There are many ways to make chili unless you’re from Texas. Texas is full of chili purists who say, “If you want to make chili, make chili; if you want to make beans, make beans.” Chili-beaners argue that chili tastes better with beans. I believe beans taste better in chili, but just adding beans doesn’t necessarily make chili taste better. Beans are an incomplete protein on their own, but when they’re cooked with meat, they significantly boost the protein content for a few cents (scents ;-) more.
Quality meat can cost $10 a pound, but you can buy high-quality Colorado-grown dried beans for $1 a pound, which yields about 6 cups of cooked beans and roughly 90 grams of protein. A pot of Chili con Carne can contain several pounds of meat, costing $100 or more depending on the cuts used. By combining beans with the meat, the cost can be reduced without sacrificing flavor, while still maintaining high protein levels. We like it both ways, but tend to make it with beans more often because it makes sense financially.
The King of Stews
Chili, chile, or chilli? The Spanish word chile is derived from the ancient Aztec word chilli. Chile refers to the pepper, while chili describes the tantalizing stew created with various meats and chile peppers. Chili has a worldwide following, with millions of fanatical chili lovers and connoisseurs, including us. Vickie found some Colorado pork loins the other day, and we decided to use one to make some Green Chile. Texas is famous for its “Red,” but in Colorado, “Green” gets the nod. It’s usually a seasonal thing. They grow a variety of peppers in the Arkansas Valley just south of here; the harvest runs from July through October.
“Chili is not so much food as a state of mind. Addictions are formed early in life, and the victims never recover. On blue days in October, I get this passionate yearning for a bowl of chili, and I nearly lose my mind.” ~ Margaret Cousins
We usually get a couple of bags, fire up the big Weber grill, and have a pepper-roasting party. “Did someone say Chile Cheeseburgers and hoppy IPAs?” We found the last bag of roasted green chiles hiding out in the freezer when we retrieved the pork loin. A little bag of summertime in the middle of January. We decided to try something different and make a winter-style stew: green chili with beans. Colorado Green Chili is usually a dish most Texans would be comfortable with; lots of meat and plenty of chiles. We’ve never made it with beans, but there’s a first time for everything, right?
The Beans
The big three ingredients (pork, peppers, and beans) were all from the Centennial State, so we decided to name the dish “Chile Verde de Colorado con Cerdo y Frijoles.” The beans are from the Southwest corner of the state, grown high on the Colorado Plateau. Anasazi beans are purple-and-white mottled heirloom shelling beans cultivated by the Puebloan people thousands of years ago. In the 1970s, Ernie Waller, a farmer from Dove Creek, Colorado, discovered the bean in a forgotten stockpile in his warehouse. Recognizing the commercial appeal of the bean’s thin skin, vibrant color, and low oligosaccharide content (the fart starch), Waller trademarked it.
Anasazi beans have become one of our favorite bean varieties. The Colorado Plateau is also one of our favorite places. It consists of high desert with scattered forests. In the southwest corner lies the Grand Canyon. The nickname “Red Rock Country” is suggestive of the bright-colored rock that is ubiquitous on the Plateau. Domes, hoodoos, fins, reefs, river narrows, natural bridges, and slot canyons are a few of the features typical there.
The Plateau
The Colorado Plateau has the highest concentration of U.S. National Parks in the country. Its nine national parks include Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Black Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Petrified Forest. In addition, there are 18 national monuments and other protected areas managed by the NPS, the USFS, and the BLM.
“I am the kind of person who really will drive hours for a bowl of chili. I’m not a three-star restaurant kind of person; I’m just a food kind of person.” ~ Nora Ephron
Nearly half a century ago, I explored and mapped this high desert country as a doodlebugger. I wasn’t a chili connoisseur back then. Chili was brown the burger, dump in a can of pinto beans and a can of tomatoes; heat and eat. Sometimes I would even wire a can of Wolf Brand Chili to the pickup’s manifold in the morning and enjoy a hot lunch straight from the can. Our “Chile Verde de Colorado con Cerdo y Frijoles” wasn’t some doodlebugger delight dreamed up in the high desert. It was a well-designed and expertly crafted stew; a chili-lover’s wet dream.
The Process
The process started months ago with roasting the green chiles, then freezing some for later. A few days ago, carrots, celery, onions, and a roasted chicken carcass simmered on the stove for hours, producing a fine golden bone broth. The heirloom beans were cleaned and sorted, then soaked for twenty-four hours before being pressure-cooked. The pork loin was cut into perfectly proportioned cubes and sautéed with garlic, onions, and chiles.
The bone broth was added, and the pork was simmered until it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. After the beans were added, the seasonings were adjusted to achieve flavors that layered together like the sedimentary rock formations on the Colorado Plateau. A little masa was used to thicken the tantalizing creation, and wha-la; “Chile Verde de Colorado con Cerdo y Frijoles.”
“Any man who eats chili and cornbread can’t be all bad.” ~ Carroll Shelby
