Chili & Corn Bread

Cold, grey and snowy days beg for soup for dinner. I'm pretty sure of it, because every time we get a day like that I start going through my soup recipes to find one I have all the ingredients for. Most of the time, I have everything I need for chili.

I had never really liked chili all that much. I don't like my food too chunky. But, several years ago Nate concocted a recipe to take to a ward chili cook-off. If I remember right, he won. The problem has been that the ingredients were not measured that first night, and usually we just throw in a bit of that or a little of this or lets try this in it tonight. So, last night I measured, just so I could post an accurate recipe. It turned out great for my tastes. And it hit the spot last night.

Nate's Prize Winning Chili

1 lb bacon

1 1/2 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped finely

1 pepper {use your favorite color}, chopped finely

12 oz can pepsi

12 oz ketchup

4-15 oz cans tomatoes

2 cans chili beans

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cajun seasoning

Cut bacon into bite-size chunks and brown. I don't thaw it all the way, and then cut it right in the wrapper. It's so much easier. {use your raw meat cutting board}

Remove from pan to paper towel. Pour off all but 1-2 Tbs grease. Add onion and pepper, and brown until onion is translucent. {I had an orange pepper, so that is what I used this time} You want the vegetables to absorb that yummy bacon flavor. Add the ground beef and spices. When beef is done, pour off grease. Add pepsi and ketchup. Stir together and simmer while you're opening cans.
I think the key to a good chili is in the tomatoes. If I could, I would use them straight from the garden. Some brands taste really tin-cannish. This is a brand that I really like. They used to sell them at WalMart. I'm going to have to find them elsewhere because last time I went to buy some they didn't have them anymore. Another thing to consider about the tomatoes is how chunky you like your chili. Like I said before, I don't do chunky, and neither do my kids...entirely my fault I'm sure. So, I just threw three of the cans {the contents of the cans, silly}into the Vita-Mix and pulsed it on low a couple of times to decrease the chunk value of the ingredients. You could also just use tomato puree. I just really like the flavor of these tomatoes, so that's how I adjust. Now you can add the tomatoes and chili beans.
Stir everything together and simmer for a couple of hours. If you don't have the time for it to simmer, simply add the spices to the sauce and not to the meat. When you add the spice to the meat, you have to give it time to infuse the spice throughout the sauce. Add the bacon and stir it in before serving.
And there you have it. Go make some cornbread.

Now here, I will give credit where credit is due. This is a recipe from the Lester Chicks Cookbook. It is had by only a handful of ladies, and it is one that I reference more than Martha Stewart. I never really liked cornbread either until I tried the cake mix variety. And then I ventured out from there. Again, one of my favorites. Moist. Yummy. Serve with lots of honey.

Corn Bread

{Marci DeWitt}

1/2 C butter, meleted

2 eggs

2/3 C sugar

1 C buttermilk

1 C flour

1 C cornmeal

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix together butter, eggs, and sugar until smooth. Stir in buttermilk. In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add dry mixture to liquid mixture and beat until smooth. Pour into greased 9x9 pan. {I like to use my stoneware pie pan} Bake 25-30 min, just until set in middle.