Southwest Chili

Since I made a commitment to making and blogging about those recipes I’ve tagged, put in binders, sticky noted, and paper clipped, I figured I’d better get on it!

I’ve never been a big fan of chili, because I’ve never been a big fan of beans. (Are you singing “Beans, beans, the magical fruit” right now? Because I am.) However, my kiddo and I went to a Halloween party recently (on Halloween, natch) and my friend Lorna Doone served up some chili with fixin’s. Kiddo, who will complain if he’s being served something other than pizza or burritos, ate it up like I hadn’t fed him in a week. (Don’t worry, he had eaten earlier that day. Breakfast, lunch and at least one snack. I promise.) The meat to bean ratio looked ok by me, so I had a bowl and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I overheard Lorna telling another guest how she just kind of threw it together with a little this and a little that. Being an avid recipe follower, I knew that wouldn’t work for me. So, it's on. The quest for the Perfect Family Chili.

I’ve always known Big T (the husband) was a fan of chili, and had some recipes tagged with paper clips in a few cookbooks. It must have been from back when I was a much more adventurous cook and was still trying to impress him. The one I opted to make is from a Better Homes and Gardens, All-Time Favorites Slow Cooker Magazine from 2004. It had that meat to bean balance I was looking for, looked easy, and didn’t have the word “alarm” in it.

Southwest Chili
2 lbs ground beef
2 cups chopped onion
½ cup chopped green or red sweet pepper
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 ½ cups water
1 12-oz can tomato paste
1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 ½ oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
½ to 1 tsp ground red pepper
½ tsp ground cumin

In a very large skillet, cook ground beef, onion sweet pepper, and garlic until meat is brown. Drain fat. Place mixture in a 4 ½-6 qt. slow cooker. Stir together the water and tomato paste. Add to slow cooker along with red kidney beans, Great Northern beans, undrained tomatoes, mustard, chili powder, black pepper, salt, ground red pepper, and cumin. Stir to combine.
Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours, or on high heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Makes 8 servings.

Changes made: not much, just used about a cup of red peppers that I had in my freezer. Also put out shredded cheddar, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips for toppings.

I did photograph the chili both in the crockpot and in the bowl all fixed up, but my photography skills need a lot of work. This reminds me that I’m going to sign up for a Photoshop class this winter. Oh, yeah! It also reminds me that I need to use the good camera for these types of pictures.

Verdict: Kiddo loved it and ate two bowls, but Big T and I thought it was pretty bland. I was right about it being a good meat to bean ratio, so that’s a plus. I don’t know if I should have seasoned the meat while I was cooking it, or added more spices. If anyone has any ideas how to make this recipe better, let me know (or lemmeneaux as my friend Katy would say). In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for a good chili recipe that has bigger flavor but low heat for our sensitive PNW palate.