Easy Chili Recipe

I'm pleased to introduce today's vintage apron...

Her name is Margrita Mama!

She's perfect for baking chocolate chip cookies in...

Or drinking margaritas!

Wearing a sombrero optional!

You can find her at http://www.rickrackattack.com/ in a few days.

I am in the process of listing

over 70 vintage aprons

For a sneak preview, go here

I chose to introduce you to Margarita Mama today because I'd like to share some stories & pictures with you about my Dad. And my Dad's infamous Mexican chili recipe!

Here is how I rememeber my Dad best...

The Barley Sisters with Dad Barley, circa 1975

Looking back, my sister & I were such tomboys! We were always rough housing with Dad. He was always such a good sport about it too!

My Dad served in the National Guard for several years in the 1970s...

Me & Dad Barley (1971)

Growing up, my sister & I thought our Dad was the best cook ever! (Sorry, Mom!) We figured that he must have picked up this talent in the National Guard. Here he is hard at work, serving up lots of good food for all the troops...

Dad Barley (1973)

Dad even got his picture in the paper!

Growing up, my Mom & Dad usually shared the kitchen duties. Mom loved to bake in huge quantities. My favorites were her banana bread & her chocolate chip cookies! And I will share those recipes with you soon. But, today's post is about one of our favorite dishes growing up... Dad's homemade chili!

Now, of course there is a story to go with this recipe! Somehow, even though both my parents enjoyed baking & cooking, none of their culinary talents rubbed off on me initially. When I married Paratrooper Man, my cooking repetoire only included Spaghetti-O's and hot dogs. And I even occasionally messed those up!

As newlyweds, I desperately tried to cook fabulous meals for my new honey. Unfortunately, this typically ended in disaster! I once decided that if I kept the meal incredibly simply, it surely would turn out delicious, or at the very least, edible! I chose tacos for the main entree & lime Jell-O for the dessert. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Nope. My family still tells the story of how I burnt the taco shells BLACK and in an effort to speed-set the Jell-O, I froze it SOLID! Basically, I sucked at cooking!

A few weeks after the taco & Jell-O incident, Paratrooper Man got the bright idea to invite the neighbors over for supper. Misery loves company, I guess! At the time, we were stationed overseas in Vicenza, Italy, so I called home long distance (at $3.00/minute!) in a desperate attempt to glean as much culinary expertise as I could from my parents. (By the way, I'm working on some stories about Italy. Theyre going to be fun!) So, Dad suggested I make chili. He said chili was hard to mess up. Apparently, he did not realize who he was talking to!

I carefully wrote down the recipe & headed off to the commisary. I meticulously picked out the ingredients, agonizing over which canned tomato brand was best and which color pepper he meant for me to use. As I worked my way down the list, I got to the kidney beans.

Hmm... there is dried beans in a bag and there is cooked beans in a can. I wonder which I'm supposed to use. This was definitely the pre-cell phone era and, like I said, international calls were $3/minute in 1993. I was on my own. I'd have to figure this one out for myself. I pondered this for quite some time, there in the bean aisle. Finally, I came up with a logical solution. I'll just get whichever is cheaper. The dried beans in the bag went into my commisary cart.

Back at home, as I was reading Dad's chili recipe, I realized I was mighty pressed for time. Better get this stuff on the stove, I thought. As I read the instructions for cooking the dried beans, I decided that surely the beans would cook as the chili simmered. So, into the pot they went.

Once everything was in the pot, I had more important things to do than check on the progress of my homemade delight. I flitted around our little apartment cleaning up. All the while, the apartment deceptively filled with the delicious aroma of my Dad's chili recipe. It seemed I'd finally done something right!

The neighbors arrived and marveled at how delicious supper smelled. After some chit-chatting and enjoying each other's company, I declared that dinner must be ready by now. I proudly brought the chili pot to the kitchen table & began serving it up. Ben was the first to take a bite.

The look on his face was... hmm, I don't know what word to use... perplexed? maybe, confused? Why were there pebbles in his food, he must have thought!

Mortified. That is a good word to describe how I felt when I realized that dried beans do NOT cook while simmering in the chili. Pretty much the same way I felt when I found out the ugly truth about girl cows. Sensing my complete & utter embarassment, Ben began declaring "It's OK. I really love chili cooked this way. This is so good! I think I'll have Sharon make some just like this sometime. Sharon, honey, get the recipe from her. Wow, this is great!" He kept going on & on. He ate the whole bowl, insisting the whole time that it was wonderful. What a great sport he was! But, it was horrible & I knew it! The rest of us filled up on Frito chips, Saltine crackers & slices of Kraft American cheese.

Well, I am happy to report that I have since figured out how to make Dad's chili. Hint: Use the cooked kidney beans in the can. It's worth the extra pennies! Actually, I have tinkered with the recipe so much over the years, that my version is probably pretty different from Dad's. However, I still wish to give him credit for it. After all, he was my inspiration.

...So, get to the recipe already, would ya'?!...

Let's start with the veggies.

You'll need some peppers (any color will do), a clove of fresh garlic & an onion...

This could possibly be the coolest picture I have conjured up yet! Is that not the best?! You get it, right? The veggies are in the Chiquita lady's hat! Clever, clever! OK, I digress. That adult ADD will get ya' every time!

So, you're gonna dice up all those veggies & a single clove of garlic...

And add them to 1.5 pounds of ground beef in the frying pan.

Notice how you can't see throuh the veggies... they're opaque.

Cook on medium heat until the ground beef is browned and the veggies are translucent.

Sorta like this...

Can't see what I'm talking about? OK, let's look closer...

Notice how the veggies are all see-through now... Means theye're done!

Time to add the spices...

Suit to your taste, but we like...

2 tbsp chili powder, 1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes & 1/4 tsp of salt or meat tenderizer

(Its spicy enough for Paratrooper Man, but mild enough for the girls)

Add 1 can kidney beans, 1 can tomatoes & for some kick, a few jalapenos

Isn't that a purty picture?

Really, it's just this stuff!

Now, it's time to add the liquid.

Hey, who drank the beer?!

Go get another can of beer. Any brand or any flavor will do.

Or you can just use water if you drank all the beer.

We like good ol' Budweiser.

You will also need about 1.5 cups of tomato or veggie juice.

Again, any brand or any type will do.

We like V8 juice.

Simple as can be...

Throw it all in a big pot & simmer on the stove for awhile.

Or you can cook in the crockpot while you're away at work.

Or while you're at your flamenco dance lesson... Or however it is that you spend your time!

Here's another hint: Spray the crockpot with a cooking spray, like PAM, before putting all the ingredients in. It makes clean-up so much easier! Your man will thank you since he is the one doing dishes, right? Don't forgot to vote for my very important & scientific poll- Should men wash dishes? Go here for details.

Either way, it will come out super yummy!

You can top it with shredded cheese. Or we like eating it with Fritos corn chips.

Sorta like this...

Thanks Dad!