Malfunct’s Straight Chili

Malfunct’s Straight Chili

So over the Christmas break I wanted to make chili so I read recipie after recipie for chili online and none of them really made me happy so finally I decided to go off the trail and make my own so here it is.

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 medium to large onion
  • 20oz can of diced tomatos
  • 6oz can of tomato paste
  • Jar of pace picante sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 or so chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • beef stock

Sweat your chopped onions in a bit of oil with a little salt until translucent. Don’t worry about getting them too brown or anything. Move onions to your chili pot. In the same pan you cooked your onions brown up the 2lbs of ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper. Don’t overcrowd your pan. I have a nice 12″ pan that can do about 1 lb of beef at a time without issues so I do two batches. Move the ground beef to your chili pot and retire the skillet. Now add the diced tomatos, tomato paste, picante sauce, chili powder and cumin. Chop the chipotle peppers until they are into a fine paste and add them to the pot. Also add a cup or two of the stock. Stir everything together well and start to cook over low heat. Taste the chili now to see if its seasoned right. I find I usually need to add a bit more salt at this point. Then let the chili cook over medium low heat for a couple of hours adding beef stock as needed to keep the right consistency. When you are getting near the end taste again and add more chipotle if you need more spice or more salt if the salt is not quite right.

I like serving the chili topped with sour cream and shredded cheese. Enjoy!