Bizarro pseudo- Texas Style Chili

So, as you dear regular readers may know, we've been makin groceries as they say in Nawlins. So we had a pork roast and a beef roast last week. But then the Food Pimp had his scary bout with foodborne illness, so I froze the meat. A couple days later when he was starting to feel better, I took out the beef and put it back in the fridge.

So we were makin groceries for one of his cooking classes, and I figured, hey, I'll make chili with the roast. You know, kinda Texas style, except with beans. So I got some stuff for it.

Do you ever decide to do something on the fly, and then you don't properly think it through and then you come home with the wrong groceries or without some things that you needed?

This is what happened to me. So I made this weird half assed chili. It tasted weird. It was a little better the next day, but still weird. Not quite chili - like.

Then the FP came home with leftovers from one of his classes. Ground beef and macaroni. So we added that to the mix. So then it was a bit more chili like, but freaky chili. But we ate it all, so it must have been good.



The Food Ho's Bizarro Psuedo- Texas Style Chili Mac

1 onion diced
4 cloves of garlic smashed and roughed up (give em a good scare so that they'll take you seriously next time)
1 chuck roast diced (and don't trim off all that fat like you want to)
1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes (I always pick the brand that's on sale - I'm a discriminating shopper with a cheap palate)
1 c beer or wine
1/4 c vinegar
2 T any random chili powders you have in the cupboard (just don't disturb the indian in there - I mean the Native American)
1 t bitters
1 T worcestershire (because that's all there was left, otherwise, I would have put more)
2 T chili powder blend
2 T salt
1 can white beans (republicans)
1 can black beans (democrats)
3/4 # ground beef
2 c cooked elbow noodles (why not knee noodles?)

So, I sauteed the onion and garlic, then I threw in the meat. Better to brown the seasoned meat, then saute the onion and garlic. You know, get the meat really really dark seared brown, not cafeteria food brown. But I made it cafeteria food brown. I think I was kinda in a hurry making it before work. Then I added the chili powders. Well, I think I did. If I didn't, I should have. Then I added wine and vinegar, worcestershire and bitters. Why bitters? Because I saw it in the cupboard and I thought I'd use it. We used to use it to make pepper pot at the Mango House. Then the crushed tomato went in. This is where I realized how weird it was. First, I didn't get any bell pepper. What a travesty. Then I realized I only got crushed tomatoes - no whole or diced. That made a difference. It was like some tomatoey beef thing. So I added lots of chili powder and salt and let it cook. When the beef was getting tender, I dumped in the beans and let it go another 10 - 15 minutes. It was weird. But it was okay. We ate it over rice, which is tradition in my family. But maybe it would be better for dinner.

So then later on, the FP brought home the ground beef, and we dumped that in and brought it to a boil. Then we heated the leftover macaroni and ate the chili with that instead of rice. It was better. Pretty good. But not the regular chili I used to make. Next time, I'm going old school with the chili. No messin with Texas...

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