Hawthorne Chili And Chips.

Mr. Hawthorne is in charge of the chili.

I'm in charge of the chips.

 I was at Food Lion the other day,

typed my telephone number into the coupon machine,

and instead of getting the usual crap stuff I never use,

I got a $1 coupon for $5 worth of pork product.

And that's how the ground pork 

ended up in my cart and in today's meal.

Mr. Hawthorne made chili today.

I made homemade seasoned tortilla chips

since we had nothing but Tostito crumbles left in the bag.

And now the ugly two-headed chili monster raises its head.

Beans or not?

Sorry, Texas.

But we're going with the beans.

I like all the protein I can get in whatever form.
I'll take beans anytime.

 Mr. Hawthorne's Chili

 1 cup Navy and white northern beans, soaked over night

Refresh water, add beans, bring to boil, cover, and turn off heat.

In about 20-30 minutes,

uncover, bring to boil again, cover, and turn off heat.

Repeat as many times until beans are tender.

Mr. Hawthorne says it took about 3 hours for his beans.

It depends on personal taste.

Rinse beans and set aside.

That's how Mr. H. does his beans.

That's not how Rosie does hers.

When I want beans, I want beans today, not tomorrow,

so I never soak any beans overnight.

I rinse my beans, then stir them into boiling water.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.

Rinse off beans and refresh water.

Bring to a boil again and simmer about 30 minutes.

Taste test.

I like my beans al dente.

I think I just figgered out the reason why Mr. Hawthorne does this.

He turns the beans on, sets the timer,

and tells me to turn off the beans when the buzzer goes off,

and retreats to his room to watch a movie.

He ventures out later,

turns the beans on, sets the timer, and gives me instructions,

and goes back to watch another movie.

He is on no time schedule whatsoever.

It's the lazy man's way of cooking beans.

Me?

I watch my beans every now and then

and actually change the water.

And I'm done in an hour. 

About changing the water -

Julia Child says the changing of the water

decreases "intestinal motility"

and Lord knows I don't want anymore intestinal motility

than there already is in the Hawthorne Household.

Ingredients

1 TB bacon grease, leftover from breakfast

 1 lb. ground pork

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

1 small can tomato sauce

2 TB ketchup

1 package Old El Paso Chili Seasoning

1/2 cup water

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a medium pan, 

sauté the pork in the bacon grease until almost brown.

Pour out any grease.

Add pepper and onion and cook until tender.

Add tomato sauce and ketchup.

(Swish out any sauce left in the can with water and add to pan.)

Add beans and heat through.

Stir in the packet of chili seasoning and the water.

Taste test.

Salt and pepper if needed.

More water, if needed to get the consistency the way you like it.

Serve with Rosie's Seasoned Tortilla Chips.

 Rosie's Seasoned Potato Chips

stack of flour tortillas, cut into wedges

unsalted butter

packet of Sazón Goya seasoning con culantro y achiote 

(Found in Hispanic aisle.)

If you don't happen to have the Goya seasoning on hand,

use a light sprinkling of cumin, oregano, paprika, and cayenne.

Heat oven to 300°.

Place about 3 TB unsalted butter on a large baking sheet

and let melt in oven while it heats up.

Lightly dredge tortilla wedges
 in the melted butter on each side

and place on baking sheet.

Sprinkling with seasoning.

Bake until wedges are crisp and lightly brown - about 30 minutes.

 Gotta have me some cilantro lovin'!
If you wanted to squeeze some lime juice on top,
I would not be averse to that.
Crème fraîche would be good too.