I know that chili is one of those things like pasta salad, which everyone makes in a different way, and for which you don’t really need a recipe.  But I’ve been seeing a lot of chili recipes online lately, and just so you know, this is the best chili recipe on the internet.  Except for the one that any of you just posted on your own blog.  At any rate, you should give this recipe a try.

I didn’t used to get very excited about chili until I had it at my friend Amber’s house.  Hers was amazing, and she explained that she had tried a new recipe that had a new ingredient.

My recipe comes, like most chili recipes, I imagine, from bits and pieces of lots of other recipes.  I’m happy to say that you absolutely don’t need a packet of powder, like I used to think, or a slow cooker, or a lot of time.  All you need is a about twenty minutes, a big pot, and:

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 14 oz can pinto beans

1 14 oz can kidney beans

7 oz can tomato paste

14 oz can diced tomatoes

2 tblsp. chili powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cumin

6 oz dark beer (the alcohol cooks off, of course, and the chili doesn’t taste like beer – it tastes like good chili!)

You have to brown the meat first, and since that is such an extremely advanced sort of thing to do, I’ve provided a picture.  (I was patronizing about how to boil water, so what did you expect?)

Didn’t you always wonder what ground beef looked like when it was cooking?  Now you know.

Then you dump in the contents of all your little cans.   I like to rinse the beans first.

Then stir it around, and add the beer.

Stir that for a few minutes, and at some point, dump in all of the seasonings.  I measured all of mine while the meat was browning (I know, that’s a lot to handle all at once, but after lots of practice, you may get so good at browning ground beef that you can even measure things at the same time.  And then someday, you’ll be ready to make Hamburger Helper!).  I put them into a paper baking cup, because it seemed like the thing to do:

Stir it around, and cook it until the beer seems mostly to have evaporated, and someone wanders into the kitchen asking what smells so good.

We put sour cream and cheese on top:

Happy Superbowl!