Homestyle chili is cold weather favorite. It combines our need for warmth and fulfillment and it reminds us of our childhood. Every great cook has a secret chili recipe that they pass on to their children and it is one of our American traditions.
Not everyone has hours or days to brew up an old-fashioned pot of chili, but there are some secret shortcuts cooks have found throughout the years. My favorite shortcut involves canned beans. Award winning chili involves hours, if not days, of cooking beans. You can by-pass that time-consuming step and use canned beans. The secret is knowing what beans to use when using canned beans.
A bean that comes with it’s own sauce in the can tends to add a more authentic flavor to your chili. Use pinto beans as your main ingredient. Canned pinto beans contain a thicker sauce than most other beans and these beans also retain a slow cooked flavor better in a can than most other beans.
It is also important to remember that chili always tastes better the next day; therefore, you need to make a large pot to account for the next day cravings for more. The amount in this recipe will feed a family of five for two days.
Ingredients:
3 Cans Pinto Beans
2 Cans Red Kidney Beans
2 Small or 1 large Can(s) Pork and Beans
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
1 to 1 1/2 Pound(s) Ground Beef
1/2 Cup Ketchup
1/4 to 1/2 Cup Chili Powder
1 Tablespoon Pepper
2 Teaspoons Salt
Directions:
Dependent upon how meaty you like your chili, brown one to one and one half pounds of ground beef in a large skillet. If you want to do everything in one pot, use the large pot you will be cooking your chili in to brown your ground beef. When the beef is halfway done, add in one medium chopped onion. You may chop your onion as finely or coarsely as you wish.
Add the browned beef and onion to the large cooking pot, unless you cooked them in the pot. For a fuller flavor, add the grease from the beef. If you prefer, you may drain the grease from the meat prior to adding it to the cooking pot.
Without draining the juices and sauces from your beans, add in all three cans of the pinto beans, two cans of the red kidney beans and one or two cans of the pork and beans. Stir and put on medium high heat.
Add the one half cup of ketchup, one tablespoon pepper and two teaspoons salt and stir.
Add one quarter cup of chili powder and cook for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, use a spoon to sample the broth. Determine if you need to add additional chili powder and do so. As people like this dish at different heat levels, it is important for you to judge the heat yourself. One quarter cup is very mild and anything over one half cup is considered spicy for people who do not normally consume hot foods.
Cook for another fifteen minutes and serve hot in bowls with your favorite crackers.
