Chili

    

    What’s better than some good spicy chili for that first cold snap! We don’t see much bitter cold here in Georgia, but cold enough for some chili. Looks like the weather is changing about mid week so lets get a batch going …

    I threw this recipe together years ago and pretty much stick to it. Sometimes I will add in Cayenne pepper to make it even hotter. You may try some corn, different varieties of beer, sausage or even beef chunks. That’s what I love about cooking. You can do what you want. If you end up not liking it, change it up.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef

2 tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

8oz mushrooms (we used baby portobello) stemmed and chopped

1 large bell pepper chopped

1 large red onion chopped

1 16oz can of light red kidney beans, drained

1 16oz can of dark red kidney beans, drained

2 16oz cans of diced tomatoes drained (we used garlic oregano flavored)

1 28oz can of tomato sauce

4 large jalapenos chopped - we seeded but if you want it very spicy, leave them in.

½ tsp cayenne pepper ( we omitted it from this batch, she likes it mild)

1 cup beer (you may start with a half cup just in case this is what caused our unexplained taste. If we figure this out I will edit the post)

Cooking

    First I brown the burger with a little salt and pepper to taste. At times I have added in some onion as well. Brown and drain off the grease. You can use the pot you plan on putting everything in or you can do it in a separate frying pan.
    You won’t want this down your drain as it will eventually harden and clog it up. We use a colander over one of the empty tomato cans with a paper towel under that to catch spills.

    Now we just add all of our ingredients along with the browned beef into a large pot. This go around we used a 6-8 quart enamel coated cast iron pot.

    Bring the mixture to a boil then cover and turn it down to a simmer. If the mixture is to thin for you, boil longer with the lid off to evaporate some of the liquid. Be careful not to burn it as it will stick to the bottom of the pot and taste pretty bad. That’s not much of an issue with this cast iron pot. You could also add more stuff to thicken the chili if it’s too thin for you.  If the chili is too thick add more tomato sauce, beer, or a little water. Whatever works for you. It’s really all about taste. You will know what to add to make it YOUR chili.

    I would let it simmer for at least 2-3 hours so the ingredients can really meld together. The longer the better! I have found that making it the day before really gives it time to mature the flavors. If your really hungry and do not want to wait, there is nothing wrong with eating some after the first half hour or so, it just wont be as good!
    I have even cooked this in a crockpot all day!

    There are lots of things you can do for condiments and sides for this. With this batch we just added a little shredded mild cedar cheese and some pickled jalapenos. We had baked bread with butter to dip with.           
    Fresh onion, sour cream, bacon pieces and cornbread work extremely well. Put them in little condiment cups to serve.

    Do I even have to say it? … Beer goes well with this! You may want to have some water on hand if you spice it up.