Winter is in full effect and the snow flurries are starting to fly outside my window. Time to make chili! This is a recipe I have developed over a few years, a bunch of trial and error and it works for my family. Use this as a guide to make your own chili. Add more of what you like and take away what you don’t. This is food..not science…well sort of.
Ingredients:
- Ground beef ~ 1 lb.
- 1/2 lb bulk sausage. (Jimmy Dean pictured)
- 3 cans crushed tomatoes 28 oz each (2 of Furmano’s and 1 quart of home canned)
- 2 cans of Kidney Beans 15 oz each (Hanover brand pictured)
- 1 can of Cannellini Beans 15 oz (Giant brand pictured, behind the sausage)
- 2 onions
- 1 pepper (red pictured but green is good too!)
- Corn 8 oz of frozen or 1 15 oz can
- 2 cloves garlic
- Peanut butter (Crazy Richard’s pictured
)
- Chocolate (Hershey’s pictured
)
- Cumin (3 tablespoons or 1 small palmful)
- Chili powder (2 oz. or 2 large palmfuls)
- Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Brown both the ground beef and the sausage. Make sure to cook all the pink out of the meat.
Remove the cooked meat and keep the meat drippings in the pan to sauté the vegetables. No need to add oil if you have flavorful pan drippings to use!
Dice the onions.
Dice the peppers.
Add them both to the hot pan and sauté till translucent and take on a bit of color.
Either finely mince 2 cloves of garlic or run them over a Microplane
Add the grated garlic to the vegetables. I like to add the garlic after the vegetables are sautéed because if I add it at the beginning it always burns! No one likes burnt garlic.
The hard work is done. Add everything else to the pot.
Add the cooked meats, the beans (drained and rinsed) 1/2 of a 1 lb. bag of corn, the spices but NOT THE SALT. I always salt after a dish is cooked. Especially when canned vegetables are used. Stir to combine.
Add a large serving spoon full of peanut butter to the chili.
Add 1/2 a bar of chocolate. Stir once melted.
Let the simmer on low for 45 minutes or longer. I love to let it simmer all afternoon. The flavors just marry and meld together and get better with time. This freezes beautifully and it is a great way to pinch pennies and save a buck when it comes to feeding your family.
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