Chili

The other day we had a small low-key gathering of friends at Jason's house.

Tim, Jason's roommate, made diablos which are a jalapeno, cut in half and soaked in milk then stuffed with steak that has been marinated in bbq sauce and then to top it all off you wrap them in bacon and grill them. They are actually really good. I am not a jalapeno lover and not a fan of spicy foods, but these actually ended up being very sweet, the milk takes out almost all of the heat in the jalapenos. They have a sweet and smokey flavor.

Jason made chicken wings and they are awesome! It is currently one of his new favorite things to make so we have been eating them a lot. He fries them up in a deep fryer and then coats them in a sauce consisting of Louisiana hot sauce and butter. I like them when he mixes in a little bbq sauce in the the sauce mix, but mostly cause i am not a fan of really spicy things.

It took me a long time to figure out what to make, I wanted to do something tasty but easy. Chili had crossed my mind a couple times but i wasn't sure i wanted to make it. After a couple days of thinking about i just decided to make it since i couldn't come up with anything else. As soon as i mentioned it to Tim he was like you need to put bacon, steak and jalapenos in it. I told him he was crazy, there was no way i was putting bacon in chili, to me it just doesn't even sound good. When I find a recipe i always somehow manage to change and alter it into what i think it should be. A while back i found a chili recipe i thought was promising and tried it out, with my alterations it turned out pretty tasty. Here is my recipe as i made it:

1lb Ground beef

1/2 white onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 small green pepper, diced

1 Jalapeno, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 (10.7oz) cans crushed tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

2 (15oz) can kidney beans, with liquid

1 (15oz) can kidney beans, drained

Chili powder, as much as you feel necessary

Pepper, as much as you feel necessary

Couple dashes of hot sauce

In a skillet over medium high heat, cook ground beef until browned. Add in pepper, garlic, onion and let cook down for a couple minutes. Add everything into a pot and then season with however much seasoning you feel necessary, more of less whatever is your preference. Bring to a boil and then turn down and let simmer for at least 2 hours. Serve with sour cream and grated cheese on top.

* The first time i made this it called to cook it in the slow cooker for 8 hours. I did 6 and it started to burn to the sides of the cooker. It still tasted really good but i do not think it needs to cook for that long which is why i just cooked it in a pot on the stove this time. It was still just as good. Next time i think i might try to put steak in it instead of the ground beef.