Wait. What?
They grow pineapples in Portugal?
I have absolutely no idea.
But…
I came across an interesting looking recipe for “Hawaiian Chili” in Parade magazine in the Sunday paper, and it looked interesting, if just a touch boring, with ground beef and entirely too much cumin, to my taste.
Cumin is not one of my favorites.
So – and isn’t that the whole point about making things from scratch? – I set about zipping things up a bit to suit my tastes.
And it was good.
Note: one of my local markets (Jewel) makes their own very good version of linguiça, the Portuguese garlic sausage, which is pretty close to what I could get back in New England. Some of the Wisconsin sausage makers add a bit too much smoke in their versions, so look around and find one that you particularly like.
INGREDIENTS
•1 lb Portuguese sausage, casings removed
•3 cups puréed fresh pineapple
•1 cup diced onion
•1 cup diced carrot
•2 tbsp minced garlic
•1 tbsp grated ginger
•2 tbsp lower sodium Tamari
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tbsp coffee spice rub
•1 tbsp chili powder
•1/2 tsp Cayenne
•1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/2 tsp dried oregano
•1/2 tsp dried parsley
•1/2 tsp dried chives
•1/2 tsp mesquite liquid smoke
•1/4 tsp ground cumin
•1 bay leaf
•2 cans reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
•2 cups clarified pork stock
•1 cup chicken stock
•1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Note: I did not add any salt to my chili, and I don’t think it really needed it. As always, taste yours and adjust seasonings as you will.
Note: the clarified pork stock I used are the strained cooking liquids from when I prep barbecue ribs in the oven. This stock already 
had a bit of a kick to it from my barbecue sauce, and a hit of pineapple as well, so it amped up the sweet heat factor a bit.
Add the sausages to a large pot with the onion, garlic, carrots, ginger, and Tamari and cook, breaking up the sausages, for about ten minutes, until the meat is browned a bit and the veggies are getting tender.
Stir in the dried seasonings and cook, stirring, for five minutes.
Add the pineapple, tomatoes, and beans and cook, stirring often, for two hours more.
Give it a taste. I liked mine just as it was!
We had it over yellow rice with shredded extra sharp Cheddar on top.