Quick and Easy Chili

I luuuuuv chili. I could eat it every week no matter what the weather. When I was a kid my mom and I often ate at a little restaurant that had the best chili, I have been trying to recreate it with no success. My standard chili recipe is one my Grandpa got off the radio, it's suppose to be the recipe for the chili served at Chasens, the once famous L.A. eatery. I make that quite often, but I still search for that elusive taste from my childhood. I ran across this recipe a few years ago in the Rachael Ray magazine. It's not what I was after but it was good and it can be made quickly and doesn't use a lot of ingredients. I was a little wary of it at first since it called for adding the beans and liquid from the can. I always rinse canned beans, because I thing the packing liquid is kind of... well gross, but I followed the recipe and low and behold the liquid really adds a thickness to the chili that is quite good. I would recommend using a good quality canned bean like Bush's, which is what I normally use, the one time I used a generic brand from Wally World it was noticeably different and not as good.

How does everyone eat their chili? To me it depends on the chili, I can eat it plain or with a combination of crackers, buttered crackers, jalapenos, Frito's, cheese, corn bread and to the Little Buddy's disgust, pickles. Do you have any odd foods you eat with chili?

Check out more great recipes at the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Enjoy,
Jaynie

Corn Chip Chili

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup finely chopped sweet onion
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
One 15-ounce can black beans
One 15-ounce can pinto beans
One 10-ounce can tomatoes with green chilies
Salt and pepper
12 ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded (optional)
One bag Frito's

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef over medium-high heat. Once beef has lost it's pink color, add the onion, garlic, chili powder and cumin and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the beans, with their liquid, and the tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

If you want to serve with the cheese turn off heat, then top with the cheese, cover and let stand until the cheese melts, 5 to 10 minutes. Place a handful of corn chips in a bowl. Top with the chili and serve.

You can adjust the heat by using different levels of canned tomatoes with green chilies. Other additions that go well are jalapenos either cooked in the chili or sprinkled over the top as a garnish.

The original recipe can be found here. Tex-Mex Corn Chip Chili