It's Getting Chili in Here

Chili!

It's like autumn, wrapped up in a crock pot.

My favorite recipe is It's Chili by George!!, and while I don't follow it religiously, I find it's a good starting point for a delicious pot o'chili...

I don't make spicy chili, because if I did I'd be the only one eating it - this is a nice, mild, filling, warming, curled-up-on-the-couch-under-a-quilt kind of chili...so here we go!

George's ingredients are:

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 cup chili powder

I start messing with it right away by using only one pound of ground meat - and it's usually ground turkey. Start by browning it (or in turkey's case, whiting it...) over medium heat until it is cooked through.



Add that to a crock pot or large dutch oven.

I also don't use canned beans, but like to cook up a mess of kidney and pinto beans beforehand and ladle the equivalent of a couple of cans into the crock pot. Then I add some more beans to make up for the reduced meat. Then I add some more.



I heart beans.

I also skip out on the onions and bell peppers because there are people in this house who don't appreciate such things.

The recipe calls for one whole (46 ounce) can of tomato juice, which is A LOT of tomato juice, people. It really adds a nice tang to the recipe, but unless you really like soupy chili, add it more sparingly. I usually use a half to three quarters of the can, depending on how many extra beans I added.

Throw everything else into the pot, and (if you're cooking it on the stove) bring it to a boil, then turn it down and simmer for a couple of hours. If you've got it in the crock-pot (which is how I usually cook it), let it cook on low all day - the flavors will all meld together and you'll want to kiss the inventor of the slow cooker.

Dish it out into you favorite soup bowls and serve along with some homemade cornbread...



Add some cheese. Because cheese is good. Cheese is your friend. The federal government implores you to eat cheese.



And while you're at it, add a little sour cream. You wouldn't want your cheese to get lonesome.



Now. Pull up a good movie on the Netflix instant queue, light a fire in the hermetically sealed gas log fireplace, snuggle up under a cozy blanket made from recycled soda bottles and enjoy this throwback to time gone by...