BJ and I have established a delicious goal for the fall of finding the perfect chili recipe. During the fall and winter months he and I have enjoyed chili and various soups every since we were first married and surviving those Minnesota winters. Traditionally we have used a box chili, but this fall I had an itch for more; BJ, who loves to cook just about as much as I do, was totally game when I suggested stepping outside of our box o'chili and expanding our horizons to chili recipes that are perhaps spicier, meatier, sweeter, bean-y-er, and/or all around better. I figured I may as well incorporate our quest into the blogging effort. Friends, we are welcoming recipes! If you have a chili that is tried-and-true or perhaps a chili recipe that looks good but you've just not found the time to try, send it on to us and we will give it a look and perhaps a taste. The exception here is white chicken chili recipes, which I will not accept. Let's get real people; white chicken chili is really soup, not chili. The chili must be red!
We decided to start our quest with a baseline, for which we chose our traditional box o'chili. For years we have used Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Brand Chili Kit.
The meat that I use is either lean ground beef or ground turkey, but for our baseline grading we used ground beef. I also added onion that I cooked with the beef, a can of tomato sauce, water, and two cans of beans. For this tasting I used a can of red kidney beans and a can of pinto beans, because how can you go wrong with pinto beans?
As an aside, I know that I took a picture of a finished bowl of our chili kit chili, but I sure can't seem to find it. Sorry.
The verdict: The chili isn't bad, that's for sure! We've chosen this as our easy, go-to chili for years, and with good reason. You can make it as spicy as you'd like because you add your own desired amount of cayenne. With our additions of onion, beans, fritos, sour cream, and cheese, it's not a bad place to start. I think it can get better though.
Jenny's grade: B
BJ's grade: B
Send us recipes!
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