.chili con carne.

I'm embarassed to admit this, but I have never made my own chili. I know! But I conjure up images of my childhood when my mother would make chili and it was this really bland, boring mix of beans and meat. (Sorry mom!!!)

I finally got up the courage to try it for myself because we're trying to use up the stuff in our freezer... and I had a pound of hamburger in there. It turned out awesome. I will never EVER buy what I usually buy again.


Dice up two jalapeno chilies. If you want heat, leave the seeds and pith in. If you don't want it hot, cut out the pith. That's where the heat is.


Mince 2 cloves garlic.


Dice one medium onion. I used red onion because it's what I had on hand. I would have preferred white or yellow.


Take 1 pasilla chili (also referred to as chili negro) and cut into pieces.


Put in a spice grinder until all ground up.


Heat a little olive oil in a stock pot. Saute the onion, jalapeno, and garlic for a minute.


Add 1 Tbsp cumin


and the ground pasilla chili. Sauteing the spices first brings out the oils and giving your food rich, bold flavor. Saute for about 30 seconds.


Add 1 can diced green chilies and saute for another minute or two.


Add your ground beef. About 1 1/2 lbs.


Break the hamburger apart as it cooks. This is what it will look like once it's all cooked through.


I used three different kinds of beans for this. You can use all of one, or mix it up like I did. Don't drain the beans. Add them all with their liquid to the pot.


And finally add 1 can of diced tomatoes. I used the spiced tomatoes that have chili spices in it.

Let this cook on your stovetop on low for 2-3 hours. This allows all of the flavors to marry together.

If you want to crock pot this, add everything to the crock once the beef has browned. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper!

Serve with crackers and cheese. Pickled jalapeno slices would be awesome on top too.