LET'S MAKE SOME CHILI!

Articles in this Topic Discussions in this Topic

Feb 11, 2000

For the past few weeks, I've been giving you a number of recipes that are slanted toward 'something good for a cold winter meal" and this week will be more of the same.

One dish that was a winter staple around the kitchen when I was nothing more than a "young'un" was a big, and I mean HUGE, pot of Chili. You see, I grew up on the plains of Texas and, as most people know, Chili has long been a favorite of the Texas cook.

There are, probably, as many ways to cook this dish as there are cooks involved in preparing it. If you should doubt this, just take a trip to any of the many "Chili Cook Off" events that happen all over the United States. When you get there, you'll probably be amazed at things you'll see.

You can find, at many of these events, Chili made from such exotic ingredients as antelope, buffalo, armadillo meat, "possum", rabbit meat, and many others too numerous to list. There have even been a few "Chili Chefs" that, somehow, obtained elephant meat for their pot.

You see, these events have sorta become big business during the last few years. The cooks not only compete for the honor of serving the best Chili to the judges, but the prize money involved has, in some cases, reached the thousands of dollars. So each cook tries to outsmart the others with some of the most "way-out" ingredients they can find. Some really are very strange!

Another controversy about Chili is the fact that the "hard core" chili cook will tell you, in no uncertain terms, that "REAL" Chili doesn't contain beans and that is a travesty to add such a thing to the Chili Pot. However, there are many who feel, as I do, that beans are OK and sometimes even desirable.

To accommodate such people, some Chili Cook Off events have a special category for Chili that contains beans.

Basic Chili is really very simple to prepare and, after the basics, what you do from there is up to you. So let's get started. I'll give you the recipe that I use--and some optional ingredients--and allow you to take it from there. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

GRANDPAW'S CHILI

2 Pounds Stew Meat (cubed in 1 inch cubes) NOTE: If you prefer some other meat, such as ground beef, use it instead.

1 Large Onion (diced)

1 Large Bell Pepper (diced)

2 Medium Jalapeno Peppers (seeded and diced)(optional)

2 Medium Cans Stewed Tomatoes (drained)

Go To Page: 1 2