It wouldn’t be quite right to say I’ve never made chili before. I’ve made it from mixes and fixin’s, but I’ve never made it from scratch until tonight. I think maybe I should stick to the mixes and fixin’s, or the real stuff that you pour out of the can. I will say one thing, though. I definitely got it hot enough to qualify as a representative example of Rachael’s Ragin’ Cajun Chili, which was my starting point for this feast.

I had an immediate handicap because I don’t have a Dutch oven or stock pot big enough to accommodate all of the ingredients, so I had to crowd everything into the biggest pot I have. It fit, but barely. And since Rachael doesn’t believe in measuring, I didn’t bother. I just guessed, and apparently I guessed a little too high on the cayenne and the cumin. Good stuff, but better in moderation. (On the other hand, I couldn’t get the paprika out of the can, so I gave up after I got about half the required amount.)

My biggest mistake was putting in too much liquid. It never did reduce down to the consistency of actual chili. I even let it stay on the stove almost twice as long as Rachael recommended, the result of which was that it was way hotter in every way than I really like it. But I ate it. Two heaping bowls full of it, in fact, with the chopped scallions (but not the Fritos) on top. For most of my life I haven’t been able to eat anything remotely spicy, but I’m getting there. It took about half a loaf of bread to soak up the heat, but I did it. And I have oh so much left over.

One thing I’ll do differently next time, if there is a next time, is use less celery. Or maybe I’ll just chop it up finer, because the chunks of celery seemed to dominate the dish. And obviously I’ll use less stock to thin it out, so I can eat it with a fork like chili, instead of with a spoon like soup. Which is pretty much what I made. But I have big reheating plans for the next few days (or weeks). I plan to jazz up the leftovers to make up for my failings as a first-time chili maker. It’s bound to get better.