Sue Anne's Chili

David loves his mom's chili above all other chilies. It is one of the recipes he requested that I get from his mom when we first got married. Her Chili, Chicken Divan, and London Broil are at the top of his comfort food list. This is the only recipe I have down so far. Sorry Dave. Sue Anne, I need to get those other recipes from you some time. Holla.

Sue Anne's Chili is simple and delicious. It is slightly soupier than most chilies that I have tried and it has lots and lots of tomatoes in it. I love it. The temperature dropped below 90 degrees here this week, so that means it is chili time.

You are going to want to make Sue Anne's Chili this weekend. It is a perfect fall meal. I'll show you how.

Sue Anne wrote the recipe down for me. I gave her these little chicken recipe cards...Sue Anne loves chickens...and then she sent me a recipe written on one. That's good Karma folks.

I guess now is as good of a time as any to tell you that Sue Anne's name is really Susan. Says it right there on the card. I just call her Sue Anne. I'm not really sure why. No one else calls her that. I didn't feel right calling her Mom or Susan or Mrs. Dark, so I just made up something else to call her. She didn't seem to mind. It takes special people to deal with me.

I'm a nickname-er by nature. Can't help it.

I call David's dad Foy Daddy.

 Again, not his name.

This is Sue Anne's recipe, but I make it a little bit different. I promise you that it is not out of rebellion against my mother in law or that I think I could do it better, but just out of personal preference and laziness. I adjusted the recipe so I only have to use one pot.

Here's what you'll need:

3 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes

3 28 ounce cans of pinto or kidney beans (personal preference)

3 cans of Rotel

1.5 to 2 pounds of lean ground beef

1 large onion

1 large bell pepper

4 or 5 cloves of garlic

chili powder

garlic salt

You also need a giant pot, because as Sue Anne's recipe states, this makes A LOT of chili. The first time I made it, I was combining all of my ingredients in the largest pot I had and ended up having to cut everything off and go out to buy a bigger pot.

This pot. My chili cookin' pot.

First, dice your onion, bell pepper, and 4 or 5 cloves of garlic. Did you know that you can buy frozen onion and bell pepper that is already all chopped up? Well, you can. I keep both in my freezer just in case I don't have any fresh. Or if I don't feel like chopping or crying over onions. Sometimes I use jarred minced garlic, too. It will be just as good. Don't fret. Just don't tell your foodie friends.

Put the ground beef, onion, pepper, and garlic in your BIG pot on medium high heat until the meat is brown and the onions are tender and translucent. Add a good sprinkling of garlic salt to the mix while it's cooking and you're breaking up your meat. I never cook ground beef without onions...NEVER. It makes the meat taste so much better.

Let the meat get really done. This will add some depth to the chili. The brown burn-y stuff that sticks to the bottom is what makes it slap-yo-mama-in-law good.

I would never slap you, Sue Anne. I promise. But it is good.

Now let's add the tomatoes and Rotel. Now here's Sue Anne's super secret trick to deliciousness. For every can of tomatoes and Rotel that you add, fill that can half full of water and also add that to the chili. Got that?

**Every can of tomato or Rotel + half of that can of water **

Also add the three cans of beans now. Fill only two of those cans half full of water and add it to the pot. See, Sue Anne has this down to a science!

Give everything a good stir and turn the heat up to high...we want to get this boiling!

I've probably called Sue Anne 40 times about this next step. It always makes me nervous, but it's what makes this chili so good. We are going to add half to two thirds of this bottle of chili powder to the pot. Just do it. Trust Sue Anne. She knows what she's doing.

It's ain't called "chili" for nothing.

It's a lot of chili powder. If you have just a small bottle of chili powder (one of the short ones), go ahead and add the whole dag gum thing.

Stir it up and it will turn a wonderful dark chili pepper red. Even with all of this chili powder, this chili recipe is surprisingly mild.

Bring the chili to a boil, stirring often to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the big pot.

Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for AT LEAST one and a half hours. I cook mine with the lid on for half the time and then with the lid off for the rest of the time, to let the liquid cook down a little.

The longer this cooks the better it tastes! So go outside and play with these guys for while. Take a walk. Clean your house. Watch your Netflix. What ev's.

Now, I like to eat chili with cornbread, but since this is David's favorite and his mom's recipe, I'll show you how he eats Sue Anne's chili.

He starts with a basic bowl of delicious chili. Mmmmm...you could stop right here. This chili can stand on it's own two feet.

Next, he adds a dollop of sour cream...sometimes several dollops. You have to watch Dave.

Then he tops it off with a heaping helping of sharp cheddar cheese and a side of Fritos. Yes, Fritos.

He puts them on the side so they do not get soggy, then adds them to the chili a few at a time while he's eating. He's an expert.

I'd never had the pleasure of eating Fritos in my chili before I met Dave. I doubted it at first, but now I'm a believer.

Invite everyone on the block over and make Sue Anne's chili this weekend. You will not regret it.

And go ahead and have the Fritos, too. It's the proper way to eat it.

Melissa

Sharing this recipe with friends at:

The Shabby Chic Cottage