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Homemade Chili

When I’m at home, I usually get requests from the folks to cook something for lunch or dinner. I usually have something I want to try (whether I’ve seen it on TV or on foodgawker) or something I’ve cooked in school which I want to cook again.

One evening, I got a special request from my dad to cook chili. I’ve never made chili in my life so I was at a loss. I didn’t even know where to start. So where did I start? Where everyone starts when they don’t know how/where/when/who/what/why something is: Google.

I found that chili recipes are actually pretty easy to make. I combined about 6 or 7 different recipes and made something that utilized ingredients which I had at home.

Note that I changed a few things, but the core ingredients and final result is still the same. Also if you want to try this recipe, make sure to allow enough time to cook this (the recipe called for 6+ hours of simmering it for the flavors to come out and make it more tasty. I didn’t have 6+ hours so I only simmered it for 2).

I had

Around 3/4 lbs of lean ground beef,
6 or 7 Italian sausages
A bag of kidney beans (98% of the time I don’t measure anything, this is why I’m not a fan of baking), rehydrated overnight.
2 large carrots
1 medium-sized onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 huge green bell pepper
5 medium-sized, Roma tomatoes
A small bowl of frozen green peas
A medium-sized can of diced tomatoes (again, I apologize for not knowing the exact amount)
A small can of tomato paste
A large can of tomato sauce
A can or bottle of beer (any kind, I just used whatever we had in the fridge. The recommended beer was some sort of lager)
A few drops of worcestershire sauce
A sprinkle of chili powder
A sprinkle of paprika
A sprinkle of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Olive oil to cook all this

In addition to the chili, I also prepared a toasted baguette with cheese. For this I had

1 whole wheat baguette
Cheddar cheese (or any cheese you have, I just used what’s in the fridge). If you have mozzarella or parmesan or asiago, use that. Just experiment! Use flavors you like
Butter
Italian seasoning (or garlic powder, works just as fine)

The first thing I had to do before I started was to make sure the beans are rehydrated. The last thing I wanted was to bite into a half hard bean. Not cool.

I started by heating the oil. After 5 or so minutes, I browned the beef. While the beef was browning, I chopped the onions, peeled and chopped the carrots into cubes, and minced the garlic. Once the beef was browned, I took it off the pan, drained it and added more oil to cook the sausages. I kept in mind to only cook it halfway because I would leave it to simmer for a long time.

While that was cooking, I chopped the green peppers and tomatoes, and took out all the spices I needed.

Chili, beer, cayenne pepper, chili powder, paprika, diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, green peppers, tomatoes, carrots, ground beef

I took out the sausages once it was halfway done and added more oil to the pan. I then added the onions and garlic and cooked it for about 3 or 4 minutes. Right after that, I added the carrots, peppers, tomatoes and cooked it for about 5 minutes.

After the vegetables were soft, I added back the ground beef and the sausages and let it cook for another minute or so. I then added the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste and let cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes I added the beer, worcestershire sauce, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, green peas and kidney beans. I left the peas and beans towards the end because these are super fragile; I didn’t want it to be crushed into mush by the constant mixing I was doing.

After it boiled, I turned it down to simmer and stirred it every so often. I also seasoned it with salt and pepper.

I didn’t want to prepare the baguette just yet because I was going to let the chili simmer for at least 2 hours. I prepared it closer to when the chili was about to be served as it only takes 10 minutes to prepare + bake it. I just remembered to shred the cheese while I waited.

For the baguette, I sliced it into small cuts and laid it out on a greased baking sheet (I used PAM cooking spray). I spread a thin layer of butter/flavor on to the slices, sprinkled the Italian seasoning and layered the shredded cheese on top. I baked it in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes and it was done!