Chili, Frank Sinatra Style (AKA: My Way)

Food is a huge part of Southern culture, and because of that, we Southerners have passionate opinions about it! Like many recipes in the South, Chili is one of the weirdly controversial ones. Beans, no beans? Vegetables, no vegetables? Store bought mix, just chili & onion powder? Crackers or chips? Noodles, no noodles? Serve it with side dishes, or all on its own? There are so many different ways to make "real chili" and it all depends on who you ask! So let me share with you my family's controversial take on chili, and then how I changed it and now they don't think it's "real chili" either. 

Even within my immediate family, there are different ways to make chili. My mother and sister make chili with ground beef chuck, can of chili beans or starter, chili powder, lots of tomato juice, and vermicelli noodles. This version is thin and needs lots of crackers.  My Mamaw Linda uses onion flakes, no noodles, no tomato juice. It is thick, rich, more like hotdog chili, and is eaten with club crackers or buttered bread.

 

This dinner has always been something quick and easy to throw together on a cold day. But, I sort of ruined that by making it multi-stepped and time-consuming.

While I tried to keep with family tradition, MY chili has turned into more of what others would call a chili mac, or just a stew. I have kept the noodles (elbow macaroni usually), added lots of vegetables, more beans, and cut the tomato juice in half. MY chili is a thick stew that we top with cheese and scoop up with Frito Scoops!

Here are all the products I use. I trust you don't need to be shown what vegetables look like.

First, you'll need to brown 1 pound of ground beef over medium-high heat. It is important to cook over a high heat, or else you will just render the fat and essentially boil your meat. When it comes out looking gray, instead of browned, that's where your mistake is. Browned meat = tasty meat! I like to use 70/30, all that fat is just added flavor! I like to go ahead and season the beef with about half the packet of chili mix, so that the beef is flavorful too!

When the ground beef is browned, scoop it out of the pot and set aside. Lower your heat to medium and add a Tablespoon of oil, and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 60 seconds. Then add all your chopped veggies. I like to dice 1 onion, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 of a green bell pepper, 1/2 of a zucchini, and 1/2 of a summer squash. I know that's a lot of vegetables. The zucchini and summer squash can be omitted since they don't really impart much flavor, they're just extra vegetables to throw in if you have them. I almost always have too many of them, so I throw them in too. Season with salt & pepper, and let cook until the onions are translucent (3-5 minutes). 

*If you're like my sister and you don't like to actually eat onions and peppers, but still want the flavor, take a tip from her: throw in the entire half of the bell pepper and quarter the onion (or use onion powder), then fish them out when it's all done!

When those are done, everything goes in the pot to marinate! Add your browned beef back in, your drained can of black beans, can of chili starter, and chili seasoning packets. Cover this with about an inch of tomato juice and let simmer for 30 minutes. This will give the chili time to cook out the acidic tomato taste, and let all the flavors meld together. After 30 minutes, add your noodles (whichever you prefer) and let simmer until they are done (15-20 minutes). 

When it's all done, scoop it into a bowl, top with shredded cheese (and maybe also sour cream,  and jalapenos) and eat it with your favorite corn chip!

NOTES
*This will thicken up over time, so I like to have some tomato juice left over to thin it out when re-heating. But that's entirely up to you!

*The vegetarian version is just as delicious. Omit the beef, add a can of chickpeas, a can of chili/kidney beans, and 1 container of your favorite mushrooms, minced and sautéed.