15 December 2006

My Mom's Chili

My husband and I don't fight often, but two things that have been major issues in our relationship are shopping and chili. I crave my mom's chili. I don't know where she got the recipe from--probably some Local cookbook, which would explain why the instructions say to eat it with rice.

This is one of the first things I had to learn how to make when I moved out. But my husband thinks it's too sweet! His mom says "Orientals" like our chili like that. *sigh*

Their chili though--feh! It's just hamburger, tomato sauce and chili powder!

My mom's recipe is so good. It's got three types of meat--bacon and Portuguese sausage, in addition to hamburger. If you don't have access to Portuguese sausage, I find that kielbasa or other smoked sausage works well. Don't use Eckrich's though. I don't know what is up with that brand but it's nasty.

And yeah, the recipe's got brown sugar. You could try making it without and see what happens, but I'm not about to risk a pot of chili for that. (I do use honey though, since I never have brown sugar in the house.)

One ingredient I think is weird is curry powder. I don't know why it's there, but I'm also not about to risk a pot of chili to see what happens if it's left out.

Now you mainland folks might think it's weird to eat chili over rice. *shrug* I guess we need something to prevent three-meat overload.

Mom's Chili
1 lb. hamburger
4 pcs bacon, chopped
1/2 ring Portuguese sausage
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 rnd onion, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 T chili powder
2 T brown sugar
1 t curry powder
dash of salt

Fry hamburger, bacon, sausage, garlic and onion.
Add kidney beans, tomato soup, chili powder, brown sugar, curry powder and salt.
Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot rice.

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5 Comments:

At 11:02 PM , Blogger Julie said...

Mmm... I love your mom's chili! It's the only chili--besides Zippy's--that tastes good to me. I think that the brown sugar is important to maintaining balance in the recipe, especially with all the salty meat ingredients. If mainland folks have problems finding Portuguese sausage, they might have an easier time looking for chorizo. I've heard Rachel Ray mentioning it many times on 30-Minute Meals! Thanks for the recipe and yay for your new food blog! :)

 
At 7:19 AM , Blogger Kate said...

This sounds fabulous! I'm trying it.

 
At 6:20 PM , Blogger Kate said...

Hiya! I made this tonight and it was really very good, so hats off to your mom for this really different and interesting chili.

I was pretty sure I had a can of tomato soup on hand, and it turned out to be a can of Campbell's Mexican Fiesta, which is just tomato kicked up with a little chili powder, so it worked just fine. Also, I only used a teaspoon of Brown Sugar Splenda because that's what I had on hand. Otherwise, I followed your Mom's instructions to the letter. I tasted teh chili BEFORE I added the curry, and then again AFTER, and the curry added a nice tang and a bite of heat, which complimented it perfectly. Without it, it would have been too much like ordinary American Chili -- feh.

It was a lovely night for chili. Bitterly cold outside. Warm inside, and this chili for dinner. The rest will go with me to work tomorrow in a Food Jar.

So there you and your Mom are, spreading chili love around the world.

Tell your husband to snap out of it, it's good this way.

 
At 7:55 PM , Blogger grapepowder said...

4 pcs bacon = 4 pieces of bacon or 4 packs of bacon? Or something else?

 
At 9:23 AM , Blogger Kate said...

Back again all these years later, for my favorite chili recipe. I misplace it from time to time. So don't get rid of this blog!

 

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