Sarah's Pumpkin Chili

Chili isn’t an exact science, and my recipe reflects this. A lot of it is to taste and you should feel free to experiment with throwing other things in. Sometimes I add zucchini or yellow squash if I have them. Other times, I leave out the pumpkin (and use more tomato) or throw in a hot pepper. Spicing always depends on taste and who you are having over—and whether you tolerate heat. It’s great served with cheddar, sour cream, corn bread or cheesy polenta!

Stirring the chili, before meat is added.

Ingredients:

3 to 4 cups dried beans (use any mix you like, this time I used romano and Salvadorian reds)
3 cloves fresh garlic
1 pound lean ground beef
2 onions, peeled and rough chopped
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 quart homemade tomato puree
chili powder to taste (2 to 3 tablespoons at least)
cumin to taste
powdered garlic to taste (powdered has a different flavor from fresh)
Celtic sea salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
(optional) dash of cayenne or a chopped hot pepper (which can be added to browning meat, or directly to pot)

Instructions: Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight. In the morning, drain and rinse beans. Place in crock pot with enough water to cover, plus about an inch. Cook on high for three to four hours. Drain water and rinse. Return beans to crock pot. (Draining cooking water partway through seems to dramatically reduce the gassy, bloated side effect of the beans!) Fill crock pot with enough water to cover beans, add garlic cloves, tomatoes, one onion, and pumpkin puree. Allow to cook until beans are soft. (This can take four to six hours). Once beans are soft, take two cups (not an exact measure) of mixture out of crock pot and puree in blender. Return puree to crock pot. (You may decide to puree a bit more if it doesn’t look thick enough for your liking!) In a skillet on the stove, brown ground beef with onion and season with salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin. (If beef is very lean, you may need to cooking fat to brown meat.) Add this to crock pot. Allow to cook until flavors mingle. Make sure to taste chili and add more spices as necessary.