Chili Con Carne: My particular version

I love chili. This recipe is one of my favorites to do, as it’s great for a crowd, or even solo – you just need to freeze the leftovers. The only unfortunate thing is that making it solo means it’s not really workable to do cornbread with it, unless you really want stale leftover cornbread for cornbread stuffing. Which isn’t a bad option, considering. Really, it just comes down to the fact I’ll use just about any excuse to break out this recipe – I love chili, and this version is my favorite.

Which is not to say that it’s perfect, or the one true chili. There are way too many varieties for that to work. One variation to run on this would be to swap in ground turkey for ground beef for a slightly lighter and healthier chili. I don’t drain my chili, which makes it a bit fattier and richer. Different sources of heat also twist the flavor different ways. Personally, I find straight red chili powder is the best dry source of straight heat, but others like tabasco as a traditional flavor. When I did a run of this yesterday, I used thai Sriracha hot sauce, which proved to be a very good choice, with its garlicky flavor adding to what’s already in the recipe. Anyway, on to the recipe.

Chili Con Carne
2 lbs ground beef

4 (16oz) cans kidney beans, drained (or 1 bag of dried beans, soaked overnight)

1 large onion, chopped finely

2 large (16oz) cans of crushed tomatoes, or tomato puree

1 tablespoon garlic powder (or 2-3 cloves, crushed)

1 quarter cup chili powder

hot red pepper to taste (or tabasco, or Sriracha)

Instructions

In a large pot, brown the ground beef and onion, chopping finely, then drain them and simmer

Add everything except the beans (tomatoes, spices, heat, garlic) and simmer the recipe for half an hour

Add the beans (drained and rinsed, if canned), and simmer for another half an hour

This can be left on the stove all day, and if anything it’s better left over.

Makes enough chili for about 5 college students, or 6 or 7 normal people.