Cooking with Kat: Chili

Okay, everyone! I decided that since I love cooking so much it would be fun to do a semi-regular segment called "Cooking with Kat". Cute, huh? (-: I thought of it myself.

So, for this first edition, you get to see and read how to make chili. There is even a taste test at the end. 

We will start with the ingredients. Here is what you need:

1 lb ground turkey

1 lb ground beef (you can do all turkey if you like)

1 onion (I use half of a good sized one - depends on how much you like onion!)

1/2 bell pepper

1 Tbs paprika

1 teas cumin

3 Tbs chili powder

1-2 teas garlic powder (I use 2)

1 teas oregano

1 teas pepper

1 teas white pepper

1 teas red pepper

3 Tbs flour

1.5-3 quarts beef broth (if you like a more soupy chili, use more broth. I use 2 quarts, but I would go with 1 - 1.5 if you want a thicker chili)

1/2 cup ketchup

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (sharp)

10 saltine crackers

See below:

You also need one big chili pot: (my apologies for the cheesy pose, I had to set the camera on the counter).

So. the first thing you do is brown the turkey and beef. It will look like this when completed:

While the meat is browning, you can dice finely the bell pepper and the onion. Or use a food processor. I decided to take the long way this time and actually cut them up.

COOKING TIP: When cutting onions, one way to get around the teary eyes is to take a couple of wooden matches (DO NOT LIGHT THEM) and put them in your mouth and breathe through your mouth and NOT your nose. It has always worked for me... give it a try and let me know if it works for you! It will also probably depend on the strength of the onions. And here's me, clear eyes, onions, and matches:

Once the meat is browned and veggies chopped, you put all the seasonings and flour and veggies in the pot. It will look like this:

Stir everything together and cook for five minutes. While that is cooking, you can be finely crushing your 10 saltine crackers. The best way I have found to do this is to use a ziploc baggie and a rolling pin. Put the crackers in the baggie and roll them till they are finely crushed. 

Once the mxture has cooked for five minutes, add your beef broth and cook until the onion is soft. Once the onion is soft, go ahead and add the crackers, the ketcup, and the 2 cups of cheese. Then you just let the pot simmer for a while. You can let it simmer for a couple hours (you will lose more liquid if you do this) OR you can simmer like 30 minutes to an hour or so, and then eat some. Here is what the simmering chili looks like:

The beauty of this chili is that you can let it cook for a while, eat it, cook it a little longer, and then put it in the fridge. It will be better each day as everything mixes together. Then, you can eat it however you like. Last night we had frito chili pie. I put some fritos in the bottom of a bowl, added some cheese, and poured on the chili:

If I do say so myself, this is DELISH. Here is my taste tester's approval. 

I mean, really, who doesn't love a good bowl of chili? Especially in the fall, AND it's healthy! Yes, folks, it's healthy. This chili does has a bit of a kick to it, so be aware. You can adjust your seasonings to your taste.

Now - is this cooking segment something you are interested in? If so, I'll keep it up. So speak now or this might be the last cooking segment!

Happy Tuesday! Now go home and make some Chili!

~Kathryn