Friday, October 4, 2013

31 Days of Halloween: Day Four - Chili Night!



We are back in business with a computer! Amen and amen. It's tough to start a 31 Days series with no real computer on which to blog.

Tonight we're headed to Cacky's to accomplish a few of our Halloween/Fall Bucket List items and since I'm cooking chili for supper I thought I'd share the recipes that I use. Chili is absolutely one of my favorite things about fall but I know that everyone does it differently. I was so impressed with James recently who is completely anti-beans and tomatoes. I got him to help me make it and not only did he TRY it, but he ATE it and he requested it for lunch the next day. He picked out all the beans and tomato chunks, but I didn't CARE.

I'm sharing a Chicken Chili recipe and a regular chili recipe but I have to be honest and admit that I am COMPLETELY guilty of using the McCormick packet for regular chili and that is IT. I'm trying something different tonight, though. We serve our normal chili over rice. I think it's a Texas thing, am I right? We also top with cheese and sour cream and on occasion we dip with Fritos. For the Chicken Chili we top with Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese and sour cream and serve with cornbread or tortilla chips.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
3-4 cups of chicken, cooked and shredded (I use a rotisserie chicken)
4 14-oz. cans of navy beans, drained and rinsed (use whatever combination of white beans suits you!)
4 4.5-oz. cans of chopped green chiles
1 packet of white chicken chili seasoning
1 14-oz. can chicken broth

Stir all ingredients together in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.

Jamie Deen's Award Winning Chili
(Click HERE for the actual recipe)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
8 oz. Italian sausage, casing removed
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 4-oz. can tomato paste
1 12-oz. bottle beer
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes + 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Add the olive oil to a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onions and peppers and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until just fragrant. Stir in the beef and sausage, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes.

Drain the beef mixture through a colander. Add it back to the Dutch oven and stir in the chili powder, cumin and oregano. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir the tomato paste into the beef mixture; this will "toast" it and give the chili more flavor. Add the beef and stir up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer, and then add the diced tomatoes and beans. Simmer on medium-low for 2 hours, stirring on occasion to keep the bottom from sticking.

No comments: