NORMAL CHEF: It’s a chili day

Oh Chili, easily one of my all time favorite foods, its cooked all in one pot, smells fantastic as it simmers,and takes the chill off on cold, wet day. Also there is something very satisfying about cutting up those vegetables and knowing what the end result is going to be, my taste buds are already awaiting those results.

Now I know that there are several varieties out there, and chili cook off contests all over, so try a version, play with a recipe and create your own, and if you want to be enter a chili cook off, its a lot of fun. Some people say that chili shouldn’t have beans, I disagree, other people think that chili should use chopped up chunks of beef, I disagree, I like ground meat in mine.

So today I am going to offer to you a very basic recipe that you can feel free to play with and make it your own, or just leave it alone, because it’s good just as it is, because if you have really ever wanted to experiment with a recipe this is one for you.

Chili:

• 1# ground beef, I use 80/20
• 1/2# ground pork sausage, I use the hot
• 2 cans, 14.5 oz  stewed tomatoes
• 1 can spicy V-8, get your vegetables in that way
• 2 cans, 14.5oz diced tomatoes
• 2 cans, 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs of celery, washed and diced
• 1 green pepper, washed and diced
• 2 T garlic powder
• ! T onion powder
• 1T. paprika
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1/4 c chili powder
• 2 T kosher salt
• 2 t ground black pepper

First things first in a nice heavy bottom pot, brown your ground beef and sausage, and use a potato masher to break down the meat as you cook it, do this over medium heat, once it is all brown meat in a colander, while the grease is draining, place the cut up vegetables in the same pot and cook for 2=3 minutes on the stove, you do not need to add any more grease as there is enough sitting on the bottom of the pot.and saute them for 2-3 minutes. Then add the browned meats back to the pot. Stir that all together and then add your dried spices and stir those in, and then finally all of the canned tomato products and your beans. Let this come up to a light boil and then turn to a low simmer, and let it simmer for at least 1 hour stirring occasionally.

After 1 hour taste it and adjust your seasoning accordingly, now would be the time that you add that extra heat if you would like, I would do it in the form of Tabasco sauce, or crushed red pepper as I am not a fan of cayenne, remember you can always add more heat but you can never take it away when it is added. Once you are satisfied with the heat level, let it simmer another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then just serve it up and enjoy.

There are several ways to serve this chili, you can offer it just by itself, you can add fresh chopped raw onion top and serve it, my favorite way, you can do cheese, sour cream bacon or a combination if not all of these served together, it is up to you, make it your own. Remember never be afraid to try something different, get your family involved, sit down together for a meal, and talk about the day. Enjoy everyone.

Natilie Cavnar is a cooking fanatic who loves to try new recipes, and create some of her own, ask her what you want at thenormalchef@gmail.com.