Kindergarten Chili Cook-Off

Blue Ribbon Camp Chili

This simple but delicious chili recipe was one I created for my youngest son’s (Snake) Kindergarten Chili Cook-Off. Of course, it contained absolutely no peppers, onions or other vegetables (hey, I was trying to appeal to the K palette).

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef (I actually used ground sirloin)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

One 8-oz can tomato sauce

2 T chili powder

1 t cumin

2 t ground dried Mexican oregano

2 t salt

1 T Montreal Steak seasoning

1 T Smoked Paprika

1 T Hershey’s Ground Chocolate

¼ t cayenne pepper

¼ cup Masa Harina (corn flour)

One 15-oz can kidney beans

½ lime, juiced

Place the ground beef in a large pot and throw in garlic. Cook until browned. Drain off excess fat. Transfer to slow cooker. Pour in tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, steak seasoning, paprika, chocolate and cayenne. Depending on consistency, you might need to add water. Let simmer in slow cooker for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

After one-hour, place masa harina in small bowl and add ½ cup water and stir. Dump mixture into chili. Stir together and adjust seasoning to taste. Add more masa to get to preferred consistency. Add beans and lime juice and simmer until ready to eat. Serve with your fixins (we used cheese and Fritos).