Dinner at the Anchovy's

From time to time we make a big pot of veggie chilli. It goes like this:

Add a splash of good olive oil to a heavy bottom pot, put the heat on medium, and add onions, shallots and garlic. Leeks are good in it too if you like. Let it all cook together while you chop up some other stuff.

Inspect the fridge for veggies. Each batch is different depending on what I find in the fridge. Let's see, I have some cauliflour here, some big old carrots, a zucchini, a red pepper, oh and look, I have a celery root. Chop it up the way you like it.

Add the carrots, then add in a generous amount of ancho chile powder, some salt and pepper, some cayenne or dried red chiles (go as insanely hot as you like but remember the heat increases on the second day quite a bit), and a little cumin powder or seeds. The cumin adds a little sumpin-sumpin to the chilli that makes it just so.

Add a tin of diced tomatoes and a tin of red kidney beans. This is about the only dish I cook which includes any canned veggies, and I think they work just fine. If Tuffy P isn't looking, you can add a splash of beer. Then mix it all up and judge the thickness of the chilli. I usually add maybe three cups of water. Add in fresh herbs like thyme and basil or even fresh oragano. Be generous with these.

Let it all simmer together for a while with the lid on. Stir now and then. No hurry. In fact, this chilli is even better second day.

When I decide it's ready, I sometimes add some corn right at the end.

I like it with fresh French bread and a cold beer.