Thursday, December 17, 2009

Chili

I'm not a huge chili fan, but sometimes you're just in a "hearty soup" mood and chili is cheap, easy, and no fuss. So, I searched a couple of my favorite sites and found two that sounded good, but couldn't decide between the two. So, I combined the two recipes and ended up with a truly delicious and easy chili tonight. The cocoa powder looks a little weird, but I wanted something dark and smoky to take off the vinegary edge of the ketchup and tomato juice. You'd be surprised what a difference that little bit of cocoa makes. The chili went from alright to great after the addition, so don't leave it out. But it is a taste issue... add the red vinegar and cocoa a little at a time, until you get the taste you want. This soup is easy to make, makes a really big pot, and paired with some cornbread and delicious honey butter, you've got the perfect meal.

2 medium onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 to 2.5 lbs. ground beef
3 cans beans (I used a combination of pinto and red kidney)
46 oz. V8 Juice (I recommend the spicy blend, but you can also use plain tomato juice)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup (I like the flavor ketchup imparts to chili, however the taste is slightly strong. If you're not a huge ketchup fan, consider substituting half of the ketchup with plain tomato sauce.)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
3/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 to 1.5 Tbsp. Cocoa powder (don't use Nesquik here... )
splash of red vinegar

1. Brown the hamburger, onion, and pepper in a large skillet. Drain the fat.

2. In a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup water with the garlic salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, and brown sugar.

3. In a large pot, combine the tomato juice or V8, beans, tomato sauce, and ketchup. Stir in hamburger mixture and seasoning/water mixture. Add a splash of red vinegar and cocoa powder. Mix well and add bay leaves.

4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer over medium to low heat, stirring occasionally. In the alternative, at step 3, dump everything into a crockpot instead and cook on low.

5. Serve with green onions, cheese, and sour cream.

1 comment:

Super Daysh said...

This was indeed pretty tasty... I don't like ketchup, so I substituted a half cup ketchup for stewed tomatoes. Turned out pretty tasty. Yum!