South End Deep Root Chili

The only thing better than a great recipe is a great recipe with a backstory. 

Once upon a time, a woman named Mary entered a chili contest, a benefit event for one of her charitable organizations, and she enlisted the help of her sister and two friends to come up with a signature chili.

She'd seen a recipe for a black bean chili in a magazine, and we started from there. (Cat's out of the bag now...I was one of the recruits.) We worked on our recipe, tweaking a bit, having fun, and — in a stroke of genius — adding some pasta at the end, until we all were pleased with it.

On the day of the contest, I prepared a large vat of our concoction, which we named South End Deep Root Chili in honor of the mega-toothache Mary had on the day we first tested our recipe. Off she went to the contest. There were nine other entrants, all of whom had made traditional chili.

The cook at the station next to Mary's came over for a taste. "That's not chili," he proclaimed. "It's going to win, but it's not chili."

And win it did. The prize was a crockpot, which the four of us agreed to share (!). I don't know what became of the crockpot, but the chili has become a house favorite, in my house and in a few other houses I know about.

South End Deep Root Chili 

This recipe, which appeared in my cookbook, South End Cooks: Recipes from a Boston Neighborhood, and then on my food blog, The Perfect Pantry, is unconventional but delicious, and like all chili recipes, proportions are not important. Serves 8-10; can be halved, or doubled.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
4 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
6 Tbsp minced garlic
4 tsp ground cumin
10 tsp chili powder, or to taste
4 cans black beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
28 oz vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
4 tsp lemon honey (or 4 tsp plain honey + 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice)
1 small dried chili pepper, crushed, or hot sauce to taste
1 28-oz can diced or chopped tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup orzo (or other tiny pasta)
1/4 tsp salt (taste first if using storebought stock)
Black pepper to taste
Monterey Jack cheese, grated (for garnish)
Avocado, chopped (for garnish)
Sour cream (for garnish)

Directions

Preheat a large heavy pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add apple juice and bring to a boil. Add onions and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add celery, carrots, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Continue stirring for 3 minutes. Add black beans, stock, honey, lemon, chili pepper and tomatoes. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the beans don't stick.

Add orzo, salt and pepper, and continue cooking, covered, stirring frequently, until the orzo is cooked (8-10 minutes).

Serve hot, topped with Monterey Jack cheese and/or sour cream. Can be made ahead; cool, cover and refrigerate.

Once upon a time, a woman named Mary entered a chili contest, a benefit event for one of her charitable organizations, and she enlisted the help of her sister and two friends to come up with a signature chili.

She'd seen a recipe for a black bean chili in a magazine, and we started from there. (Cat's out of the bag now...I was one of the recruits.) We worked on our recipe, tweaking a bit, having fun, and — in a stroke of genius — adding some pasta at the end, until we all were pleased with it.

On the day of the contest, I prepared a large vat of our concoction, which we named South End Deep Root Chili in honor of the mega-toothache Mary had on the day we first tested our recipe. Off she went to the contest. There were nine other entrants, all of whom had made traditional chili.

The cook at the station next to Mary's came over for a taste. "That's not chili," he proclaimed. "It's going to win, but it's not chili."

South End Deep Root Chili 

This recipe, which appeared in my cookbook, South End Cooks: Recipes from a Boston Neighborhood, and then on my food blog, The Perfect Pantry, is unconventional but delicious, and like all chili recipes, proportions are not important. Serves 8-10; can be halved, or doubled.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
4 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
6 Tbsp minced garlic
4 tsp ground cumin
10 tsp chili powder, or to taste
4 cans black beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
28 oz vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
4 tsp lemon honey (or 4 tsp plain honey + 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice)
1 small dried chili pepper, crushed, or hot sauce to taste
1 28-oz can diced or chopped tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup orzo (or other tiny pasta)
1/4 tsp salt (taste first if using storebought stock)
Black pepper to taste
Monterey Jack cheese, grated (for garnish)
Avocado, chopped (for garnish)
Sour cream (for garnish)

Directions

Preheat a large heavy pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add apple juice and bring to a boil. Add onions and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add celery, carrots, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Continue stirring for 3 minutes. Add black beans, stock, honey, lemon, chili pepper and tomatoes. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the beans don't stick.

Add orzo, salt and pepper, and continue cooking, covered, stirring frequently, until the orzo is cooked (8-10 minutes).

Serve hot, topped with Monterey Jack cheese and/or sour cream. Can be made ahead; cool, cover and refrigerate.

South End Deep Root Chili 

This recipe, which appeared in my cookbook, South End Cooks: Recipes from a Boston Neighborhood, and then on my food blog, The Perfect Pantry, is unconventional but delicious, and like all chili recipes, proportions are not important. Serves 8-10; can be halved, or doubled.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
4 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
6 Tbsp minced garlic
4 tsp ground cumin
10 tsp chili powder, or to taste
4 cans black beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
28 oz vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
4 tsp lemon honey (or 4 tsp plain honey + 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice)
1 small dried chili pepper, crushed, or hot sauce to taste
1 28-oz can diced or chopped tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup orzo (or other tiny pasta)
1/4 tsp salt (taste first if using storebought stock)
Black pepper to taste
Monterey Jack cheese, grated (for garnish)
Avocado, chopped (for garnish)
Sour cream (for garnish)

Directions

Preheat a large heavy pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add apple juice and bring to a boil. Add onions and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add celery, carrots, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Continue stirring for 3 minutes. Add black beans, stock, honey, lemon, chili pepper and tomatoes. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the beans don't stick.

Add orzo, salt and pepper, and continue cooking, covered, stirring frequently, until the orzo is cooked (8-10 minutes).

Serve hot, topped with Monterey Jack cheese and/or sour cream. Can be made ahead; cool, cover and refrigerate.

Comments

[Candelaria]

Sounds delicious! I have never made chili without animal protein. It was just never done growing up. However, I do make a bean stew sans meat that has sweet potatoes and butternut squash...an improvisation that happen when I threw together what I had of ingredients in a recipe my niece had shared with me and then added some different things. Great camaraderie in creating an award-winning recipe! Friendship is wonderful.