A ground beef chili, made with ground chuck, onion, peppers, basic chili seasonings, and beans.

Homemade Beef Chili with Beans

Chili, like gumbo, is a recipe that I am always playing around with, and this past weekend with the temporary winter chill that visited The Deep South was no exception. Since The Cajun and I are empty-nesters and no longer celebrate Valentine's Day beyond a love you hug and Happy Valentine's Day greeting, and... since no matter whether I post a chili recipe with beans, or without, I will always get somebody who says it is wrong and either shouldn't have beans or that it should, so... I figured it'd be a good time to sneak in another chili recipe while a lot of folks are hung over from all those sweet and chocolatey Valentine's Day indulgences.

By the way, don't you just love the crock bowl up there? Some of you know I used some of my fun money to treat myself to a few things on the mid-January QVC Cooking on Q show, and these were one of those treats. Next to Amazon, QVC is one of my other guilty pleasures, and before you ask, I have no affiliation with QVC - they don't even have any idea who I am.

Okay soapbox moment... while I confess on frugality 99% of the time, I also insist that every woman, no matter her stage of life, must also have a fun money account. Start small but set aside a couple of dollars every payday in an account that is just for you to spend on things you love - purses, shoes, jewelry or if you're like me, kitchen stuff. We gals work hard, and yes, harder than our male counterparts very often, and many times at less (and for some of us, no) pay, and, frankly we don't treat ourselves very well sometimes. Every day of our lives, we earn a little fun money, just for ourselves, and we certainly deserve it. {tucking away soapbox}

Anyway, those crocks are part of the Temp-tations ceramic products in the yellow Old World pattern, and I especially love this purchase. I bought them with French onion soup and individual pot pies in mind, but besides cooking in them, I discovered they sure are handy for heating up individual portions of soups, stews, gumbo and chili in the microwave, plus they have a cover too.

Y'all probably don't really need a step by step on a chili recipe, but this gives me a chance to also show off one of my pieces from the brand new set of Cook's Essentials non-stick that I bought at the same time as those crocks. This is the 5 quart Dutch oven - ain't it purrrrteee?

While I have my well used stainless, all my cast iron, and my regularly used Calphalon skillets, this is actually the first full set of non-stick I've owned probably since the 70s. Goodness it is so neat to have brand new technology in non-stick cookware, and I have literally used this set every single day since it arrived at my doorstep. It beats the heck out of my Calphalon skillets y'all and if you're in the market for non-stick cookware you might want to check these out. I absolutely love this set!

Okay - enough with the shopping already - let's make some chili!

Mix together the chili seasonings - 1/2 tablespoon of ground cumin, 1/2 tablespoon of dried oregano, 1 tablespoon chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning; set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy bottomed soup pot over medium high heat. Add 1-1/2 cups of chopped yellow onion, 1 cup chopped green bell pepper, and a 7 ounce can of chopped green chiles. If you prefer you can use up to 1/4 cup of jalapenos or whatever your favorite hot chile peppers are. Saute the veggies until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add 2 pounds of ground chuck and cook for about 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. You can also use a more lean beef or even turkey of course, but the fat from the chuck is really flavorful and I love it for chili. Add 3 cloves of minced garlic and cook another minute. Drain off excess fat.

Add the chili seasonings and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

Stir in 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons of hot sauce, a large 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes, undrained but chopped - I just use my kitchen shears to do that right in the can - add a 14.5-ounce can of undrained diced tomatoes, 2 cups of beef broth and 2 bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes or until liquid is significantly reduced.

Add 3 cans of rinsed and drained beans, but... I want you to mash one of those cans up first. Drain, rinse then mash one can of the beans, but do a rough mash, leaving some chunky pieces. Add those to the chili along with the other two cans of drained and rinsed beans.

How this came about was that I forgot to pick up canned beans when I made a grocery run the other day, and I didn't have enough canned kidney beans in the pantry, but, I did have this large can of Creole cream style red beans that I use for my shortcut red beans and rice, so I thought, why not give it a try!

You do not have to use this kind of bean! Just mash one can of regular kidney beans, leaving some larger chunks.

The creamed beans gave this such a, well, nice and creamy consistency that I thought it was special enough to write the mashed beans into the recipe. You don't have to use the creole cream style, just mash up one can of the regular kidney beans instead. If you try this recipe with the mashed beans, let me know what you think.

Taste the chili, season with salt and pepper and continue cooking on a low simmer, uncovered, about 20 minutes longer. Before serving, stir, taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.

If you think this sounds yummy, I'd sure ♥ it if you'd click to pin it, tweet it, stumble it, or share it on Facebook to help spread the word - thanks!

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Recipe: Homemade Beef Chili with Beans

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 20 min |Cook time: 1 hour |

Yield: About 6 to 8 servings

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Ingredients

Chili Seasoning:

• 1/2 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste, optional

Chili:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 cups of chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 (7 ounce) can of chopped green chiles or up to 1/4 cup of jalapeno peppers, or to taste
• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons of hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 (28 ounce) can of whole tomatoes, undrained, chopped
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups beef stock or broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 (15 ounce) cans of light kidney beans, drained and rinsed, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Mix together the chili seasonings; set aside. Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed soup pot over medium high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and green chilies or jalapenos; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook for about 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Drain off excess fat.

Add the chili seasonings, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, tomatoes, beef stock and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes or until liquid is significantly reduced. Drain one can of the kidney beans, mash and add to the chili. Drain and rinse the remaining two cans of beans, add to the chili, taste, season with salt and pepper and continue cooking on a low simmer, about 20 minutes longer. Stir, taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.

Cook's Notes: Chili is by nature spicy, but may be adjusted to a milder flavor by eliminating any seasonings containing hot pepper (Cajun, Creole, hot sauces), reducing dried chili powder and substituting canned mild green chilies for any hot peppers. Always start with a lesser amount of any seasonings, taste and adjust. May also substitute a combination of 1 pound ground chuck and 1 pound of raw sausage, such as Italian sausage or Mexican chorizo, if desired. Can also use a leaner ground beef or ground turkey, but understand that some of the flavor will be lost due to the fat loss. Substitute habanero, scotch bonnet, or serrano peppers, or your own favorite hot chile pepper, depending on heat level desired.

Serving suggestions: Serve as is with saltine crackers or tortilla chips, or add garnishes of grated cheese, a dollop of sour cream, sliced green onion, raw yellow or sweet chopped onion, raw chopped garlic, or other toppings as desired. Also good served over pasta noodles, hot, cooked rice or cornbread.

Crockpot: Brown veggies and ground beef in skillet as above and drain. Transfer to slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well, cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, low 7 to 8 hours.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

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©Deep South Dish

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