Chili

Chili is frequently thought of as a meal for colder weather. But there's no reason not to enjoy it this time of year.

With that in mind, here are six yummy chili recipes to try, including Simple Perfect Chili and Steak, Roasted Tomato, and Bean Chili. Enjoy!

TEXAS CHILI

This is one of my dad’s recipes. Whenever Dad fixed this, he’d have to make 2 batches of chili: this for those brave enough to try it, another for everyone else, somewhat cooler.

This can be found in my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking.

Ingredients

3 balls ground beef suet

4 slices back, cut

2 lbs. stew beef, cut small

2 lbs. chopped chuck

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T paprika

1 tsp. oregano

3/4 tsp. cumin

1 2/3 T salt

3/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne

6 – 9 T chili powder

2 – 4 walnut-size pieces suet

2 Bermuda onions

1 can beef broth

3 cans measured water

6 C tomatoes & juice

1 1/2 lbs. drained kidney beans

Directions

In heavy pot place 3 balls suet with bacon. Cook out fat. Add and brown beef and chopped chuck. After browning, add garlic. Cook lightly. Add remainder of spices. In another pot, heat 2-4 pieces of suet. Add onions. Cook until almost burned. Add to meat pot. Deglaze pot with meat broth. Add water, tomatoes & juice. Mash tomatoes into chili. Cover and simmer slowly 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Uncover. Cook down for about 1/2 hour, adding kidney beans. Serves 6-8.

ADAM RICHMAN'S EASY VEGGIE CHILI

This comes from Adam Richman on Today's website. Adam wrote, "This recipe has been my salvation both during my college days and my younger bachelor days. It's easy, it tastes amazing, can all be made in one pot and it keeps for days. Plus, it makes an amazing filling for burritos and tacos. You can even spoon it on top of a hot dog!

“Technique tip: You can roast green chilies on the stove top using the burner to create an even richer flavor.

“Swap option: You can use zucchini and squash in place of some of the beans."

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 40 minutes; Servings: 8 - 10

To view this online, go to https://www.today.com/recipes/adam-richman-s-easy-veggie-chili-t172166.

Ingredients

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 container meatless veggie crumbles, such as Lightlife Smart Ground

2 packets chili seasoning

One 10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles

One 16-ounce can chickpeas

One 15-ounce can black beans

One 16-ounce jar medium salsa

Hot sauce, to taste

1 medium white onion, diced

Preparation

Preheat an empty pot over high heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot by about 1/4 inch. Add chopped yellow onion and 2 pinches salt.

As onion slowly becomes translucent, lower heat to medium and add chopped garlic. When garlic starts to get golden, add veggie crumbles. Stir all ingredients together thoroughly to combine. Add seasoning packets stir to coat ingredients. Add the canned tomatoes with chiles and both cans of beans with the liquid (don't drain the beans). Keep stirring throughout. Add the salsa and stir to combine.

Cover the chili and raise heat to high until the mixture is bubbling, then reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for about 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly until desired consistency is achieved. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Serve garnished with diced white onion.

STEAK, ROASTED TOMATO AND BEAN CHILI

Recipe Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Source: TBC

Recipe and photo appears courtesy of Cattlemen's Beef Promotion Board.

View online at https://diabeticgourmet.com/diabetic-recipes/steak-roasted-tomato-and-bean-chili.

Ingredients

3 pounds Shoulder Steaks, cut 3/4-inch thick

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2-1/2 cups no-salt added roasted tomato salsa

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 cans (15 ounces each) no-salt added black beans, rinsed, drained

Optional Toppings/Additions

Guacamole, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped purple onion, chopped tomato, shredded cheese

Directions

Cut beef steaks into 3/4-inch pieces.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in stockpot over medium heat until hot. Brown beef in three batches. Set aside.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, bell pepper and onion to same stockpot. Cook and stir 6 to 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Return beef and accumulated juices to stockpot.

Add salsa, chili powder and cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover tightly and simmer 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 hours or until beef is fork-tender.

Stir in beans; cook, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until beans are heated through, stirring occasionally.

Serve chili in bowls. Garnish with Toppings, as desired.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 289; Fat: 10 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Fiber: 6 g; Sodium: 264 mg; Cholesterol: 78 mg; Protein: 32 g; Carbohydrates: 23 g

FIREHOUSE CHILI GUMBO

This comes from Sam Sifton in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. It begins, “This recipe is adapted from the one that a Louisiana firefighter named Jeremy Chauvin entered into a national cook-off run by Hormel Foods in 2017, and that took home the prize for America’s Best Firehouse Chili. It is not really a chili in the Texas sense of the word. There is a roux at its base — it’s more like a chili gumbo, a bayou take on the original red. Serve with grated cheese and corn chips. Chauvin told me he was moved to enter the chili contest as a way to honor his brother Spencer, also a firefighter, who was killed in the line of duty in 2016. ‘I just want people to remember his sacrifice,’ he said.”

Yield: Serves 8 to 10; Time: 2 hours

This was featured in “This Is the Best Firehouse Chili” and can be viewed online here.

Ingredients

For the Chili:

2 tablespoons neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed

3 pounds ground beef, ideally coarse-ground

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste

2 tablespoons chile powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 tablespoons steak sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes

For the Gumbo:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced

2 medium shallots, peeled and diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

3 ribs celery, trimmed and diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 6-ounce cans tomato paste

2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

1 to 2 cups tomato juice

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar, or to taste

2 tablespoons hot sauce, or to taste

Preparation

Make the chili. Heat the oil in a large skillet or heavy-bottomed pot set over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the beef, stirring often, until it has begun to brown at the edges. Using a slotted spoon, transfer browned meat to a bowl.

Pour off excess fat, turn heat down to medium and return the browned beef to the skillet or pot. Add salt, peppers, chile powder, turmeric, oregano and cumin, and stir to combine. Add steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce and diced tomatoes, and stir again. Cover the skillet or pot, and cook, stirring a few times, for 15 minutes or so.

Make the gumbo. Place a large pot with a heavy bottom over medium heat, and put the butter and oil into it. When the butter is melted and foaming, sprinkle the flour into the pan, and whisk to combine. Continue whisking until the mixture is golden brown, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Add the onion, shallots, bell peppers, celery and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have started to soften, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the chili gumbo. Add the beef mixture to the pot with the vegetables along with the tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato juice and ketchup, and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 45 minutes, then add apple-cider vinegar and hot sauce to taste. Take the pot off the heat, and serve, or allow to cool and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to cure. Heat before serving.

VEGAN CHILI

This comes from J. Kenji López-Alt at The New York Times cooking newsletter. The recipe begins, "This chili starts with a few different whole dried chiles, toasted and blended together, then fried with vegan ground meat and other aromatics to form the complex backbone of this stew. Along with tomatoes and kidney beans, I like to add some soy sauce (for umami depth), cider vinegar (for acidity and brightness) and a shot of hard liquor. The volatile alcohol in the liquor helps pull aromas up and out of the chili and into your nose. If you want to opt for a vegetarian version, feel free to use unsalted butter in place of the vegan butter, and garnish with sour cream or Cheddar."

Yield: 4 to 6 servings; Time: 1 hour

This was featured in "How to Cook With Plant-Based Meats", and can be found online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020866-vegan-chili.

Ingredients

For the Chile Paste (see Note):

2 whole dried ancho, pasilla or mulato chiles, stems and seeds removed, torn into rough 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 ounce)

1 whole dried New Mexico red, California, costeño or choricero chile, stems and seeds removed, and torn into rough 1-inch pieces (about 1/8 ounce)

1 to 2 dried hot chiles, such as árbol or pequín, stems and seeds removed and torn into rough pieces (optional)

For the Chili:

2 tablespoons vegan butter

1 pound vegan ground meat, such as Impossible or Beyond

1 medium onion, grated on large holes of a box grater (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 large garlic cloves, grated on Microplane (about 4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Kosher salt

2 chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes packed in juice, drained and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

1 (16-ounce) can dark kidney beans, drained

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon whiskey, vodka or brandy (optional)

Diced onions, chopped cilantro, chopped pickled jalapeños, sliced black olives, vegan sour cream, shredded vegan cheese, fresh tortillas or tortilla chips, for serving (optional)

Preparation

Make the chile paste: Add all the dried chiles to a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until slightly darkened and giving off an intense roasted aroma, 2 to 5 minutes. Turn down the heat if they begin to smoke. Add 1 cup water; it should immediately boil. Reduce heat so water barely simmers, and cook until chiles have softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chiles and liquid to a blender and blend at high speed, scraping down sides as necessary, until a completely smooth purée is formed, about 2 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare the chili: Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the vegan ground meat and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until fat has mostly rendered and it is starting to sizzle rather than steam, about 10 minutes. (I don’t mind leaving the rendered fat in the chili. It homogenizes as the chili reduces, so the end result should not be greasy. However, you can drain the mixture at this point if you prefer less fat in the finished chili.)

Add the onion, garlic, oregano and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened, about 2 minutes. Add the chipotles, cumin and reserved chile paste, and cook, stirring frequently, until the paste reduces to the point that it starts to sizzle and fry, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently until homogenous, about 1 minute.

Add chopped canned tomatoes and scrape up any brown bits that have stuck to the pan. Add kidney beans, soy sauce and 1 cup water, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until flavors have developed and chili is thickened to desired consistency, about 30 minutes. Stir in vinegar and liquor, if using. Adjust texture by adding water, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with whatever garnishes you like.

Tip

You can omit the chile paste, and substitute 3 tablespoons chile powder instead. Add chile powder with chipotles and cumin in Step 3, and cook, stirring frequently, until aromatic, about 30 seconds, then add the tomato paste and continue with Step 4.

SIMPLE, PERFECT CHILI

This comes from Ree Drummond, from The Food Network show, The Pioneer Woman.

Total: 1 hr 40 min; Active: 30 min; Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Level: Easy

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef

2 cloves garlic, chopped

One 8-ounce can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup masa harina

One 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Shredded Cheddar, for serving

Chopped onions, for serving

Tortilla chips, for serving

Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

Watch how to make this recipe.

Place the ground beef in a large pot and throw in the garlic. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain off the excess fat, and then pour in the tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and cayenne. Stir together well, cover, and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes overly dry, add 1/2 cup water at a time as needed.

After an hour, place the masa harina in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and stir together with a fork. Dump the masa mixture into the chili. Stir together well, and then taste and adjust the seasonings. Add more masa paste and/or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or to add more corn flavor. Add the beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with shredded Cheddar, chopped onions, tortilla chips and lime wedges.