stuart james beall

This is a delicious way to break the winter blues.

You will need a slow cooker (6 quart), a large sauce pan (or pressure cooker), a medium skillet, a steel colander, a pound of ground Pork sausage (or Andouille Sausage), a pound of dry pinto beans (or dry kidney beans), a can of crushed tomatoes (28 ounces), a can of diced tomatoes, a cup of salsa, 1 large onion (red or yellow), olive oil, sea salt, and chili seasoning (3 teaspoons).

This is the chili seasoning (Buffalo Blend) recipe I came up with in 2014.

• Bob’s Red Mill Sea Salt, 6 teaspoons
• chipotle chili powder, 3 teaspoons
• garlic powder, 3 teaspoons
• onion powder, 3 teaspoons
• ground cumin seeds, 3 teaspoons
• ground black peppercorns, 3 teaspoons
• ground celery seeds, 2 teaspoons
• ground savory, 2 teaspoons
• cayenne powder, 1 teaspoon

Soak the beans in water, at least 10 hours, then drain in colander. Put beans into a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil. Put crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce) into Crock Pot and select low heat. Stir in chili seasoning.

Peel and chop onion, and cook in skillet, with a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt to bring out the flavor. I used medium heat, for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer onion to Crock Pot.

Cook pork sausage in skillet, breaking apart the chunks with a wooden spoon. I used Falls Brand Italian Sausage. Transfer to Crock Pot.

Drain beans in colander, letting the hot water drip away. Transfer to Crock Pot, and stir together with meat and sauce. Cover and cook for 8 hours on the low heat setting.

Some enhancements we like to use are Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, cooked rice, saltine crackers, bagel bites, toasted sunflower seeds, sour cream, fresh green onions.

For those 60-something folks like me, who have digestive issues, take a couple of Beano tablets with water, about 30 minutes before eating.