Grandpa Gotta Cook—Chili Con Carne With Cornbread

in #fff4 years ago (edited)

October Means Chili

Okay, maybe it doesn't quite mean chili, but I tend to think more about eating hot soup-like meals when it gets colder, and since we've experienced here a good 15 degree drop in daily temperatures, chili shot to the top of the list for cooking.

In today's edition of Grandpa Gotta Cook, I go back to the crockpot to do this, though I probably could have just done it the conventional way, since I didn't really slow cook it all that long.

This was last night's meal, and I volunteered to cook because a) I was sick on Saturday, my normal night to cook, and b) I was supposed to be off most of the day Thursday because of scheduling changes taking place in my work area.

However, as it turned out, I got called to help someone who was coming into my area to haul off a couple of games, place a new one, and fix the lock on a jukebox I couldn't get into. So, I didn't quite get the food ready early enough for the five to six hour cooking time the recipe called for. However, that was on low, so I just put the setting on high to cook in half the time and make the 5 pm chow deadline.

I know. I know. What's the point of the crockpot if you're not going to slow cook it? I would say, good point, not really my fault, but I would probably also counter with, I did slow cook the chili, I just didn't slower cook it.

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I decided I'd lead with a teaser of what the concoction looked like in the crockpot with all ingredients, and then walk through the recipe. I also added an ingredient that the recipe didn't call for. Maybe you can pick it out, or then keep reading to see if you're right.

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The first step was to put some oil in a rather deep pan, and then sautée some onions. It called for a large yellow onion, but none of us are really big onion eaters, so I chopped up enough to say I did it.

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Next came the browning of the ground beef, since I guess we don't want raw ground beef mixed in with other ingredients. At least, that's my guess. I've never really seen it explained why you have to cook ground beef before you put it in the crockpot when you don't have to cook, say, chicken. Maybe it's a red meat thing.

At any rate, I did it, and since the recipe called for two pounds worth, I did it in two shifts, because the packages were each a little over a pound.

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While the ground beef was browning, I started to put the other ingredients into the crockpot. I figured I could turn on the crockpot then, too, and hopefully squeeze in as much slow cooking time as possible.

Now, as I look at the image, I'm not sure if I find all of that overly appetizing, but I'll tell you what the ingredients are and you can make up your own mind.

So, there's stewed tomatoes (the recipe called for diced, but we were fresh out), tomato sauce, mild green chilies, ground coriander, cumin, paprika, garlic, chili powder, sugar, black pepper, salt, and a surprise ingredient for me, anyway—cocoa powder. Beef broth was optional depending on how thick I wanted the chili. I like thick chili, and we didn't have beef broth, so it didn't make it in.

The meat was added after it was browned and kidney beans were placed at the end, for about two minutes worth of cooking time.

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That extra ingredient I mentioned earlier. Well, here it is. Bell peppers. Probably no surprise for those who follow my cooking posts.

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The recipe also suggested some toppings, such as cheese, green onions, and sour cream. Unfortunately, we were out of sour cream, but we did have this cheese blend in the freezer. You might have noted that somewhat foggy look of the packaging since I took this picture during the thawing process.

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With all the ingredients that should go in to begin with now cooking away, I left it to do its thing for an hour and a half or so, and then came back to get the cornbread going.

Thankfully, we had a pouch of Famous Dave's cornbread mix, which met all I really needed to do was combine some milk, water and an egg in a bowl, then blend in the cornbread mix. With that done, it went into the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

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And, voila, it turned out like this. I was actually quite happy with how that looked, because sometimes I manage to under bake it. I don't profess to be a baker. I barely profess to know how to cook, given an extra hour than called for and a recipe that tells me what to do.

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The Finished Product And Taste Test

The chili was not overly thick, but not quite soupy, either. Somewhere in the middle, I think. As far as taste goes, I thought it was good, but I wonder what it would have been like had it sat in the crockpot for twice as long. Maybe I'll find out another time.

The flavors that came through the most were the chili powder, and the cumin. There may have been a slight hint of the cocoa, but it was pretty much buried. The shredded cheese mix melted nicely, and I really wished we had the sour cream. I also thought about throwing on an avocado slice or two, but didn't get around to cutting one up.

The cornbread, as always, turned out great.

My wife and younger son both said the chili was good. The daughter-in-law wasn't feeling very well, apparently, so she didn't eat any.

All in all, I think it was a good effort. Though I was pressed for time, I managed not to get too stressed about it. I was actually happy to get some hours in at work since this was a short week for me, and I was also happy to have some time off, since I've been working quite a bit of overtime the last couple of months.

And then, as the saying goes, it all worked out.

Now, to figure out what do do for tomorrow night.

Until next time...

...Enjoy!

All images courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen

Grandpa Gotta Cook is published in conjunction with @foodfightfriday, a weekly contest wherein all the posts are about, you guessed it, food. All are welcome to participate by simply writing about food, posting it on Friday, your time, and using the #fff tag. Then, participants are highly encouraged to read the other entries to help pick the winner of that week's prize—a healthy helping of SBI.

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Have you ever tried making this with fresh chillies? I think it would be amazing personally.

You’ve inspired me to make some corn bread! I’ve been thinking about cooking some up for a while now but always get caught up in other stuff.

You’re right that the avocado would have worked really well with this the textures would have worked well together.

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Hey, debtfreein2.

Yeah. We've done it a couple of times. I really like avocado and would probably eat more of it if I didn't always seem to find the avocado when it is either too hard or too black. :)

Well, I'm glad to inspire anyone to make cornbread. I know I very much enjoy eating it.

I haven't tried with fresh chillies. I'm sure it would be awesome. I'll have to look up a recipe for that, since all the ones I find are for the canned variety.

Oh yum, this looks sooo delicious @glenalbrethsen, cornbread would be just perfect with chili con carne!

Hey, @lizelle.

It definitely was. It's hard to imagine chili without cornbread, actually. :)

A bowl or two of that wouldn't go astray right now. :D
Yum!

Hey, @shaidon.

As I noted in the post, the temperature here has dropped substantially, so finding ways to stay warmer is now the deal rather than trying to stay cool. Actually, staying warm and dry, but I'm not sure how chili helps with the latter. :)

It's starting to warm up here, today was overcast but hot making it somewhat humid.
But I can eat Chili Con Carne 365 days a year with no hesitation! LMAO.

Great minds think alike! The temps just dropped like crazy here in MN and like a bear feeling the cold and it’s body saying it’s time to hibernate, I’m the same when it gets cold, my body says to make chili! I honestly made almost this same exact chili just two days ago in my crockpot. It was damn good! Thanks for sharing Glen!

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@glenalbrethsen
Your Food Fight Friday Contender has been entered into Round 63
May your contender make it out alive and not be placed in a permanent food coma!
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Good Luck
and
Have a
!BEER

Command accepted!



Hey @glenalbrethsen, here is a little bit of BEER for you. Enjoy it!

I did slow cook the chili, I just didn't slower cook it.😃😃
The corn bread looks great , and with a good amount of melted butter on top, watch out.
I see you have been busy and working some overtime lately. Its always a good idea to get it while you can.

Hey, @thebigsweed.

Yeah. In full agreement about the overtime, considering last week's hours were less than 40. It's a never know what's going to happen type of situation, but the bills don't ever seem to take a break, unfortunately.

re: slower cook it

I'm glad someone picked that out. :)

We had the chili again yesterday (since there was quite a bit left over), and it may have actually improved as it sat in the refrigerator. The cornbread was pretty much gone the first night, though I did actually find a couple of pieces someone had stuffed into the bread drawer. Figured I should probably eat it before someone else did, because, well, why not? :)

#farm-mom used you recipe to make chili for us last night. Hotter than usual, for me the hotter the better. The one thing she did change is that she used a mild sausage instead of ground beef. No corn bread to go along with the meal, but she did make home made bread that was delicious.
The bills only stop when we stop @glenalbrethsen

Hey, @the bigsweed.

Well, cool on making the recipe. No cornbread, but homemade bread. Sounds good to me.

re: the bills

I don't think they stop even then. :)

Good morning @glenalbrethsen, nice chili my friend. I like to cook more during the colder months and chili makes it to the top of our list. My kids and @thebigsweed always enjoyed mine.
Now that corn bread addition, man you nailed it. Sweet. Good job Grampa!

lol..that's about where I am with my cooking skills too! Hey that looks darn good!

Hey, @janton.

Well, I can't claim to be a major chef. I think things turn out okay, for the most part. The cornbread, though, was pretty much a no-brainer. Just don't burn it. :)

I agree. Burnt cornbread sucks and it's easy to do!

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