or to serve on a cold day. It is also especially great if you serve Cream Cheese Stuffed, Carmel Topped Pumpkin Muffins as dessert.

If you're a household of two, like we are, this will make A TON of chili, so you, like my Dad, will have chili in the freezer for quite some time.

Before we get started here's a little note on beans:

This is what you shouldn't do with your beans. Your bean water and beans should be in the same container, preferably with an inch of water covering the beans.

I buy dry beans because they're a ton cheaper and frankly I don't know if you can buy canned beans here. Beans are tricky at high altitude because if you don't soak them, they can take days to cook. Seriously. I buy a 500g bag of black beans, 500g bag of red beans and a 500g bag of frutilla beans (similar to pinto beans). I put them all in a pot with water covering them at least an inch. It's important to pay attention to the beans to make sure they always have water covering them. I leave the beans soak for at least 24 hours. Then I put them on the stove with the lid slightly ajar on the lowest possible heat. You can add whatever you'd like to the water to add flavor to the beans. There's a controversy over adding salt. Some people say they dry them out; some people seem not to mind. I've added bullion cubes before, which are loaded with salt, and they've turned out fine. Now, because I'm making so many beans, I know that I'm going to freeze them. So I cook them to al dente. That way when you heat them back up to reuse you don't have bean mash. Instead you have nice, in tact beans. I put them in medium sized tupperware containers, filled 3/4 to the top with beans and then covered with the bean water. This is important because if they don't have their water when you reheat them, they'll be dry. Then the beans are ready to take out of the freezer when you need them!

Now if you don't want to work with dry beans, canned beans will do the trick as well! You can mix and match any quantity of the beans, just so long as you end up with 3lbs of cooked beans.

Back to the chili:

Ingredients:

1 tbsp sunflower oil, or any oil

2 onions, chopped

3 bell peppers, chopped

10 cloves of garlic, minced

2lbs of tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and rough chopped*

10 jalepenos, de-seeded and chopped**

3 lbs of the cooked three bean mixture with bean water

2 lbs of pumpkin mash***

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp aji powder or any hot pepper powder

2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp aji flakes or red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp jalepeno powder

1 tbsp freshly dried basil

1 tsp aji oil (if you don't have flavored oil, regular oil will do just fine)

2 tsp of cajun seasoning (homemade Bogdan special if you've got it)

Optional: 1 kilo of ground beef, turkey or chicken

Directions:

Put the oil onion, peppers and garlic in a large pot over low heat.

If using meat, add the meat with the onion, peppers and garlic.

Cook until veggies aren't crunchy and meat is no longer red.

Add tomatoes, tomato juice, jalepenos, 2.5 lbs of the beans, and pumpkin.

Cook until all combined and aromatic.

Add the salt, pepper, cumin, aji flakes, basil and jalepeno powder.

Pre-bean paste addition. I like my chili thicker than this!

In the food processor, put the remaining .5lbs of the beans, the aji oil, and 2 tsp of cajun seasoning. Process until paste-like.

Add the bean paste into the chili spoonful at a time until you reach your preferred consistency.

Cook for as long as you can before needing to eat a bowl.

Serve piping hot with freshly grated cheese (or if you live in S. America with Queso Fresco), a tsp of cream cheese and a buttered piece of Ryan's Barley Bread.

*To peel tomatoes: Cut an X on the bottom of your tomatoes. Place in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Easily peel of the skins and keep for tasty doggie treats! To deseed: Place a seive over a bowl. Squeeze the tomato juice and seeds out, into the sieve. Smash all ingredients in the sieve so the juice flows into the bowl. Keep the seeds and add them to the pupsters food!