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In response to
"Hey, while you're here, can you help me with something?"
by
kelly
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Hrmmm.
Posted by
Trish (aka Trish)
Nov 3 '08, 13:15
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Depending on how "saucy" you want it to be, use either 2 14 ounce or 3 six ounce. Lately, I've been using 3 6 ounce and one small can of tomato paste. Then I add 3 cans of water (using one of the empty sauce cans). Also, I put in one can of strong leftover coffee. (This old lady at church told me to do that years ago and it adds this kind of indescrible oomph to it, it's great.) After you've browned and drained your onions and meat, make sure to drain them well in a colandar and set aside. I use a big calphalon pot and brown my meat/onions and cook the chili all in the same pot--easy cleanup. Anyway, while the meat is draining, I put the tomato sauce, water, coffee, spices, and a couple of bittersweet chocolate squares in the pot and lt it come to a slow boil. I add the meat and onions back in, bring it back to a boil, turn the heat down to low, put a lid on it and basically ignore it for about an hour--other than to stir a couple of times. You can use either masa flour or cornstarch to thicken. I use 2-3 tablespoons of either, put it in a measuring cup and add enough (*cold*) water to make 3/4 of a cup. Stir it up completely, if you don't you'll have lumps. Take the lid off your pot, turn the heat back up, let it return to a boil, then swirl in your thickening mixture a bit at a time. It just takes a couple of minutes to start working, the chili will take on sort of a glossy look right before it starts to "gel". Just keep at a low boil constantly stirring until you've hit the thickness you like. Don't forget the grated cheddar on top and cornbread. :)
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