Hearty Beef Chili
Recipe Courtesy of April Stamm
Serves 4
1 lb lean ground beef (at least 85% lean)
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 large (28oz) can tomato sauce
1 small (14.5oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 small can (15oz) pinto beans
3 Tablespoon neutral oil
3 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground cumin
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 small red onion, finely chopped for garnish
2 cups shredded cheddar or colby-jack cheese
Salt
In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium low heat and sweat the chopped yellow onion with about 1 teaspoon of salt until soft. Increase the heat to medium high, season the ground beef with salt and 1 teaspoon of both the cumin and the chili powder. Add the ground meat to the onions and brown it. Do not drain the fat and juices released by the ground beef. Sprinkle the flour evenly onto the cooked meat and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Add the tomato sauce, chopped tomato and drained but not rinsed beans. Stir well to combine. Add all of the rest of the cumin and chili powder and the black pepper. Stir to combine. Bring the chili to a simmer and cook partially covered for 30 minutes to 2 hrs, stirring occasionally. The longer it cooks the better it will be.
Serve the chili topped with shredded cheese and finely chopped red onion. It’s also great served over pasta (chili mac) or over corn pancakes (basic cornbread batter thinned a little with milk until it is the consistency of pancake batter and cooked exactly like regular pancakes).
