My Chili Recipe

One recipe that I get asked to make all the time is my chili recipe. I brought it once to a function at church and now every time we are having a function where we are to bring food everyone always asks if I’m bringing my chili.

It might also be a Filipino thing. Since I married Filipina wife we started going to her church which was founded in the Philippines and is naturally about 95% Filipino.

I believe that many of them never tasted chili like I make before I brought mine and they all loved it.

When my wife and I visited her daughter in the Philippines a few years back I wanted to make the whole family my chili as a treat. I soon found out one of the reasons many Filipinos may not have experienced chili. I could not find kidney beans anywhere in their small town. They had two grocery stores, but neither of them carried even canned kidney beans.

It wasn’t until the day we were leaving when we went back to the big city and stopped in a grocery store in the big city mall that I found the beans.

Now that I know where to find kidney beans, the next time we return for a visit I will make Tsien and her family my chili.

The one thing about making chili is it is so easy to make. There is not a whole lot of preparation involved. You just make sure you have your ingredients and mix them together and give it the time it needs to simmer so the tastes combine into a wonderful meal.

One thing I do is use 93% lean ground beef. By using such lean beef it actually lowers the calories by almost one hundred calories a serving. I also like the fact that the leanest of the meat means more meat remains when cooked so there is more substance in the dish.

I hope you will give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ pounds 93% lean ground beef

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 green bell pepper, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 40.5 ounce can red kidney beans, drained

• 2 (14-1/2-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

• 6 ounce can tomato paste

• 2 to 3 tablespoons chili powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• hot pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions

1. Add the ground beef, onion, green pepper and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat, continue stirring until beef crumbles and turns brown.

2. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil then let simmer for an hour.

3. Eat and enjoy.