Happy Holidays everyone!

Wow, it’s been pretty chilly in Houston lately! Sooo love it! The cold weather conjures up savory memories of a hearty beef stew, chicken and dumplings, Vietnamese pho or better yet, plain ole’ CHILI! I’ve never really thought very much of my chili, but I’ve made it a few times at the bar and a few times at home for some really happy tummies. Nothing warms up your house like the smell of chili cooking in the air! It also helps that I allow my chili to stew in my nifty crock pot! Here is the quick and easy recipe, yall!

 Enough for 4-6 servings

BUY:

• 2 Lbs ground beef or ground sirloin (whichever you prefer)
• 1 whole yellow onion (chopped – i like chunky onion pieces)
• 1 can of Rotel Chili Fixins tomatoes and peppers (10 oz can)
• 1 can of Fire-roasted stewed tomatoes (14.5 oz cans)
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes

• 2-3 cloves of garlic 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp Adobo All Purpose Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of white pepper
• 2-3 dried bay leaves
• Your favorite porter or stout beer 🙂

PREP:

• Turn your crock pot on high and add a can of your favorite beer, close lid (I’ve been using porters or stouts lately)
• Chop onions and mince garlic

CUC:

1. In a large skillet, sauté minced garlic with a little bit of olive oil (vegetable oil will be fine)
2. Add ground meat to pan and sauté until brown
3. Add chili powder, Adobo, cumin, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, and white pepper to pan and continue to cook meat
4. Add chopped onions, Rotel tomatoes/peppers, and fire-roasted tomatoes to the pan and work them into the meat
5. Drop a few bay leaves into the mix
6. Cook in pan until meat has cooked
7. Transfer the contents of the pan to your heated crock pot and cover
8. Continue to cook on high for 45 minutes – 1 hour

Serve on top of Frito lay chips, top with cheddar cheese, finely chopped scallions and onions!  FRITO PIE!

*I just updated this recipe to include the can of beer. My friend, Kelly reminded me how much I liked it with beer instead of water!  If you don’t want to use beer, you can stick with about 1/4 cup of water!