Homemade Chili

"You make your own chili?" I get asked. "What recipe do you use?"

Um… Recipe?

Well…

The truth is I don't think I've ever made chili the same way twice. There are basic components that I add every time I make it, but something is always a little bit different and the end result always has its own unique flavor.

Tonight's meat selection was 1 lb pork sausage,
1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground venison

On a typical weeknight when I'm cooking for family of four, I start out with 3 pounds of meat. This is definitely a high meat to person ratio, but for the purposes of chili that's just how it works out. Of course, that also means plenty of leftovers for easy lunches for several days. The actual meat that I use changes depending on what I have in the house. I almost always have at least 1 pound of sausage. The other 2 pounds are usually some type of burger. My favorite thing to use is game meat, especially elk because it adds is a fantastic flavor. Venison would be my second favorite. Of course, there are plenty of other types of game meat that I have yet to try which could create a truly phenomenal chili, but I'm thankful when I can get game meat because neither my husband nor I hunt. 

Next on the list is tomatoes. This is where I "sneak in" veggies because my family typically doesn't care for them. As such, I prefer to use my own homemade tomato sauce. When I make it up, I usually store it in pint-size mason jars and one jar is plenty for the 3 pounds of meat. Because my homemade tomato sauce is whole fruit tomato sauce with several other added veggies, we get the benefit of all of the fiber and all of the goodies that those veggies and fruit have to offer.

The next component of the chili is where I fail as a Texas citizen. I typically add beans. Everyone knows real Texas chili does not have beans. While I still tend to prefer my chili without beans, I add them as another attempt to add more veggies, especially fiber, to the diet of my boys. We'll just ignore right here that I don't even consider mature beans to be a real veggie anyway. I typically opt for small red beans for my chili, but I've used pintos in a pinch. I like to cook up a bunch of dry beans all at once and store in pint-size mason jars. 1 jar works for this amount of chili.

So that pretty much covers all the major components the next thing which certainly can't be left out would be the seasonings. So here are the seasonings that I typically use for my chili.

What, measure? Nah...
I mostly just season to taste. I
couldn't tell you actual amounts.

Notice anything strange? You probably do. While I do use the typical chili powder and garlic salt in a large quantities in my chili there are several other things that I add. Also not particularly surprising are the onion powder and pepper. Given that I use sausage and garlic salt (and likely salted the beans), there really is no need to add any more salt to this chili. I like to add oregano because well, hey, lets add more healthy nutrients! Also, something I learned from making spaghetti sauce from my mom - don't underestimate the spiciness that you can get from oregano. May sound strange, but it adds a nice touch. So, here is where the unusual ingredients come in. I use a dash of cumin, because well, I like cumin. It adds a unique flavor, but it's one of those things that are added such that you get the undertones, but don't really taste it or smell it above anything else. It blends nicely, but it has to be used sparingly. Even more sparingly used is the cinnamon. One might think that cinnamon doesn't belong in chili, but the tiniest amount can help balance out the flavor. The tiniest amount is all that's needed. You won't taste or smell it at all (unless I added too much), but it really helps to round things out. This was a suggestion from my hubby and I thought he was off his rocker when he mentioned it the first time, but wouldn't you know, he was right.

So, to put it all together, I typically put the tomato sauce in the crock pot, add a bunch of the spices, and stir it all together. I put the crock pot on high and let it work on heating up. Then I brown the meat. I usually do just one pound at a time simply because it's easier to handle with the size of my fry pan. I strain off some of the fat, but I don't stress about it too much, especially if I'm using mostly venison since it needs all the extra fat it can get so it's not too dry. I add the meat to the crock pot stirring after each addition. After all the meat has been added, I usually switch the crock pot to low. I'll taste test every 30 min or so to see how everything is coming together and add more spices if needed. The chili will sit for several hours or just one depending on how on top of things I am and how early I started.

Fritos scoops are the best for eating
chili sans spoon. =)

Chili in my house is always served with Fritos and cheese. If you are weird like me, you add sour cream. I passed this on to my kids. Hubs is not amused.

So, there you have it. Yummy chili! If you try it yourself, don't stress if you don't have all the things I do. Make it your own. If you are more crunchy, you'll skip on the Fritos and use organic meat, cheese, spices, etc. If you are less crunchy, feel free to use canned tomato sauce and canned beans. It's all good. =)

Yum! Lots of sour cream. I know I'm unusual on this one.