Forsythkid's Blog

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Archive for the ‘Chili Recipe’ Category

The Totally Awesome Chili Dog!

Posted by forsythkid on May 28, 2010

Someone back many years ago (maybe a doofus like myself) accidentally dropped a tablespoon’s worth of chili on a hot dog and thought ‘what the heck’ – then ate it anyway. Voila! A new meal was born! Chili dogs are way up there on the scale of ‘comfort foods’ in my book and if you have not tried one, please do so. They have it all going for them in terms of taste, spiciness and ability to fill a hungry stomach. Note: I do not have a nutritional analysis on this recipe. Put plainly, it’s not very healthy to eat. But my Gawd, who cares as long as you eat this stuff sparingly!

Ingredients:

6 strips of bacon bacon cut into small pieces

1/2 large  onion, chopped

1 pound ground beef

2 chopped garlic cloves

8 ounce can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup beef broth

1 Tbsp molasses or honey

½ Tbsp sweet paprika

½ Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Salt as needed

12 all beef hot dogs

12 buns

Chopped red onion, for garnish

Shredded cheddar (or jack) cheese, for garnish

Directions:

Make the chili well before you do the dogs. Fry the bacon over medium heat until it begins to get crispy, then add the chopped onions and fry over high heat, stirring often, until they begin to brown. Add in the ground beef and stir in well. Cook this, still over high heat and stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned. This will take a few minutes. When the beef is about halfway browned, toss in the chopped garlic and mix well.

Once the beef is well browned, add the tomato sauce, molasses and beef broth. Add all the spices except the cayenne and stir well. Bring to a simmer and taste. Add salt or the cayenne if it needs it. You can of course add much more cayenne or chili powder if you like things really spicy, but it’s best to taste first and then add more. (You can make this up a day before if you choose. It only gets better with time).

Let the chili cook on a gentle simmer for at least 30 minutes before you start grilling the hot dogs. You can cook it several hours if you want to, adding a little more beef broth here and there if the chili gets to dry.

Grill your hot dogs over medium heat until they get a light char. Grill the hot dog buns briefly if you want – no more than a minute, as they will burn fast. You can also paint the buns with vegetable oil or butter before grilling if you’d like.

Dog goes in bun, chili goes on top, sprinkle on chopped red onion and shredded cheese, and enjoy! Now, what about some fries slathered with ketchup?

(This recipe was found on a website called Simply Recipes and was posted by Elise)!

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Alice’s Famous Chili

Posted by forsythkid on April 28, 2010

One afternoon while I was looking through some old books I had stored in the basement, I came across a real gem from my distant past. It was a book called Alice’s Restaurant Cookbook and contained a collection of recipes that Alice May Brock used in her Brooklyn New York establishment made famous by Arlo Guthrie in a song and then later in a movie of the same name directed by Arthur Penn.

The book and the recipes therein were written in the footloose and fancy free spirit that so characterized the times. It was published in 1969 by Random House and was an instant success for a whole generation of hippies and flower children like myself. One recipe that caught my interest was Alice’s Famous Chili which I have produced exactly from the book.

“In half an inch of oil or bacon fat, sauté until soft: 3 chopped onions, 3 chopped green peppers, and 3 large cloves of finely chopped garlic. In another pan brown 1 or 2 pounds of chopped beef. Drain the fat from the beef and add the beef to the onions and peppers ( or add the onions and peppers to the beef). Now add 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste, and 2 to 8 tablespoons of chili powder. (You can always add more chili powder later, so start off easy). Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, a sprinkling of salt, pepper and paprika, 2 bay leaves, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of basil and a pinch of cayenne or some hot chili sauce. Simmer all this for at least half an hour until it is good and thick. Then add 1 or 2 cans of kidney beans. Serve this on rice and top it with some chopped raw onions. (Makes 6 to 8 servings.)”

While I’m a little leery of using a half an inch of any oil in a recipe, I do want to give this recipe a fair shake. To that end I’ve decided to do a You Tube movie some time soon which will appear on the Danomanno Channel.

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A Simple Chili Recipe!

Posted by forsythkid on July 20, 2009

Bowl_of_chili

I have tried many chili recipes over the years. Most were  complex and required a laundry list of ingredients to construct. Who has that kind of time? Personally, I came from a Midwestern family that never had all that much dinero, so on most occasions, we made do with just the basics. The peppers, tomatoes and onion in this recipe came fresh from my garden. I cheated and used a package of commercial chili mix because, I figured, a lot of money was spent by those guys in R&D to make just the right chili powder blend. Hey! For a buck or so, that seemed a pretty good deal to me.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. ground beef, browned with the fat drained off

  • ½ to 1 cup assorted peppers, chopped

  • 1 cayenne pepper, chopped

  • 1 med. onion, chopped

  • 1 tsp. garlic, minced

  • 2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

  • 12 cherry tomatoes

  • 1 pkg. McCormick Chili Mix or similar

  • 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

  • ¼ cup water

Directions:

I like to make this recipe in a slow cooker, but if you want just go with a large skillet.

Begin by setting the slow cooker on low heat. Then chop the peppers, onion and tomatoes. Place on the side.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add a bit of oil. When the pan is hot add the ground beef. Brown the meat for a few minutes, stirring often. Drain off the fat and add to the slow cooker. Next, add the veggies to the still hot skillet and braise them for a few minutes. Dump these into the slow cooker.

Now add the tomato sauce, garlic, chili mix and the water. Stir to mix and cover. Cook for about 3 ½ hours on low, and then add the kidney beans which have been rinsed. Recover and cook for another half hour. Serves 6.

I’ve recorded this on video just in case you’re interested. Enjoy and please, let me know if you liked it.

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