Dehydrator Beef & Bean Chili
Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
- 1 large sweet onion, minced fine in the chopper
- 6 fat cloves garlic, minced fine in the chopper
- 2/3 cup ground cumin
- 2/3 cup dried oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried red chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Splash of Tabasco
- Splash of olive oil
- 3 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes (1 regular, 2 with “diced green chilis”)
- 2 15 oz. cans dark red kidney beans
- 1 15 oz. can Cannellini beans (or light red Kidney beans)
Directions:
In a dry pan, toast the ground cumin lightly to bring out flavor. Do not scorch it! Remove and set aside.
Brown ground beef and drain on paper towels.
Saute onion and garlic in a little bit of olive oil.
Add cumin, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, chili flakes, paprika, and beef.
Add tomatoes and beans.
Fill pot with water to top.
Bring up almost to boil, reduce heat, simmer 3-4 hours until thick.
Spread on parchment on dehydrator trays.
Dehydrate @ 135° F for 14 hours (or until dry).
2 cups cooked chili yielded 1-1/3 cup dry product.
Note:
I marked bags “Add 2/3 – 1 cup boiling water”. It may need a bit more water and/or cooking to get the beans to rehydrate. If attempting FBC, let rehydrate in a cozy for 15 minutes, you may find best result with bringing water to a boil in a pot and adding the dry ingredients before it boils. Then cover, and let sit for 15 minutes, preferably in a pot cozy.
Pretty simple recipe- I’m sure you could doctor it up a bit. The diced tomatoes with the “diced green chilis” made it a bit spicier than I’d anticipated, but it wasn’t too bad.
(* the recipe above yielded more than the six cups I dehydrated- that’s all that was left after many samplings.)
~Ski