Well folks, this weekend we made one of those recipes that use a lot of different seasonings from the pantry and taste so good we always make a double batch so a quick dinner is waiting in the freezer. Sometimes we make a spaghetti Bolognese sauce and find the tomatoes are a little too acidic, leaving an after-taste the next day. So to limit our use of antacids and still get that hearty meat sauce we love, we make Cincinnati-style Chili. Somewhere between a ragu and a traditional chili, this unique hybrid is defined by Wikipedia like this:

“Cincinnati chili sauce contains finely ground beef, seasoned with a mixture of spices. Vegetarians have the option of substituting beans and rice for meat. Some aficionados report a distinct hint of cinnamon and sometimes even chocolate. However, the precise identity of other spices is hard to determine. The flavor of Cincinnati Chili is distinct from that of the more widely recognized Texas-style Chili, and differs from that variety too in its thin consistency, which makes it more suitable as a sauce for other dishes than as a dish by itself. This distinctiveness makes the chili a greatly missed delicacy among many former Cincinnati-area residents.”

There is no end to the versions of this chili; this recipe is from Gourmet magazine, so it has a lot of exotic ingredients. You can search the Web and find simpler versions. We like it a lot and feel the need to flex our spice rack, so we don’t feel guilty buying a $6 spice we hardly ever use. For those who are watching their carbs, I recommend Dreamfields pasta; there are only five digestible carbs in that spaghetti, and it tastes like regular pasta.

(One note on last week’s Mother’s Day recipe, German Rouladen: I forgot to mention that I thicken the gravy for the Rouladen by making a rue (flour and butter with a touch of water heated ’til thick). Add the gravy to it so it sticks to the meat.)

Serves: six

Ingredients

Spaghetti, kidney beans, chopped onion, grated cheddar and oyster crackers as traditional accompaniments, if desired

Directions

In a large, heavy kettle, cook the onions and the garlic in the oil over moderate heat, stirring until the onions are softened. Add the beef and cook the mixture, stirring and breaking up the lumps, until the beef is no longer pink. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, allspice, oregano, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves and mace and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the bay leaf, the water, the tomato sauce, the vinegar and the molasses and simmer the mixture uncovered, stirring occasionally and adding more water, if necessary, to keep the beef barely covered, for two hours, or until it is thickened but soupy enough to be ladled. Discard the bay leaf and season the chili with salt and pepper. The chili may be frozen or made four days in advance, cooled, and kept covered and chilled. Ladle the chili over the spaghetti and top it with the beans, onion, cheddar, and oyster crackers.