As the cold winds of winter began to roll in in I thought to myself, TIME FOR CHILI.
Seriously, what’s better on a cold winter’s night than a steamy bowl of chili? Maybe a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon and marshmallows… but few other things.
Chili is one of those things that get people into a tizzy about whether or not it’s authentic or not. I’m not one of those people at all. I don’t care if you use beef chunks, beans or no beans, or put your chili over spaghetti. To each his own.
With that said I realize that my chili isn’t authentic, but it’s what works for me. I don’t normally use beef, I normally go the veggie route but I was making it for my moms as well and she wanted beef.
To start I sauteed carrots, onion and garlic together with the ground beef. Then I added my spices — cumin, chili powder, coriander, cayenne, oregano, salt and pepper. I don’t measure at all! I just throw it in and hope it works out… if it doesn’t I adjust later.
I stir the mixture around allowing the spices to toast a bit and then add a big can of whole tomatoes, crushing the tomatoes against the bottom and sides of the pot. For the record, I use my lovely dutch oven for the task. I also add tomato sauce and if I have it a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. I guess that’s my “secret” ingredient. It gives the chili some heat and a smoky flavor. Then I let the whole mess simmer for a while to blend the flavours.
After about half an hour I add the beans. I use a mix of black and kidney beans just because. I also add about a cup of frozen corn just to up my veggie intake. At this point you could either let the chili simmer for another bit and eat it OR just set it and forget it. It’s one of those things that’s hard to overcook but more time gives it more flavour.
I don’t normally make cornbread with chili. I grew up eating chili with garlic bread, but I wanted something different this time around so I decided on corn muffins. I pretty much just followed a standard cornbread/ corn muffin recipe and then added some minced jalapeno and some grated cheddar. Totally that easy. You could even use Jiffy muffin mix if you’re totally lazy.
That’s all for now!
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[…] to it. I was craving chili the other day and normally I would make my normal chili (blogged about here). I don’t have a strict recipe, I kind of just use my judgment and throw things into the […]
[…] to it. I was craving chili the other day and normally I would make my normal chili (blogged about here). I don’t have a strict recipe, I kind of just use my judgment and throw things into the […]
[…] to it. I was craving chili the other day and normally I would make my normal chili (blogged about here). I don’t have a strict recipe, I kind of just use my judgment and throw things into the […]