Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts.  I’ve been battling a head cold and have been slow on writing my posts and comments.  I hope everyone had a great weekend! Chris and I had a busy one.  We went up to Healdsburg Saturday to pick-up our wine shipment and had lunch.  It was an all day affair.  The drive took longer than both activities combined.  Then on Sunday, we hosted brunch at our place.  It was a busy weekend and on Sunday evening, I started feeling some sinus congestion and fatigue.  I’ve been catching Z’s here and there on the couch and every time I awoke, I felt even more tired and my head felt foggy and dizzy.  It was not a good feeling.

I made this pot of chili before I got sick and am wishing I had some right now! There’s nothing more comforting than a big bowl of something warm and comforting in front of your nose.  A pumpkin chili is so perfect this time of the year.  There’s a lot of pumpkin ingredients going on here — pumpkin ale, pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie spice.  It was autumn in a bowl! Be sure to put this one in your dinner rotation this week, if you dig pumpkin and stay warm!

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 pound of sweet Italian sausage links, casings removed
• olive oil for cooking
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 pound of bone-in smoked ham steak, roughly chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, finely diced
• salt and pepper to season
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons of chili powder
• 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can of kidney beans
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin purée
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle of pumpkin ale
• Garnish (optional):
  shredded cheddar cheese
  shredded pepper jack cheese
  sour cream
  fresh scallions, finely chopped
  fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Preparation:

In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat add olive oil, ground beef and sausages.  Crumble and brown meat.  Once cooked, use a slotted spoon to transfer meat into a bowl; set aside.  Remove any grease left in the pot, if any.

Drizzle olive oil and add onions and garlic.  Cook until soften then add ham steak (including bone) and peppers (poblano and jalapeño).  Season with salt and pepper.  Add tomato paste.  Stir it around then add chili powder, smoked paprika, pumpkin pie spice, ground cumin, coriander, dried oregano, bay leaf, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, pumpkin purée and cooked meat.  Stir to combine.  Then pour the pumpkin ale and scrape the bottom of the pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium low and leave the lid ajar.  Simmer chili for 30-40 minutes.  Discard bay leaf and ham bone.  Check for seasoning.  Ladle chili into a bowl and garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, shredded pepper jack cheese, sour cream, chopped scallions and cilantro, if desired.