Two Chins and a Dog!: Chili Con Carne (with beans)

Rain! Rain! Every freaking day since Sunday it has been relentless and today is no different. My Monday didn’t start out too good so I wanted my Tuesday to be different so I figured I would do some blogs today to help me relax (actually I tried blogging yesterday but the server was acting up). So lets you and me catch up shall we :)

The weather last Saturday went down to the 20’s and being that its freezing out I thought why not make Chili, a one pot meal that easy to make and taste even better the day after. Okay, it might seem that it’s daunting to make but it’s really not, don’t let the list of ingredients fool you because in the end you will be rewarded with delicious Chili. Here are the ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs ground beef
• 2 tbsp olive oil (any oil is fine)
• 1 large onions, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 (28 oz) can Hunts diced tomatoes
• 6 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 (19 oz) red kidney beans
• 1 (15 oz) south western jalapeno chili beans

This recipe serves 4-6 people. You will need a large heavy pot for this dish, start by heating up the oil and browning the ground beef, about 5 to 10 minutes. Once browned add the onions, bell pepper, garlic, salt, Worcestershire sauce and all the spices, stir well and cook for 5 minutes (the smell is quite pungent, open windows or vents). Add the tomatoes with its juices, tomato paste, sugar and water, and beans, stir and bring to boil. Once it starts to boil lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for about an hour (simmer is the key) and stir occasionally. Taste and make adjustments if needed (may need extra salt if you want).