And Now for Something Completely Different: SOUP-CHILI-STEW RECIPE SWAP & BLOG HOP

Hello Friends, old and new!

I’m doing something a little different today…and participating in a Soup/Chili/Stew recipe swap blog hop – fun, right?? Leslie of Once Upon a Time Ever Happily After is the mastermind behind this yummy project…so a big shout out to Leslie for inviting me to join in…and for all her hard work!

Welcome to any visitors who got here from Michael Ann’s blog Out and Back. Thanks for stopping by!

And after reading my page, please visit Gale at All the Little Bits, for her recipe!

MIMI’S TEXAS CHILI

For lack of a better term, I’m going to call this Texas chili, just cuz it’s based on my mother’s chili, and she was originally from Texas. Ifso facto, Texas Chili. It may or may not bear any actual similarity to actual “Texas” chili.

First, I don’t have an actual recipe for this. It’s a “by taste” recipe, but I’ll try to explain it well for you. Second, there are three DEAL-BREAKER ingredients. We’ll get to them. Third, this is not low-cal, low-carb, low-cholesterol, vegan, yadda yadda yadda. This is yummy, flavorful, filling, satisfying REAL CHILI.

Okay. Ground beef. You’ll hurt my heart if you swap out red meat for ground chicken or turkey. I usually use two pounds. One pound is just not enough. You want to end up with a LOT of chili cuz you’re gonna want to eat it Every Day.

Saute chopped onions in some butter in a pan til they’re JUST a little brown. I’m not fancy and just use a stainless steel pan. Any pan will do. And how many onions? I’ll say…as many as you can bear chopping, but not more than one onion. I usually do half a yellow onion. Yellow cuz they’re a little more robust and the flavor won’t disappear when confronted by the other ingredients.

Dump the ground beef into the pan onto the onions over med-to-med-high-heat. Separate Separate Separate. I have a wide, firm, plastic spatula that I use to break up the “beef clods,” so you end up with “fine-grained” beef. I hope my terms make sense.

(hey, wouldn’t it have been great if I had pictures to share? yeah. yeah, it would.)

Once the beef is nearing optimal brownness (and I don’t want any PINK beef in my chili), I add the first of the DEAL-BREAKING ingredients. Lots and LOTS of chili powder (CP). Adding chili powder to chili is no time for measuring spoons. I LEGIT use at least half a small bottle (jar? container?) of chili powder. At LEAST. And every CP is different. Some is more potent, so you can get away with less…and some is more bland, so you’ll need to use more (and probably some salt, too). Every region has different spice brands…the brand you use is between you and your chili. I use the store brand at a small local chain of market here on Long Island called Guinta’s Meat Farms. I can get a Really Big container of their chili, so then I don’t need half the container, but still…use a lot of chili powder.

Don’t worry if the flavor is too hot and spicy at this point cuz you still have other ingredients to add in that will cut the heat of the CP.

Trust the Process.

I don’t usually add any other spices. If I have a strong chili powder with good depth of flavor, it’s unnecessary. If it’s bland, then I’ll add crushed red pepper, some smoked paprika, a tinch of cumin…and salt and pepper. All to taste.

Once your beef is browned and seasoned, I dump in one can per lb of beef of rinsed red (kidney) beans. I like Goya, but you do you. Mix Mix Mix. Then a large can of diced tomatoes. I like the San Marzano brand but I don’t know if that’s sold everywhere. But it’s a nice, tomato-ey, neither salty nor bland, crushed tomato. If you can’t find diced, then smooshed, chopped, etc, all work fine. But it’s tomatoes, not tomato PASTE. Or, god forbid, SAUCE.

Lower heat and Mix Mix Mix while simmering. I don’t put the lid on cuz I want the liquidness of the tomatoes to cook off a bit and the whole thing to thicken. And it will, if you just let it simmer awhile over low heat. If you put the lid on, you’re trapping in the steam and then everything gets too liquidy. If it gets too dry, you can dump in whatever kind of beer (yes) you have available…or even a teensy bit of water.

Oh, I forgot the mushrooms! I don’t always add them, sometimes I’m too lazy. But I’m happy when I do! They get sliced and sauteed (just regular white mushrooms, nothing fancy) in butter over pretty high heat…salt and leave them alone. Don’t be futzing with the mushrooms. Just let them sit and sear a bit. Oh, and don’t put too many in the pan at once cuz they’ll release too much liquid and then they’ll just like steam or blanch or whatever that thing is when you put things in a little water. And yuck. No. You want browned, almost crispy, mushrooms. When they’re the right doneness, I like to add a DROP (or two) of soy sauce. That salty umami is perfect with mushrooms.

Plus, I put soy sauce on EVERYTHING.

Once the mushrooms are perfect, dump them into the simmering pot of beef, beans, tomatoes. I just simmer until it’s the right consistency. It shouldn’t be liquidy, but it shouldn’t be DRY. It should be MOIST.

Now, to serve, Deal-Breakers #2 and 3. Plop a big spoonful of hot chili into a bowl. Layer on the (#1) small size Fritos (yes). Sprinkle on a good handful of (#2) shredded Monterey Jack cheese. PLEASE, I beg of you, shred your own cheese. Don’t ruin your wonderful chili with packaged shredded cheese. It is just not the same animal. Plop another layer of chili on top of the frito/cheese layer. Mix a bit.

Eat immediately. While the chili is hot, the cheese is melty, and the fritos are crunchy, not soggy.

Trust me, you will not be disappointed in this comforting, flavorful, crunchy, cheesy, spicy goodness.

You’re welcome.

And if you’d like MORE soup/chili/stew suggestions, visit any of these wonderful pages…