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The presidential inauguration day was too momentous an event to let pass without note, so I invited some friends over to share in some Obama favorites—mainly chili—to celebrate. Although so far Barack Obama hasn’t strongly indicated a shift away from the agriculture policies that give us cheap soda pop and expensive fruit, I’m willing to give him the a little slack while enjoying the first day with Obama in and Bush out. Ah…

I made two kinds of chili, with and without meat, both a little spicier than Obama’s chili but I didn’t make it particularly hot, since I was sharing it with people whose heat tolerance was unknown.

Inauguration Day Chili

Start the day before so you can soak the beans!

• 1 pound dry red kidney beans, preferably organic
• 2 quarts water, plus more for soaking
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound ground beef, preferably 100% grass-fed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 medium-hot chili peppers, minced or pureed (I used the rest of the local peppers from the freezer)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 large can (28-30 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice

1. Sort beans and discard any stones or beans that look bad. Put in pot and cover with water about 3 times as deep as the beans. Soak overnight.
2. Drain beans. Rinse pot. Rinse beans well and drain again. Return to pot. Add 2 quarts water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Add salt, and simmer 30 minutes more, or until tender.
3. Meanwhile, brown beef and drain if needed. (Grass-fed beef doesn’t have much fat.) Add onion, chili peppers and garlic, and cook until soft.
4. Drain off and discard (or save for another purpose) one-third to one-half of the cooking liquid, depending on how thick you like your chili.
5. Add meat mixture, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, oregano and tomatoes with juice to beans. Stir well to combine. Simmer 45 minutes or more to blend flavors. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. For best taste, cool and refrigerate for a day or two before reheating and serving. (This allows flavors to develop and merge.) Makes about 8 servings.

Variation: To make Meatless Chili, skip step 3. Then, in step 5 instead of the meat mixture add 1/2 cup bulgur to the cooked beans along with the onion, chili peppers, garlic and spices. (If you prefer, you can saute your vegetables in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil before adding them to the beans. )

100 Days Chili

Of course, this recipe, should you want to try it, is too late for inauguration day. That’s OK. You can use it to mark the first 100 days or the Super Bowl or whatever excuse works for you.