sirloin and bean chili with corn bread and smoked cheddar

Upon returning to a normally drought and heat stricken central Texas I was hit in the face by 50 degree wind gusts. CHILI TIME!!!  

even though everyone knows that i'm always ecstatic about what i call "chili weather", i've never actually made chili before. and recipe schmecipe. so this evening was a great american staple adventure.

staple like quintessential dish, not like i went on an adventure for office supplies. (although, i do love supplies so if you know of any nifty useless supply websites, get at me)

There was a lot that went into this chili, not in the actual cooking but in terms of getting to the chili action. the grocery store trip was exhausting. I stood in front of the $12 sea salts for 10 minutes until I realized I do not have $12 to spend on salt (for the record: i went with slice and bake cookies, instead of a posh sea salt confection) Then, because I wanted to use really good cheese to garnish my chili, I stood in front of the "british isles/cheddar" section smelling every single cheese at least three times over.

there is a lot that I wanted for this chili. A lot that couldn't happen, sadly. I wanted to use dried rather than canned beans, but since I didn't know I would be making chili until an hour before dinner, I couldn't use dried beans. Also, I originally intended to make a turkey white bean chili, but there was no ground turkey at the store and so I took that as a friendly nudge in the direction of big meat, ground sirloin, to be precise. 

once the glorious grocery store madness ended, it was chili improv time:

1/2 T butter, 1/2 T olive oil

1-3 lbs ground sirloin 

1 12 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 12 oz can fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles

1-3 cups chicken stock

1 can black beans, no salt added; drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, no salt added; drained and rinsed

1/2 white or yellow onion, diced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, diced

approx 1 T cumin (or to taste)

approx 1/2 T chile powder (or to taste)

approx 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 T dried oregano

approx 2 T salt (or to taste)

avocado slices for garnish

sharp yellow cheddar and/or smoked cheddar for garnish (and for melty cheesey gooodness)

a slice of cornbread or a pepperjack corn muffin if you are me and you are lucky enough to come across that in the store!!!!!! ( i wanted to make my own cornbread, i really did, but as i mentioned earlier, grocery stores are distracting and exciting for me and i don't always meet all my goals)

How It Alllll Goessss Down:

1. melt the olive oil and butter together in a heavy soup pot. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Saute until translucent but not brown.

2. Add the spices and stir to combine. and to make great aromas happen

3. Add the sirloin and cook over medium heat until fully brown.

4. Pour in both cans of tomatoes, crushing and mixing with a wooden spoon. Add enough chicken stock to just cover the meat and loosen up the chili, but not enough to make it brothy. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for at least 20 minutes (45 minutes or an hour will only make it taste better).

 5. After simmering for as long as your impatient taste buds can handle, add the beans, stir and taste. Adjust the seasonings and spices as necessary!

Put a slice of cornbread or a corn bread muffin into a bowl. Ladle the chili on top, garnish with both shredded (or oddly minced if you don't have a grater like me) smoked cheddar and sharp aged yellow cheddar, avocado slices and sliced scallions. 

This is what it looked like after I mushed around all the garnishes and the corn muffin :) it was a deliciously sweet, corny, meaty, spicy, smokey, cheesy bucket of YUM. except it was a bowl, i WISH it had been a bucket.

it's officially been 2 days since i've made this chili and i wanted to add that i've eaten it for breakfast yesterday and today. it's delicious, plentiful and only gets better as it sits :)