Hempel Consulting

Today I made chili and WOW does my house smell fantastic. The dogs are all over the stove like those beagles sniffing luggage at the airport.

The recipe I used is none other than Famous Hempel Chili. In retrospect, it really should be called Famous Helen’s Chili. Helen is my Mom and she cooks from scratch. Me? I cook from recipes carefully following them line by line.

Herein lies the problem. How does a family pass down its recipes when they aren’t even written down!?

In order to combat this challenge I’ve armed myself with pen and paper, measuring cups and spoons, and lightening-quick reaction time. Next, I follow Helen around the kitchen while she makes my favorite dishes. She throws in a dash of this, and a pinch of that, then a dollop of the other thing … and my goal is singular in it focus: get the measuring implement underneath whatever it is she’s pouring as quickly as possible in order to record said “recipe.”

One of my experiments in this regard produced the Famous Hempel Chili recipe. Of course Helen would correct me and say it’s not famous, because she only made it that way, one time. Alas.

Tonight I’m feeling compelled to share a little bit of family history and this scrumptious chili recipe with the world. Enjoy!

Hempel’s Famous Chili

1lb hamburger — browned with lots of salt and pepper
3 chopped onions — sauteed
1 red pepper
3 large garlic cloves

Add:
1 can of diced or crushed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
2 cans of water (more during cooking as needed)

Add:
2 pinches of Chili Caribe (flakes)
4-8 tbsp. Chili Powder (more is better from Helen’s perspective)
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tsp. Paprika
1 Bay Leaf
2 tsp. fresh ground Cumin (minimum)
1.5 tsp. fresh ground Basil (more if not fresh)

Simmer for two hours.

Add:
2-3 cans of beans — Pinto, Black and/or Kidney

Note: The beans can be added right away if it’s going to be eaten immediately. If you make the chili one day and serve the it the next, reheat the chili in the morning and then add the beans…simmer all day if possible.  Stir and add water as necessary.

PS: If you’re making this in volume (great for parties!), I strongly recommend wearing goggles when chopping the onions

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 5:05 pm and is filed under Food and Wine, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.