Chili, Anyone?
As I just realized I never got around to writing down my chili recipe like MBM requested, I figured I might as well do so here, right? That way everyone can benefit from my culinary genius (if I stick my tongue any further in my cheek, it'll come out the other side. Are there really that many people on my flist who'd want to know how I cook? Yeah, I thought not. But maybe it'll inspire you--hey, I can dream, right?).
My basic recipe is very simple and highly open for interpretation. Start with:
1 pound ground beef (if you don't use fairly lean beef you'll have to drain the grease, which I don't tell you later)
1 can stewed tomatoes (non-whole preferred, otherwise they need cut and that's a pain in the ass)
1 can of beans (I prefer red or kidney)
1 onion (medium, yellow or white)
salt, pepper, spices
lemon juice
molasses
Brown the meat in a medium saucepan. If you want to and remember (I often forget), chop the onion while you're defrosting the beef (if you're using frozen like I often do) and saute the onions until they're just slightly caramelized and put them to the side. While you're browning the meat, salt and pepper it (I use Kosher salt and a pepper mill) and add some rubbed sage and minced garlic--to taste. Add the onions toward the end of the browning process but make sure everything else goes in fairly early. (Also, once you're done browning the meat, lower the heat to about medium and keep everything on a simmer.) Drain the tomatoes and beans and set the liquid aside (just in case) and dump both cans in. Stir everything together and taste. Add, to taste, the following:
Kosher salt
pepper
white pepper
cayenne pepper
cinnamon
Nestle's Quik
more garlic
liquid hickory smoke
curry powder
tumeric
paprika
Tabasco sauce
lemon juice
molasses
It takes about an hour total, including defrost time, at least if you chop the onions while something else is going on (defrosting, browning...), about an hour and a half if you forget to put the cornbread on after browning the meat. (How fortunate this is one dish that can stand to sit idle for a while.) This'll feed three adults but it's about six servings. You can go up to about two pounds of beef without having to up the other ingredients much (aside from spices, probably, but as I never measure anything but the weight of the beef...) If you need to feed a mediumish party you'll need a larger pot and about five pounds of beef. Use two cans of tomatoes and beans (or just a larger can of each) and two onions (or one really big one, or a big one and a small one--you know what? You wind up with about a cup of chopped onion in the basic recipe, go from there). If you're supplying the local block party with chili, you're on your own. Use this as a guideline, but I've never had to cook for so many people and probably would only do so under extreme duress--I don't like large crowds and certainly don't want to cook for one.
My basic recipe is very simple and highly open for interpretation. Start with:
1 pound ground beef (if you don't use fairly lean beef you'll have to drain the grease, which I don't tell you later)
1 can stewed tomatoes (non-whole preferred, otherwise they need cut and that's a pain in the ass)
1 can of beans (I prefer red or kidney)
1 onion (medium, yellow or white)
salt, pepper, spices
lemon juice
molasses
Brown the meat in a medium saucepan. If you want to and remember (I often forget), chop the onion while you're defrosting the beef (if you're using frozen like I often do) and saute the onions until they're just slightly caramelized and put them to the side. While you're browning the meat, salt and pepper it (I use Kosher salt and a pepper mill) and add some rubbed sage and minced garlic--to taste. Add the onions toward the end of the browning process but make sure everything else goes in fairly early. (Also, once you're done browning the meat, lower the heat to about medium and keep everything on a simmer.) Drain the tomatoes and beans and set the liquid aside (just in case) and dump both cans in. Stir everything together and taste. Add, to taste, the following:
Kosher salt
pepper
white pepper
cayenne pepper
cinnamon
Nestle's Quik
more garlic
liquid hickory smoke
curry powder
tumeric
paprika
Tabasco sauce
lemon juice
molasses
It takes about an hour total, including defrost time, at least if you chop the onions while something else is going on (defrosting, browning...), about an hour and a half if you forget to put the cornbread on after browning the meat. (How fortunate this is one dish that can stand to sit idle for a while.) This'll feed three adults but it's about six servings. You can go up to about two pounds of beef without having to up the other ingredients much (aside from spices, probably, but as I never measure anything but the weight of the beef...) If you need to feed a mediumish party you'll need a larger pot and about five pounds of beef. Use two cans of tomatoes and beans (or just a larger can of each) and two onions (or one really big one, or a big one and a small one--you know what? You wind up with about a cup of chopped onion in the basic recipe, go from there). If you're supplying the local block party with chili, you're on your own. Use this as a guideline, but I've never had to cook for so many people and probably would only do so under extreme duress--I don't like large crowds and certainly don't want to cook for one.