Downsized and adapted from Chili for a Crowd in Recipes from Pennies by Penny Greenwood (1985). To serve our family of many tastes, I make vegetarian chili and offer a Chili Bar with bowls of ground beef, grated Cheddar, diced onions, sliced jalapeños, and cooked rice or spaghetti. The spaghetti idea comes from Cincinnati, home of chains of chili parlors, where many fans eat their chili over spaghetti.
I recommend Penzeys Medium Hot Chili Powder for this recipe.
So why does Penzeys grind chiles to make chili powder? Much internet discussion can be found, and this post from Hot Sauce Fever is enlightening. Basically a chile is a pepper, and chili is a meat sauce.
If you want chili to put on hot dogs, try Hot Dog Chili.
During our move, we made chili in a slow cooker instead of on the stove. It’s not quite as delectable since the onions aren’t browned, but everyone will still lap it up.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 pounds ground chuck
2 red or green or yellow sweet peppers
(corn cut from 2 ears of corn)
(1 cup uncooked farro, nice for vegetarian version)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, pressed or minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder (more to taste)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 large (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes with juice
1 large (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
¼ cup red wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dill weed
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 can black beans, drained (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup pitted and sliced black olives, drained
On the stovetop
Heat olive oil in a large kettle.
Add onions; cook over low heat until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add diced peppers and corn if you are using it.
If using ground meat, crumble it into kettle, cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until meat is well browned. Otherwise cook the ground chuck in a separate pan, drain, and put into a bowl so non-vegetarians can add it to their chili.
Over low heat, stir in black pepper, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chili powder, mustard, basil, and oregano.
Add tomatoes, wine, lemon juice, dill, parsley, corn and farro if you are using either or both, and drained beans.
Stir well; simmer, uncovered, for another 15 minutes.
Taste and correct seasonings.
Add olives; simmer for another 5 minutes to heat through; serve immediately.
In a Slow Cooker
Put all the ingredients except olives in a slow cooker and combine. Cook on High for 3-4 hours. Add the olives 5 minutes before you serve the chili.