Wednesday, January 20, 2010

15-Bean Chili

Okay, this chili did NOT end up the way it started!  But it ended up sooo good (according to my family), I'm posting it.
But eventually I'll redo it and get down an exact recipe that I'll use every time.  This recipe... is... scattered!

Yesterday, groceries getting low, I decided to have hot dogs, but didn't have any chili. Travis hadn't taken his phone, so I couldn't call him to pick up some on the way home. So I decided to try to make some.
Never having made hot dog chili, I looked up 4 or 5 recipes online, and sort of put together what I thought would work.
  • 1 lb. ground deer burger (next time I'm using beef - I like deer meat, but not so much deer burger)
  • 1 med. onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, mashed/chopped
  • 1½ T. chili powder (that's all I had)
  • ½ c. brown sugar (One recipe I was looking at called for 1 1/4 cups!!!)
  • 3 tomatoes run thru the food processor (I had no canned tomatoes, and didn't measure how much this made) 
  • I think I put in 1 t. salt
  • And today I added beans to change the recipe from what I first intended. =)
~I browned the meat, onions, and garlic together.
~Then added a little water, about a cup, and added in the chili powder, and sugar (leaving this out next time!).  It was too sweet!!!
~Some recipes said ketchup, but I knew that would be sweet too, so I added 3 tomatoes (that's all I had. I'll used canned, diced tomatoes next time).  It was still too sweet, so I read online to add a potato and let it cook for awhile, then remove it.  Still too sweet, in my opinion.
~I let it simmer awhile.  I wanted to thicken it a bit, so I used a whisk to mix a 1/4 c. water and a small amount of sifted flour, and added it to the hot chili.  Looked like hot dog chili, but didn't exactly have the taste like what I think of hot dog chili. 
It was not what I wanted.
Then Travis called from a borrowed phone before he headed home, and I asked him to get a can of chili.  =)

But Travis liked what I cooked and used it instead of the canned chili!
Then I put it in the fridge w/ plans to work on it some more later.

~Today, I added beans to have chili beans instead of hot dog chili.  I had a 20 oz. bag for 15-bean soup, and decided to use those.  =)
Well, I let the water get too low... and the beans stuck in the pot.  So I transferred them to another pot, and continued.  But I ended up with less beans than I intended.
~Finally, I added the beans with liquid to yesterday's chili, and since it was past time for supper, microwaved them together for about 8 minutes to heat the chili and hopefully blend the flavors.
I added a bit more salt, and it turned out great! (according to my family)
Me? I liked it better after I added the sour cream, ha!   
I think it was the deer burger and sugar...
Serve with tortilla chips and top with shredded cheese and sour cream.  Yum, yum! (according to my family! =)

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