Chili

Mmm, chili. As some of my coworkers know because they see me bringing it to my desk often, I love chili! When my sisters and I were kids, our mom would make a chili recipe that didn't have tomatoes in it because we were picky and didn't like to have chunks of tomato in our food. I think the base of hers was tomato juice and tomato paste. So for a long time I have used the chili recipe off of the can of tomato juice, but decided recently that I'd like to try to find a different recipe that is more like what they serve at the cafeteria at work. It's thicker and chunkier... less soupy. This was a recipe I found on recipezaar.com (my new favorite recipe site) and it was really tasty. The flavor was actually really similar to my mom's chili.

(By the way, if the measurements seem a little strange (such as "1/2 can") it's because I scaled it down to have fewer servings than what was originally called for.)

1 pound ground beef

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can tomato sauce

1/2 can tomato paste

1/2 (15 ounce) can tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 can chili beans

1. Saute meat, onions and garlic until done.

2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 2 hours.

I also made a quick bread that you can see in the picture but it was nothing spectacular.

When I was searching for the chili recipe, I found another one that I'd also really like to try someday. It had some unconventional ingredients (coffee? brown sugar?) but got a lot of rave reviews. I decided to go with that first recipe instead because it seemed like a safer bet. I also someday would like to try Bruin's chili recipe, which Sue gave me after I tasted it at their Halloween party, but since that one makes enough to feed an army I'm saving it for a special occasion, I guess.

Here is that second recipe:

1 teaspoon oil

1 onion, chopped

1-1/2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound lean ground beef

3/8 pound beef sirloin, cubed

1/2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/2 can dark beer

1/2 cup strong coffee

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1/2 can beef broth

1/4 cup brown sugar

1-3/4 tablespoons chili sauce

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon cocoa

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans

2 chili peppers, chopped

1. Heat oil.

2. Cook onions, garlic and meat until brown.

3. Add tomatoes, beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth.

4. Add spices. Stir in 1 can of kidney beans and peppers.

5. Reduce heat and simmer for 1-1/2 hours.

6. Add remaining can of kidney beans and simmer for another 3o minutes.