Chili con Carne

Housesitting this summer, my parents left us a bunch of chorizo and ground beef in the freezer, a lot of beans in the cupboard, and an extensive spice collection. With direct instructions to use up all the food in the house, we decided to make a big batch of chili.

Having never made (or really eaten) chili before, this was a complete experiment. Given that chili is now my go-to soup, I'd say it was also pretty successful.

Hearty chili with plenty of beans

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Chili con Carne

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. chorizo, either sliced or broken up into chunks

1 minced spicy green pepper (whatever your local store has)

1 minced red bell pepper

1 minced jalapeno

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

3T chili powder (we used a mix of several kinds; use whatever you have on hand)

1.5T brown sugar

3t dried oregano

3T cumin

1t allspice

1t cloves

1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 15oz. can of pureed tomatoes (we used a food processor; if you don't have one, add more diced tomatoes)

1 15oz can black beans

1 15oz can pinto beans

1 15oz can cannellini beans

Directions

1. Add the beef and chorizo to a heavy bottomed pot. Brown.

2. Remove the meat. Cook the next five ingredients in the fat left at the bottom of the pot. Cook until the onions are clear.

3. Return the meat to the pot and add the next 8 ingredients in order. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add the beans and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

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Chorizo browning and letting off lots of delicious animal fat

The amount of meat is definitely negotiable, depending on how much you have on hand.

To make this vegetarian, take out the meat and add about 15-20 finely chopped brown mushrooms and about 4T of olive oil in step 2. Also double the amount of bean.

Wear gloves when you're chopping the spicy peppers!

This could also be done in a slow cooker, although without browning the meat it would be less delicious. I'll try it sometime and let you know what I think.