Triple Pork Black Bean Chili

New Year's again. Kevin and I made it to midnight this year without anyone falling asleep, which I'm counting as a triumph of the human spirit and caffeine. Noah watched the countdown with the analytical detachment of a boy studying crowd psychology. Emma danced in the living room to the Times Square coverage with a vigor that shook the ornaments off the tree. Jack fell asleep at eleven-forty and woke up at twelve-oh-three and said, "What did I miss?" I said, "A new year." He said, "Is the compost still outside?" It is. The compost is always outside. The compost doesn't celebrate New Year's.

Black-eyed peas, per Marlene's adopted tradition. Ham hock, navy beans, onion, garlic, bay leaf, simmered for hours. I served them with Jiffy cornbread and a side of hope, which is the unstated ingredient in every New Year's meal. You eat the peas and you believe the year will be good and you don't look too hard at the reasons why it might not be, because January is for optimism and February is for reality and March is for planting and you take them as they come.

I made resolutions. I don't usually — resolutions feel like setting yourself up for a guilt trip by March — but this year I wrote them down. One: cook one new recipe a month. Not revolutionary, but it'll push me past the usual rotation. Two: teach Emma to make three meals on her own. She's nine, almost ten. It's time. Three: visit Dad every week, not every other week. He's sixty-six, alone, and the furnace is new but the man is old and "every other week" is a luxury I'm pretending I can afford because the drive is long. The drive is long. I'll make the drive.

Four: can fifty quarts in August instead of forty. An expansion. An escalation. A direct challenge to capacity and counter space that I'm issuing to myself with full awareness that my kitchen is not equipped for fifty quarts and I don't care. Ambition in the kitchen is not a flaw. It's a Weber trait. Dad expanded from two hundred acres to four hundred. I'm expanding from forty quarts to fifty. Scale is relative. Stubborn is absolute.

The black-eyed peas were Marlene’s tradition, and I honor it every year — but this Triple Pork Black Bean Chili is where that same spirit lives on the nights when January gets serious and resolutions need fuel. It has the same low-and-slow intention as a ham hock pot, the same belief that something simmered with patience will pay off, and it serves a crowd the way a Weber family January demands. If you’re going to make the drive, plant the garden, and can fifty quarts come August, you need a bowl that believes in you back.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork
6 oz smoked chorizo, diced
4 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
Sour cream, shredded cheddar, and sliced scallions for serving

Instructions

Render the bacon. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crispy and the fat has rendered, about 5–6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pot.
Brown the chorizo. Add the diced chorizo to the pot and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned on the edges, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside with the bacon.
Cook the ground pork. Add the ground pork to the pot, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper and cook until no pink remains, about 7 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pot.
Soften the aromatics. Add the onion and bell pepper to the pot and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
Build the spice base. Stir in the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, until fragrant and the spices are toasted into the fat and vegetables.
Add the liquids and beans. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth. Add the black beans. Return the reserved bacon and chorizo to the pot and stir everything together.
Simmer low and slow. Bring the chili to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 40–45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili has thickened and the flavors have deepened. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, or more cayenne.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream, shredded cheddar, and sliced scallions. Serve alongside skillet cornbread or warm Jiffy if January calls for it — and it usually does.

Nutrition (per serving)

Triple Pork Black Bean Chili — Because Hope Is the Ingredient You Can’t Leave Out