Friday, October 7, 2011

The Big Red Pot: Probably Not A Blue Ribbon Chili Recipe. But a good one.

There's something about this time of the year. All I want to do is eat. I think it's the weather. My body goes into some kind of self-preservation mode. My brain starts sending out the signal to make blubber. "Keep a layer of fat. You need to survive the winter that's headed your way." Maybe I'm part Inuit?

The problem? BSD is not here. I have nobody to feed me. I wasn't kidding when I said I could eat cereal for dinner if I wanted to. I can. And I do. But mostly it's because I'm too lazy to cook for myself. So after a week of eating crap...

It was time to drag out The Big Red Pot. 

I tried a new chili recipe. It's good. It has some unusual ingredients like cinnamon sticks and cloves. Is it THE BEST ever? No. But it's good. And with a few extra spices it could probably be REALLY good. For now I'm just grateful I have a fridge full of real food to eat for the next week. Sorry. I have no photos. But I will include the recipe. Because really. It is good. And it's easy.

We're supposed to have a Chili Cook-off with our neighbors. I can play around with this recipe, but I'm kind of hoping maybe one of you out there has a killer chili recipe to share? I'll give you full credit if I win. Pinky promise.


Probably Not A Blue Ribbon Chili Recipe. But a good one.
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 1 chile pepper, chopped (this may be why mine isn't prize-winning? I omitted this.)
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 3 (14.5 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped (I used a 28oz. can ground peeled tomatoes plus a can of diced tomatoes.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1 40oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Directions:
  1. In your big red pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute onion, chile pepper and garlic until soft. Add ground beef: cook and stir until meat is browned.
  2. Pour in tomatoes with liquid, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon stick and cloves*. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. 
  3. Remove cinnamon stick and cloves. Stir in kidney beans, and cook another 15 minutes. Serve. I like mine over cornbread or brown rice.
* I put the cinnamon stick and cloves in a little tea ball to keep them from getting lost. I was really hesitant about these ingredients so I wanted to be able to take them out easily and quickly if I thought they tasted yuck. I actually liked the flavor, but I did take them out before adding the beans rather than leaving them in til the end as the original recipe was written.

7 comments:

Kerri said...

Hey, I'm in self-preservation mode too! I am sitting here eating pumpkin spice marshmallows as I type! Fall food is so good....but I am going down hill fast! I need some magic something to make me not eat anymore!

Ok, you need a new name for your recipe! It sounds good to me...but chili is one of the only things my husband won't eat...so I usually order it once in awhile when we are out to eat.

Amy said...

This is our favorite recipe and I get asked for it quite a bit. I don't know if it's a winner, but it's good. I would make it the day before. It always tastes better the 2nd day.

2 lbs ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped red pepper
16 oz tomato sauce
16 oz stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili powder
30 oz chili beans
2 cans kidney beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt

I usually brown my meat and then dump everything else in and let simmer on the stove.

Anonymous said...

The chili recipe sounds interesting. I've never made it with cinnamon. Recently I made Skinnytaste.com's 3 bean turkey chili and was told by Greg that it was the best I've made. I'll find the recipe and share w/you.

Mitzi

Gabe said...

We love a big pot of chili around here. ..on of my kids all time favs! Not sure how the cinnamon and cloves would go over though. . .I personally can't even stand the smell of cloves, I had a terrible wisdom tooth experience wih clove oil. ..maybe I will be brave enough to try it someday and face the critism that is sure to come!

BTW. . .its every other one of my kids are readers. . .Jake hates to read, the one in the picture just started to really get into books and shes in third grade. You either like to read or don't, its definately something you can not force!

mandy said...

ha! i love the title of that recipe.
and, yes, it's the season of butter.
bring. it. on.

Karina said...

So sorry - not a bit Chili eater here....unless it comes out of a can (scandalous I know). But I think anything served/made in that lovely pot would be delish. I may have to put one on my Christmas Wish List - perhaps in a bright green?

sloan said...

mmmm - i'm a chili lover and i think the twist of the cloves and cinnamon stick sound awesome here, i'm totally trying it! it's been so darn warm here lately that it still doesn't feel like Fall, and not a single leaf is turning, so my mental "blubber clock" hasn't quite switched yet ... but when it does (and oh, it will) i'm all over this one - thanks, friend!