All-American Chili

I was craving chili the other day and did a search on here only to discover that I have never posted my favorite chili recipe!

FOR SHAME!

I had to remedy that pronto!

I've been making this chili recipe for a long time now. My mom's chili is very good, but I love the addition of turkey sausage, wine and a mix up of beans in this one. The original recipe just calls for light kidney beans, but I'm here to say you can mix that up and use whatever you have on hand! In this case,  black and cannelini (which, by the way, are also called white kidney beans) beans were what was in my pantry. I did consider running to the store as I also had ZERO green peppers... but no. I kept repeating that old mantra: Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, go without. Or something like that. I had red peppers in the fridge, so into the pot they went. Always remember, a recipe is a guideline. Make it the original way at first and then play up the parts you love or vice versa. 

This recipes makes PLENTY, so you'll have some to give away or to freeze for another wintery day when you're craving chili.

Now, as I mentioned in this post, (which has a very similiar looking photo! lol) I grew up eating chili on mashed potatoes, so don't freak out about my picture there. That's just what I like. My husband... purely a tortilla chip and chili kinda guy. The kids ate this, too, but only the first day and refused leftovers. Fickle people.

As written, this is not a spicy chili at all. So if you like the heat and can take it... by all means turn up the volume. This is great for feeding a crowd of varied "heat indexes", the spice lovers can toss in their hot sauce of choice and the weaklings will love it.

All American Chili
adapted from Cooking Light, 2003

2 links sweet Turkey sausage
2 small onions, diced the way you like
1 green pepper (or red), chopped
1 lb lean ground meat
1 jalapeno pepper (I often forget this), diced
1 1/2 - 2 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs brown sugar (optional, I left it out once and didn't notice)
1 Tbs cumin
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
3/4- 1 1/4 cups red wine, Merlot (the amt is based on how much I have left in the bottle ;-)
2 cans whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
2 cans beans, light kidney or combination black and cannelini works
shredded cheddar
adobo seasoning

1. Heat large pot and add turkey sausage, squeeze out of the casings and sauté. Add onion, peppers, ground meat and jalapeńo. Continue to sauté, about 8 min., until meat is cooked. While cooking, use back of spoon or fork to crumble meat.

2. Add chili powder through salt. Cook for 1 minute and stir to combine. Add bay leaves- I wait so as not to crumble the bay leaves.

3. Add wine, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour.
(At this point, once it comes to a boil, you could turn it off, put it in a container and pop it in the fridge to reheat the next day(in a crock pot!) Chili is always better the next day.)

4. Uncover, take out the bay leaves, and cook 30 minutes more, add adobo seasoning if you think it needs a little something or some more cumin. Again, adjust the tastes to YOUR liking.

5. Serve in big bowls with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese on top (and with mashed potatoes if you're me)

Enjoy!

Brunch staples ~ 1.10.11

Southwest Sausage Bake
adapted from Taste of Home

6-10 flour tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
4 cans chopped green chiles, drained
1 1/2 lbs bulk sausage, cooked and crumbled (I used a package of sweet turkey sausage that I squeeze out of the casing and then cook and crumble)
8 oz shredded jack cheese (I use some pepper jack, too)
10 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp each salt, garlic salt, onion salt, pepper, cumin, (Adobo seasoning, my addition)
paprika
4-5 Roma tomatoes, sliced
sour cream & salsa- to garnish

grease 9 x13 inch baking dish, layer half of the tortilla strips to cover the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle sausage crumbles, chiles, cheese on the bottom layer. Repeat until you have three layers, you may need more tortillas, so adjust and go with the flow.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk and seasonings; pour over all the layers. Sprinkle with paprika, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove at least 30 minutes before baking (Sometimes I'll take it out before church and then bake it when I get home)
Bake, uncovered, 350 degrees for 50 minutes. While it bakes, slice your Roma tomatoes to place on top of the casserole. After 50 minutes, put the toms on top and bake an additional 10 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. 10 should do it.

Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

The recipe says 12 servings, but it's so filling, you could get 24 out of this 9x13 dish. I served 8 adults and 9 kids (granted not all the kids ate it, mine love it) and STILL had half of this leftover!


Shredded Potato Casserole

{this recipe was given to me by my good friend, Rachel. It's been a hit for years and I cannot have a brunch without it. I will get in BIG trouble if this casserole is not present! I have adapted the recipe to fit my tastes, but I'm writing the original here with my adaptations in parenthesis.}

1 bag shredded potatoes- thawed
1 cup cubed Velveeta (I use 8oz shredded cheddar)
1 onion, grated or minced really fine
1 container (small) french onion dip
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of sour cream (light)

**the last time I made this I used Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion in place of the french onion dip AND the minced onion. It was lacking onion flavor, so if you're going to skimp on something, don't skimp on the fresh onion! I used a whole cup of sour cream and 2 Tbsp of Onion Onion in lieu of the french onion dip. See, versatile, use what you have or just stick to the original recipe. I thought it was still pretty good.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients except the potatoes.
After all the ingredients are incorporated, add the potatoes and mix.
Put in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and dot with 4 Tbs butter (I've skipped that and no one was the wiser)
Cover and bake 30 minutes. THEN, uncover and bake 20 minutes more. Test to see that it's hot all the way through by inserting a knife and touching the blade to see if it's nice and hot.