Chili – Girl Who Creates

It’s fall and that means CHILI!! This is my recipe for a classic tomato and beef chili. To be honest, it’s never won a chili cook off, but that’s probably because I’ve never made it for a chili cook off… I always feel the need to make my Chicken Chili for cook offs so that people have that option besides beef, even though we all know chicken chili never wins… So maybe one day I’ll make both of my chili recipes and see what happens! But for now, you can just trust my word that this is some good chili!

Ingredients

1/2 Yellow Onion diced
2-3 Cloves of Garlic minced
1 lb Ground Beef (I like the 80/20)
2 tsp Chili Powder
2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cayenne
2 Bay Leaves
1/3 Maseca (corn flour)
3 Cans of diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
2-3 Jalapeño Peppers
1 Can of Beef Broth (14.5oz)
1 Can Kidney Beans (16oz drained and rinsed)
1 Can Black Beans (15oz drained and rinsed)

Instructions

First slice Jalapeños in half and take out the seeds and ribs (unless you love it spicy), place them on a baking sheet and broil on high until they have some black blistering. It will only take a few minutes so keep on eye on them!
In a pot on medium high, drizzle some olive oil and add in your onion and garlic. Cook until the onion start turning translucent.
Add in the Beef and stir to brown.
While the beef is browning, season with the Chili, Cumin, and Cayenne, and salt to taste.
While those are partying together, pour your tomatoes and roasted jalapeños into a food processor and blitz until it’s a consistency you like. (My kids don’t like chunks of tomatoes, so I usually go until it looks like restaurant style salsa)
Sprinkle the Maseca over the beef and stir until its totally coating the beef.
Pour in the tomato/jalapeño mix and the beef broth.
Add in the Bay leaves and beans, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Time to serve!

So how do you like to eat your chili?? Growing up we always had it with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream. When we were visiting my grandad’s farm, it was always served with hot dogs. If I was at Steak ‘N Shake with my grandma then I had to have a side with my burger. When I got married my husband always asked for me to make white rice to go with it. Moving to North Carolina we learned you put chili on your burger with cole slaw and mustard! (I was skeptical, but it’s delicious!) And I don’t think you can ever go wrong with chili cheese fries! I don’t think I could pick a preference out of those! But this does beg the question: Is chili an entrée or a condiment???