Thursdays Are For Cooking….

| July 22, 2021

This comes to us from Delish. It may be the heart of summer, but a slow cooker meal is likely to be far preferable to sweating over a hot stove in the kitchen. If you prep most of the stuff the night before, it will be ready to go in the AM and take that burden off of you. And after all, isn’t summer time that time of year when the livin’ is easy? Turn on the sprinkler so the grandkids can run back and forth through it, get someone to make that 7-later salad I posed a while back, and enjoy the summer day.

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

Ingredients

  • 2 lb.  ground beef
  • 1  large onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp.  tomato paste
  • 2  (15-oz.) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1  (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 c. beer (or water)
  • 4  cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp.  ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. paprika
  • Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Shredded cheddar, for serving (optional)
  • Fritos, for serving (optional)
  • Thinly sliced green onions, for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and onion and cook until meat is browned all over, about 4 minutes. (It doesn’t need to cook all the way through!) Drain fat, then stir in tomato paste.
  2. In a large slow cooker, combine beef mixture, kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, beer, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook on low for 6 hours, and up to 8 hours. (The longer it’s in the slow-cooker, the more flavor it gets.)
  4. Taste for seasonings. Serve warm with cheese, Fritos, and green onions, if desired.

You might want to add some roasted ear corn, fresh cornbread, taco chips or corn chips and cut up veggies to the menu on your table, too.

Bon appetit, and stay out of the rain!

Category: Cooking

6 Comments
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AW1Ed

Chili flame war in 5, 4, 3…

Thanks, Ex. Best don your Nomex now before the chili nazis show up.

KoB

Sound General Quarters, have the fleet make turns to unmask Gun Batteries. Launch ready aircraft and place FA 18s on Plus 5. All cooks revert to SEAL status. Prepare to repel boarders. Aim low boys, the Texicans are leading the charge and they’re riding Shetland Ponies.

Hey Mi’Lady, I’ll take a bowl or 3. Just received a shipment of peanut butter with Hershey Kisses and Chocolate Chip cookies from Sister M. I think those will go real good with the Butter Pecan Caramel Praline Ice Cream and will cool us off after the chili.

Tanks! Let’s eat!

Tallywhagger

That reads just about as perfect as a chili recipe can get. About the only thing I’d add would be Tabasco and maybe some ketchup if I get it too bitter tasting. Different paprika and chili powder can bring out some bitterness.

Decades ago, when quitting smoking, I put on a boat load of weight. Losing that weight wasn’t so easy but changing some recipes helped and one change that worked well for chili and sloppy joes was to substitute bell peppers for the ground meat. The peppers provided enough bulk and “fullness” to provide some comfort and the flavors melded well.

skate

ground / finely chopped mushrooms are a great meat substitute too, especially in pasta sauce

Tallywhagger

Thanks, that is an excellent idea.

skate

i like to do half and half with ground chicken or turkey – you can barely tell!