Dad's Favorite Chili v. 2.0

There are so many chili recipes out there. If you had 20 people make chili, you would have 20 very different types of chili, from bland to uber spicy, from vegan to a meatsa-meatsa fest, from beans to no beans.
Everyone has their own take on chili. This version is the current favorite in the Golla household.
Enjoy!

 

Dad’s Favorite Chili

 2.5 lbs. ground beef, 85% lean

1.5 lbs. Hot Italian sausage

¼ c. bacon crumbles

1 large onion, chopped

2 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bottle Corona, 12 oz.

1 Tbls. Beef Better than Bouillon

4 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 15-oz cans spicy chili beans

1 6-oz can tomato paste

¼ cup chili powder

1Tbls. oregano

1Tbls. cumin

1Tbls. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. hot pepper sauce, (e.g. Tabasco)

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. sugar

 

Heat large stock pot over medium heat. Add beef and sausage, breaking apart while it cooks until brown. Drain excess grease.

Add rest of ingredients. Stir to blend.

Cover and simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Taste and adjust flavor. Add salt, pepper, chili powder, or nothing at all.

Do whatever floats your boat.

This is YOUR chili. Own it.

Tips & Tricks:

·         Use this recipe as a template. Adjust it to suit your family’s tastes.

·         This recipe makes A LOT OF CHILI. Half it, or freeze half after it cooks.

·         It’s good in a bowl with bacon sprinkled on top, then cheese. Or on Fritos.

Foodie Friday--Dad's Favorite Chili

I have been on the lookout for a chili recipe for over thirty years. I've tried many types of recipes, some cooked by the letter of the recipe and some made with my own twist.

 

None of them compare to this recipe.

 

Seven days later we are still eating this chili and enjoying it like we had on the first day.

Plus, this recipe makes A LOT OF CHILI.

 

I had used my regular 5 quart Calphalon pot that I use for everything . . . and it was too small.

 

Fast forward to the chili bubbling and dripping down the sides of the pot and burning on the stove to me hastily scooping the chili into my big ass crock pot--lined with a slow cooker liner because those wonderful heat resistant bags of nylon are the BEST!

 

Two hours later, and a supreme amount of elbow grease to clean the stove and pot, I had a fantastic scoop of chili poured over Fritos, a sprinkling of shredded cheese and a large pinch of bacon crumbles. I was in heaven.

 

My hubby thinks I might give his boss a run for the money when the chili cookoff rolls around.

 

Feel free to take this recipe and put your own spin on it.

Dad's Favorite Chili

2 lbs ground chuck

1 lb bulk Italian sausage

3 1-lb can Ranch-style chili beans

1 1-lb can chili beans with spicy sauce

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 Poblano chili peppers, chopped

1 Tbls minced garlic

1 Tbls. bacon crumbles

1 Tbls. beef Better Than Bouillon

1 12-ounce Corona beer

1/4 cup chili powder

1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbls oregano

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)

1 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp white sugar

 

In large stock pot (6 quart or larger), brown beef and sausage. Drain grease. Add all ingredients.

Stir to blend. Cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder.

 

Tips & Tricks

 

• I didn't have Italian sausage, so I used bulk sausage. Next time, I'll try spicy bulk breakfast sausage for a different zing.
• I picked up the Ranch-style (black label) beans thinking they were just beans. They aren't. They are in a sauce. I didn't drain them and just tossed them in the pot.
• I think I used 4 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes, but honestly, I think I might have only put in 2 cans. Oops. Do what floats your boat. 2 cans or 4 cans. It really doesn't matter, just make sure you have enough room in your stock pot!
• Recently I bought fresh paprika. It was smoked paprika, because that was all they had. I like the nuance of the flavor.
• Yes, I did have to add more salt. It will all depend on your beans, bouillon, and the sausage you use. Wait until everything cooks down a bit so you don't over season it.

Fritos and shredded Mexican cheese is handy, gooey and makes a great Frito chili pie!

 

Enjoy!

MAGolla  

 

 



Foodie Friday -- Mag's Chili

Personally, I think there are as many chili recipes as there are ingredients in one's pantry. In other words, limitless.

If you have meat, tomatoes, and chili powder, you can make chili.

And there are billions of varieties of chili powder, which means a gazillion varieties of chili.

Hub's work place was having a chili cook-off, so I made chili.

But we've been iced in. I couldn't go to the store. I had some regular ingredients, and some not so normal ingredients, on hand.

Again, chili is one of those 'dump' recipes: Dump stuff in, let it cook, taste, and adjust seasonings

This was the result.

Mag's Chili

2 lbs ground beef, divided (I used 93% fat free beef, so I didn't bother to drain it)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup dried onions (forgot to buy a real onion, oops)
2 cups chopped brisket (fat removed--adds a smokiness)
2 16 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes, hot habanero variety (no idea why I bought it!)
1 3.5 oz chopped green chilies
1 small can tomato paste (6 oz?)
3-5 heaping Tbls Top Hat chili powder (depends on chili powder and freshness of aforementioned chili powder) (link takes you to Pendery's order page for Top Hat chili powder)
@ 1 Tbls kosher salt (don't oversalt! Use less, until it cooks a little and add more if needed)
1 12 -oz amber lager (I used Old Scratch Amber)
2 cups homemade enchilada sauce (that had been in the freezer for awhile--the link provides the recipe)
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
@ 1/4-1/2 tsp. chipotle powder, (sprinkled in to taste)

Brown 1 pound of ground beef. Add rest of ingredients (the second pound of beef will melt into the liquid with no chunks), except kidney beans. Cook about 30 minutes, taste and adjust seasonings. Add kidney beans. Cook for another 30 minutes to an hour to cook down and meld flavors.

Enjoy! And don't burn your mouth like my hubs did!

Tips & Tricks:

• most of my tips and trick are in red within the recipe.
• again, you can make it as mild or as spicy as you like
• If you want to brown both pounds of ground beef for larger chunks, by all means do so. This is just what I threw together. Make it your own.
• season lightly with salt at the beginning, because when it cooks down it might be too salty--you can always add more--I did!
• I prefer flaked Kosher salt. It has less harshness than iodized table salt
• If I hadn't used my chopped Poblano peppers from the freezer in another recipe I would have tossed in about 1/3 cup. . . . or jalapenos . . . or Serrano chilies. . . or what other spicy chilies that were on hand at the store. . . . if I had been able to go to the store.
• I threw the beans in there because I wanted to clear out my pantry a little. . . not because the recipe needed beans.

Later, Peeps!

Foodie Friday--Chili

I don’t know about where y’all live, but after our scorching hot summer, I’m glad that the air has gotten a little cooler.

But I have a love/hate relationship with winter. It’s colder out, so we tend to stay inside snuggled up with a good book, watching television or simply crocheting, which means we have to make an effort to exercise. Winter also implies comfort food: soups, stews, chilis, pastas, etc. And with that sort of comfort food comes the weight gain.

And none of us want to gain back the weight we have lost, do we?

So, I’ll share my comfort food recipes with you only if you promise to remember portion control and to keep exercising this winter. I know I’ll be walking daily--probably in the afternoons instead of early mornings--unless the weather is so bad that it is detrimental to my health (ice, snow, storms, bitterly cold wind chills). It’s been known to happen, but I have a portable stair climber . . . and a set of normal stairs I could go up and down, up and down, etc., a Wii, and a pesky gym membership that I haven’t used in almost a year.

Anyhoo, here’s my take on a chili recipe. I happened to have a pound of smoked brisket in the freezer, so I tossed it into the mix and decreased the ground beef to @ 2 lbs. The kidlet and I liked the added smokiness, the hubster not so much. Everything is to your personal taste and heat tolerance.

Margaret’s Chili

2 Tbls. olive oil

1 ½ cups chopped onions (2 small)

8 large garlic cloves, smashed and minced

3 lbs ground beef (substitute 1 lb of smoked chopped brisket for 1 lb. ground beef)  

5-6 heaping Tbls. chili powder

1 Tbls. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried basil

½ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. dried thyme

2 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, puree slightly with hand blender

2 cups beef broth

1 12-ounce bottle beer (I used Corona)

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

Salt (@ 1 Tbls.) to taste (under season chili until it cooks down, then adjust)

Pepper (@ ½ tsp) 

Heat oil in large heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, sautéing for @ 4 minutes, then add garlic. Saute until onions translucent, @ 4 more minutes. Add meat and sauté until brown, breaking up meat with spoon, @ 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, basil, oregano, and thyme. Stir 2 minutes. Mix in pureed tomatoes, broth, beer and tomato paste. Add salt and pepper (UNDER SEASON MIXTURE AT THIS POINT). Simmer until thickened to desired consistency, stirring occasionally, @ 1-1 ½ hours. Mix in beans. Simmer 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning.  

Enjoy!

Later, Peeps!!