I have learned the key to tender beans: Do not add salt until after they have cooked to tender. I let my beans soak over night covered by about 2 inches of water. Then in the morning, I removed any that were floating on top of the water that looked bad. I had one. Next I rinsed them well.
I then put them into a big pot that I wanted to cook my chili in. If you want to cut down on prep time, you could use 2 pans. One to cook your beans and the other to start your sauce in. I covered the soaked beans in water and began to cook. I heard if you cook your beans with a couple of fresh bay leaves it helps with the digestive issues later. I did do this and it did work. It also adds a nice flavor to the beans. Once my beans were soft from cooking. I took the pan off the burner and added my habanero salt to the water and beans, stirred together, and let set for a while to allow the salt to soak into the beans. note: prep your beans in advance and separate into portions for other recipes too. Then freeze for later instead of using canned beans. This will save you money.
The sauce: Brown up any meat you are going to want to use, remove from pan and set aside. Saute butter and chopped veggies until tender. Add in the spices and let them cook for a minute before adding the roasted tomato puree or canned tomato sauce.
Delicious Homemade Chili
Add all the ingredients together. Let cook for a bit to meld the flavors together. I usually add the beans to the sauce first. Taste and make sure the spice level is not to hot,so I can take out what my vegetarian children will eat. Then I add the meat and Heat. I will let this set for the afternoon until supper time. By then the flavors have all melded and the heat level is good for my husbands supper. He loves this homemade chili with shredded cheddar, and hot cornbread with honey.
- ½ bag of Dry Kidney Beans/1 Tablespoon Habanero salt for heat, or just regular for no heat.
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- ½ chopped onion
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
- 3 beef bullion cubes, or beef broth
- 1Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 4 to 6 cups pureed Roasted Tomatoes or Canned Tomato Sauce
- 1 habanero
- 2 jalapeno
- Any meat you may want in your chili. About a pound
- Start by soaking your beans covered by about 2 inches of water over night. Do not add salt until after these beans have been soaked, and cooked until tender. If you add the salt before hand, they will get really tough and chewy.
- I browned my ground beef separate, so I could have some chili without meat if I wanted to. Then I add the meat at the end for those who want meat.
- Saute: butter, onion, garlic, bell pepper till tender
- stir in the seasonings and let them cook a minute before adding the tomatoes or sauce.
- If you know you are going to want the whole pot HOT then add the habanero and jalapeno peppers when you are sauteing the other veggies. Or add at the end with the meat for those that want heat to their chili.
