Ground Beef Chili

There is nothing better than a nice bowl of chili on a cold day with corn bread on the side.  This recipe is from my mom, but one day I was in a pinch and didn't have any chili seasoning on hand, so I did a Google search and came across this chili seasoning from My Baking Addiction.  I loved it so much that I vowed to never buy packaged chili seasoning again.

For Chili Seasoning:

• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 teaspoons black pepper

*Use about 2 tablespoons for 2 lbs ground beef.
For Chili:

• 2 lbs ground beef, turkey, etc.
• 4 14 1/2 oz cans of beans, rinsed and drained (any variety you like).
• 1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce + 2 cans of water
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf

Directions:

•  Brown the beef in a large dutch oven.  Pour off the grease and set the beef aside.
• Heat a small amount of olive oil in the same pan.  Saute the onion until soft and translucent.  Just before the onion is done, add the garlic and saute for a minute.
•  Add the ground beef and mix together.
• Add the chili mix, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, and bay leaf.  Mix together.
• Simmer on low for about 1/2 hour.

Chicken Tacos and Refried Blackbeans

Since Spencer lived in Mexico, he is very particular about Mexican food.  He can tolerate a little bit of Tex-Mex (alla Cafe Rio), but mostly he wants it authentic.  My friend Anna made these refried black beans when we first moved to D.C. and Spencer talked about them for 2 years before I finally got the recipe and made them.  Anna got the recipe from a Latina friend, so they are indeed authentic, if not exact in the amounts and time.  The taco recipe I invented after a few recipes that didn't quite have what I wanted.  The brown sugar does not make the meat sweet, rather I added it to take off the bitter edge of the chili powder and lime juice  Serve with corn tortillas, salsa, avocado, cheese, chopped onions and cilantro, and you have a delicious taco dinner.  As an alternative, you can serve the chicken in tortas, or sandwiches.  Put the meat on sandwich rolls, spread with the black beans, add avocado, cheese, and red onion.

Chicken Tacos:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken (about 6 medium chicken breasts)
• 3-4 medium garlic cloves roughly chopped
•  
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 3 Tbs lime juice
• 1 Tbs brown sugar

• Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot.  Mix the lime juice, chili powder and brown sugar together.  Pour over the chicken.  Sprinkle with the garlic.  Cook until done (time varies by crock pot) and then shred.

Black Beans

• 1 can black beans, or 2 cups dried beans that have been soaked.
• Onion, chopped (I like about 1/2 an onion, and in fact I once made these with no onion and they were still delicious).
• Garlic, chopped (I like 2-3 medium cloves)
• Cumin, to taste (I like very little cumin, but I don't really love cumin to begin with so I use maybe 1/4 teaspoon)
• Chili powder, to taste (I use maybe 1/4 to a half teaspon)
• Something tomato-y (Anna says her friend used whatever she had that was open and aviable: tomato sauce, tomato paste, salsa, etc.  My favorite is to use a little Jack's Special Salsa from Costco).

Directions::

• With a little bit of oil in the bottom of a saute pan, heat to medium heat.  Add onion and saute for a few minutes, until soft.  Just before the onions are done, add the garlic and saute together.
• Meanwhile, puree the black beans in a blender or food processor, adding water, until they are very soupy.  Add the black beans to the pan.
• Add seasoning and stir together.
• Simmer on low to medium heat until the beans have thickened and all the flavors have melded.  Taste as you go and adjust seasoning as needed.

These black beans are so awesome I make them all the time to add to various dishes.  For a vegetarian option, I once made Onion Rice, substituting quinoa for the rice and adding in a little chili powder and tomato paste with the onions.  It made an excellent mock ground beef to serve over a taco salad.