Polar vortex, cold, wind chill, chilly: All references to the weather last weekend, when the polar vortex descended in full force. Temperatures hovered around zero, with the wind chill.

Is it me or was the term polar vortex just invented a couple years ago? All of a sudden it started appearing in weather reports every time the temperature went below 20 degrees.

Oh. I Googled it. Wikipedia defines it: “A polar vortex is an upper level low pressure area that lies near the Earth's pole. There are two polar vortices in the earth's atmosphere, which overlie the North and South poles. Each is a persistent, large-scale, low pressure zone that rotates counter-clockwise at the North Pole ...”

Blah blah blah. To me, it means BONE CHILLING COLD.

Chili is the polar opposite of polar vortex. Hot and spicy, chili is a good way to ward off bone-chilling cold. Some like it hot — spice-wise, and some like it mild, but most like it hot — temperature-wise.

I grew up calling it chili con carne, which translates from Spanish to chili with meat. The chili refers to chili peppers, which were once considered a necessary ingredient to any chili. Most chilis I come across don’t contain chili peppers — and aren’t even spicy hot. Three things most always found in chili are beans, tomatoes or tomato sauce and meat — usually ground beef. Other typical ingredients are garlic, onions and cumin, and of course — chili power. Duh.

I have always made chili pretty much the way my mother does, with cubed beef in place of ground. And we’ve always had it over rice. That might sound weird to a lot of you, but it’s really wicked good, and it stretches out the chili. Which is probably why my mother served it that way — with four kids and all.

I loved having a hot bowlful of hot chili over rice after a cold day of skiing. My family lived on skis during the winter, starting at Bond Mountain, with two rope tows, then graduating on to Pleasant Mt. in Bridgton (now Shawnee Peak) and finally moving on to Sugarloaf, where my parents bought a condo, right on the mountain. The good ol’ days.

So the way I make chili is easy, and oh! So delicious! Sautee some garlic and chopped up onion in a little oil. Throw in some cubed or ground beef (I sometimes use cubed pork, or a combination of the above), stir it all up, and cook on low for a while. Then I add as much chili powder as I want — maybe a tablespoon or two, and a good teaspoonful of cumin. Throw in a can of diced tomatoes and let it simmer for a while — till the meat is tender. Dump in a can of beans — I like dark red kidney beans — and last I slice up an orange, red or yellow pepper, or all three, thin, and decorate it. I let that cook for 10 minutes or so. I like a little crunch still in the peppers.

The last time I made chili I Googled it just for the heck of it, and came across Cincinnati chili. There are several variations, but the common denominator appears to be the addition of unsweetened chocolate, and spices like cinnamon, allspice and cloves. It is often made without beans, and served on pasta.

Well, I didn’t follow a recipe for it, but I DID add unsweetened chocolate, cinnamon and allspice. Allspice is a sweet little secret of a lot of old Italian cooks. Throw in a teaspoon of it next time you make a red pasta sauce. It might surprise you — pleasantly.

Anyway — the chili with those odd things thrown in was great. Especially over rice. Try it the next time the polar vortex descends.

See ya next week.