Weekend Recipe Tutorial...

Want to know how to make that super-tasty, super-thick, upside-down chili I made while we were on our camping trip? Follow along and you'll be making it in no time.

I decided at the last minute to shoot pictures of the chili process as I made it. I couldn't shoot the pictures myself since I didn't have a tripod, etc.. so I handed the camera off to Adam. Here's Adam:

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Take note that this recipe will easily feed 10-12 normal humans.

I'll be using:

* 3lbs extra lean ground beef
* 2 large onions (diced)
* 4 bell peppers (diced)
* 12 cloves garlic (minced)
* 1 habenero pepper (finely minced)
* 2 large cans diced tomatoes (give or take)
* 2 large cans black or pinto beans (give or take)
* 1 small jar pizza sauce, or 2 cans tomato paste
* 3/4 cup chili powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 12 saltine crackers

Let's get started by chopping up our fresh ingredients. I'm dicing up 2 large onions, 4 bell peppers, and about 12 cloves of garlic...oh...and a seriously hot habenero pepper. I'm cooking over a fire, but you can obviously do this on the stove. If you're a wuss.

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Now I'm going to toss all of the chopped fresh ingredients into a large pot. I'm using a cast iron dutch oven that will hold a good amount of chili. I tossed in a stick of butter before the vegetables...butter makes it better. Do this over a high heat.

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Let the vegetables cook down a little bit so they're not raw and crunchy in the chili...adding about a teaspoon of salt will help extract the liquid from them faster.

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Once the onions, garlic, and peppers have softened up a bit - we can add our beef. I'm using 3lbs of very lean beef. This will let me cook the beef without having to drain off all that extra grease that is made from fattier ground beef mixtures.

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Cook it down until the beef has turned from pink to brown...

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And now for our canned stuff...

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I like to drain the liquid off of each canned item to make and even thicker chili...

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Give it all a stir...

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Now we'll add about 3/4 cup of chili powder...

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Stir it up...now we're starting to look like chili.

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I like to add some sort of thick sauce like pizza sauce or a couple cans of tomato paste to thicken it up even further. Remember, this is upside-down chili that needs to stick to a spoon upside-down for bragging rights...we're going for thick!

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Toss in a dozen or so crushed up saltine crackers for the final layer of thickness, give it a stir and we're set.

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Now just let it simmer for more of the flavors to come together...it's ready when you are.

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You want a taste?

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14 waggish utterances thus far...:

ginny said...

It looks delicious. I've always cheated with brooks chili beans, but now i'll have to try it your way.

Anonymous said...

oh yummy!! with the weather starting to cool in NE, you can bet that there will some chili on the stove. thanks for sharing the recipe!!

Mandy said...

Perfect! Please post more camp cooking recipes!

Mandy
www.homewithmandy.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

That looks awesome!

Ellyn said...

So did it stick?

UNCHEWABLE said...

now i am hungry lol

Paul said...

mmm mmm...love that Mysterio. Percolator anyone??

Ryan Allen Doan said...

this might give me some serious gas.

Sondre Lyn said...

Yum, Yum, YUM! I am SO making this recipe TOMORROW!!! Looks wonderful!

Thanks for posting the recipe! (And the "how-to" pics. I love that!)

Unknown said...

But where is the proof of the spoon with the chili upside down???

Looks really yummy. I'm doing soup in a breadbowl tomorrow night, maybe I should switch to chili.

mommyknows said...

Mmmm ... looks good. Pizza sauce is a new ingredient for me.

Great photos too. I love the 1st one.

Drew @ Cook Like Your Grandmother said...

Except for the beans, this is really close to my chili. Yours is probably hotter than that last batch I did, but then I want my wife to like it, too. I'd love to give yours a shot.

Oh, and Bonnie, did you make your own bread bowls. I did. And then put chili in them.

Looks like everyone's starting to break out the fall recipes. Loving it.

DeborahB said...

YUM! It's getting to be chili weather finally. I'll def make some of this. Thanks for the recipe and all your tutorials from P-Dub. We're all in love with her here at work.

Tami Weingartner said...

There is only one thing better than Chili made over a camp fire....Chili made w/Tones Chili Powder! That stuff rocks!