Everyone is having a Super Bowl party this weekend and it seems like nearly everyone serves chili. I hope not too many people are getting served some of the recipes I saw on line, complete with pineapple, too many peppers (there is such a thing) or weird kinds of beans.
Here's our menu (including chili, of course), and my chili recipe, a proven favorite.
Super Bowl 2009
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Guacamole with Salsa and Chips
Vegetable Pancakes with Sour Cream and Caviar
Wings with Blue Cheese Dip and Celery
Sticks
Baked Brie with Crackers
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Chili with
Sour Cream / Shredded Cheddar / Chopped Onions
Guacamole / Pickled Jalapenos
Rice
Hot Dogs with Buns
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Sweet Bites
Fruit
Drinks and Coffee
Amy's Chili
This is one of those lots of things into the pot recipes -- once everything is combined, there's nothing to do but cook it for a while, stirring occasionally, and deciding how many little dishes of garnishes you're going to serve alongside.
As you can see from the menu, we favor offering rice and lots of side dishes so everyone can pick and choose.
Chop a large onion, 2 sticks of celery, 4 cloves of garlic (adjust to your taste), and a green pepper. Saute in vegetable oil until softened (about five minutes). If you like, you can add a seeded Jalapeno or two for a spicier finish.
Then add two pounds of lean ground beef (substituting ground turkey is fine) and one pound of Italian sausage (out of the casings), turning it in the pan until it turns brown. You may choose mild or hot sausage -- of course, we choose hot.
Now mix in a 16 oz. can of Tomato Sauce and a 28 oz. can of tomatoes in their juice (or puree). Next add the spices -- we use two packages of chili mix -- again you may pick a mild or spicy version. We also add some additional salt and a few teaspoons of New Mexico Red Chili Pepper (ground). Again, spicing is a personal issue. We also add a tablespoon of brown sugar -- the secret ingredient.
Give it a good stir, bring to a simmer, turn down, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes. If you like to add yellow corn meal to thicken the chili, now is the time to stir a few tablespoons in. We then check the seasoning, and add a large (40 ounce) can of light red kidney beans, rinsed. Whether you put beans in your chili is a religious issue, so that will need to be up to you. Cook for another 15 minutes to heat the beans and give everything a chance to mellow.
Ideally, you will then let the chili cool and refrigerate it overnight (or even for a few days). Remove the fat that congeals on top before you reheat it and serve it. However, if it's going right to the table, I'd try to skim off some of the fat before I'd serve it.
It will be delicious in any case.
In case you haven't guessed, we added hot dogs to our menu because someone always said it was too bad he couldn't eat the chili on a hot dog so it became another choice!
