It’s Chili Outside!

A few weeks ago, Philadelphia was hit by a cold spell. Mornings were crisp and I started wearing an extra layer of sweaters to the office. Taking the cool weather into consideration, Donyetta Robinson decided to make chili for our meal. Desserts and baking are her specialties, but because of the weather, she wanted to make something heartier. Ironically, the day I showed up to cook with her, the sky was clear and the temperature was pushing 80 degrees. But Donyetta, known for her resilience, was determined to cook which is how I found myself eating a fiery chili at 9:30pm on a warm Wednesday night.

6 hours earlier, Donyetta started making the chili by cooking the raw beans in her slow cooker. One of the secrets of this recipe is the cooking of the beans. They simmered for 2 hours until I showed up at 5:30pm. Donyetta warns not to overcook the beans or they will become mushy. They pop and thicken the chili more than she prefers. ‘Be patient,’ she warns. ‘Pay attention to the beans. Make sure you have enough water. Without it, the beans will cook very quickly.’

Donyetta drained the excess water off of the beans and then added the tomato puree, raw turkey, cumin and chopped vegetables into the slow cooker. Flavors need time to develop so we sat down to chat and nibble on veggies with her 2-year-old son, Wayne, Jr.

15 years ago, if you had asked Donyetta what career path she would take, she would have answered that she would work for the FBI, be a crime scene investigator and/or be a lawyer. Born and raised in Philly, Donyetta grew up in Chestnut Hill and went to Dobbins High School where she studied cosmetology. She has her license and worked in a few shops, but never really followed that path. She didn’t have a passion for it. Her undergraduate degree is in Administration of Justice from Penn State and she was heading in that direction, but when she finished school the FBI was looking for accountants, not people with a major in criminal justice. Donyetta decided she always wanted to have a family so she pursued that instead and she found herself on a different path working as an HR Specialist doing recruiting for Wood Services, a mental health facility.

It was at Wood Services that she came across a chili recipe from a co-worker. This recipe was more of a ‘speedy’ version that used salsa and canned beans. Donyetta wanted a slower, more nutritious version. She substituted raw beans and tomato puree. Instead of ground beef, she uses turkey because it’s lighter and she thinks it tastes better.
After an hour, Donyetta added water, the McCormick chili seasoning mix and the brown sugar to the slow cooker. She gave it a few stirs and told me that it’s important to be patient when cooking this recipe. The seasonings should be added in over the course of the recipe so it builds up layers of flavor. If you want to change the taste of it, add a bit more water, more seasonings and then it cook a little longer.

Donyetta and I met almost 4 ½ years ago when she started working with me in the Learning Department at a financial services firm. Now, she is the Department Administrator and handles the behind-the-scenes projects that make our learning events such a success. Donyetta’s resilience and flexibility is a boon when our events don’t always go as planned. People arrive or drop out at the last minute; presenters forget to show up at all; handouts get lost and throughout all of this, Donyetta appears calm. Her ability to remain organized and positive during stressful times is a trait I admire. I think she’s unflappable, but Donyetta says she wishes she was more patient.

When asked, Donyetta’s first answer about her philosophy towards food was ‘the sweeter the better. Then she thought for a moment and said, ‘try to get the most nutrition that you can.’ This is funny because working with Donyetta for so long, I can tell you that she really lives out this almost bi-polar food philosophy. At any given time, she’ll waver between sweets and nutritious choices. One day, she’ll bring in fresh tangerines or bananas for us because she’s encouraging the department to eat healthy. Two days later we get an email letting us know there are chocolate donuts at her desk. She went through a strict Daniel Fast to try to eat healthier but is also the same person who makes sure we get cake on our birthdays and encourages our boss to order us pizza for lunch.

Two hours have now gone by. Donyetta opens the lid of the crock pot and takes a taste. It’s not spicy enough so she adds crushed red pepper, black pepper, chili powder, table salt and seasoning salt. The amount added is what Donyetta prefers, but you can add as little or as much as you like depending on your tolerance for spicy foods. We sit back down to talk some more while the chili continues to simmer and build flavor. Doneytta lists her hobbies as creating music CDs and taking photos. She also likes scrapbooking and creating collages. I’ve known her for years, but this is the first time I’ve heard about some of these activities. Part of what I like about doing this website is really getting to know people. When is the last time you asked people in your life to list their hobbies or biggest life lessons?

 To get a break from the heat of the kitchen, we sit out on the back screened-in porch. Wayne, Jr. joined us, sitting in the entry way between the porch and the dining room. As we’re talking, he moved his hand to make the security alarm beep. He said ‘I’m sorry’ before doing it again. He is adorable: two years old and really tall. I have 30 seconds of audio of him repeating ‘no mommy’ over and over because he didn’t want to go to bed. It was the nicest ‘no mommy’ I’ve ever heard. He wasn’t angry—just very clear that he wanted to stay up and play with us. In addition to the ‘no mommy’ he also threw in a few ‘not go night-nights.’ So cute! I read him a bedtime book about cars while Donyetta finished up the chili. She grated extra sharp cheddar cheese on top and we ate it with a side of garlic bread. My serving had extra cheese. I just love cheese. The chili was so good. Very spicy. The flavors started out at the tip of my tongue and then spread down the back and sides. Soon I was sweating. My insides matched the 80 degree temperature outside. But, the spices weren’t too hot so I was still able to taste the tomatoes, beans and turkey.

I’m a firm believer in leftovers in general, but especially when it comes to chili. Luckily for me, Donyetta feels the same way and she gave me a large serving to take home. The next day I warmed it up and ate it with some sour cream. Oh my goodness. What was once hot and spicy had now turned into a slow, smoky burn. By day three, the flavors had deepened even further into a complex blend of tomato, cumin and pepper. Just to compare, I pulled some of my own homemade chili out of the freezer. I’d made it a month ago, trying to use up extra tomatoes from our garden. At the time, I thought that my chili was the best in the world. Kevin even told me it was one of his favorites. But now, I did a side-by-side comparison. Donyetta’s chili was better. In contrast, mine tasted bland and lifeless. The difference, I believe is in the cooking. I tend to add in all of the ingredients at the same time – right at the beginning, and then leave the dish to simmer for hours. Donyetta has learned from her work experiences and knows that like a learning event, a good chili doesn’t always turn out as planned so she checks it every few hours and adjusts as needed; making her life and chili very flavorful.

Lessons learned:
-Patience is a virtue. I would have turned up the heat to cook the beans faster, but Donyetta told me that would ruin their texture.
-Spicy is a relative concept. Yes, I knew this beforehand, but this lesson really cemented it for me. My idea of spicy is nowhere close to Donyetta’s (or the chef at my favorite Indian restaurant for that matter).
-It’s good to listen to other people’s suggestions. Donyetta was the one who came up with the cute title for this entry.
-It’s hard to photograph chili without the lens of my camera fogging up every time we lifted the lid of the crock pot. What do other food photographers do? I don’t want the chili to get cold, but I do need to get close for a good shot. If you have a suggestion, please leave it in the comments.

Chili Recipe (Serves 10-12 people)
Ingredients:
16 oz black beans (raw—not canned)
16 oz red kidney beans (raw—not canned)
2 tomatoes on the vine, chopped (one goes in the beginning of the recipe, the other is added after the second hour of cooking).
2 red peppers, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, chopped
½ small yellow onion, chopped
29 oz tomato puree (Donyetta used organic)
1 lb ground turkey
1.25 oz McCormick hot chili seasoning mix
1 ½ tbs cumin
1 cup water (as needed)
4 tbs brown sugar (2 tbs after the first hour, 2 tbs at the second hour)
1 tbs crushed red pepper
1 tsp black pepper
½ tbs chili powder
¼ tsp table salt
1 tbs seasoning salt
Grated sharp cheddar cheese (as much as you like)

Directions:
-Cook the beans on the high setting in a slow cooker or in a pot over low heat. For every 8 oz of beans, add 4 cups of water. Cook for 2 hours. Drain excess water. If you want a thicker chili, drain more water and vice versa.
-After beans are drained, add tomato puree to beans in slow cooker
-Add raw ground turkey to slow cooker
-Add all chopped vegetables to slow cooker
-Add cumin to slow cooker
-Let sit in slow cooker for 2 hours, stirring once every 25-30 minutes
-After first hour, add the water, the McCormick chili seasoning mix and the brown sugar.
-After the second hour, add the spices to slow cooker: crushed red pepper, black pepper, chili powder, table salt and seasoning salt. The amount added is what Donyetta prefers, but you can add as little or as much as you like depending on your tolerance for spicy foods. She also added in another tomato and some more brown sugar.
-Chili is ready after a total of 3 hours in the cooker.
-Serve garnished with grated cheddar (Donyetta used extra sharp cheddar and I requested a lot of it – I love cheese).

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