Chili, Cornbread & Once Again Making the Best Thing Ever

(#10) Master 25 New Recipes

1. Stuffed Peppers
2. Risotto
3. Polenta
4. Beef Brisket
5. French Onion Soup
6. Chocolate Chip Cookies
7. Lentil Soup
8. Macaroni & Cheese
9. Zucchini Bread
10. Chicken Piccata
11. Moussaka
12. Chocolate Cake
13. Zebra Cake
14. Chili
15. Cornbread

One more reason that Ronnie and I are made for each other is that I love to cook new things and he will try pretty much anything. But it becomes hard to judge my talents when literally everything I make becomes the best thing he has ever had.

This chili, with a side of homemade cornbread, was no exception.

I started with this recipe and modified based on our tastes. We love beans and we like things spicy so those were the main modifications I made. With the jalapenos and a few dashes of hot sauce it had the perfect amount of slow-burning heat. If I made it again I would consider adding more tomatoes.

Easy Beef and Bean Chili

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

3 tablespoons chili powder

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon cumin

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 29 oz can diced tomatoes

1 can chili beans

1 can kidney beans

To taste: salt, pepper, and hot sauce

Brown your meat, onion, and bell pepper together- this will give you more flavor on both accounts. Break up the meat into fine pieces as you go. Just resist the temptation to over-stir.

The next step is easy: add all your other ingredients at the same time.

Simmer for a minimum of 1.5 hours. I actually cooked for about an hour the night before, then again for another hour before serving. Chili is one of those things that only improves the longer you let it simmer.

 As for the cornbread, I followed this recipe exactly, but if I make it again I may try another one. It was a nice compliment to the chili but on its own it was a little dry.

Make sure your butter isn't too hot or you'll wind up with scrambled eggs!

The batter will be much thicker than cake batter, so you'll have to spread it out in the pan yourself.

Viola! Excuse the splatters of chili in this picture.

Serve together and top chili with whatever you like. We only had cheddar cheese on hand but if I thought about it I would have picked up some sour cream.

We ate this for several days and the chili just gets better and better. Once this list is done I will definitely make this one again. It has all of my favorite qualities in a recipe- cheap, easy, one-pot, and Ronnie loves it!