Hearty Beef Chili

Some of the cooks in this kitchen will admit — they are guilty of not only going off script while in the kitchen, but also not making the same recipe the same way twice.

Lately, I have started making notes of what went well, what didn't work, and so on. This helps me remember because like I just mentioned- a recipe really never gets made the same way twice around here.

Take chili for example — talk to anyone and they will have FEELINGS about their chili. White or red. Beans or no beans. Pasta or no pasta. Or this odd one — peanut butter sandwich or cinnamon roll (yes, that's real...). These are all worthwhile debates.

But one choice is always clear in this kitchen — our chili will always have meat!

But what kind we use is ever-changing. Some of our Fischer Farms Team have weighed in on their perfect Hearty Beef Chili blends and one unexpected answer may surprise you.

Here are a few great ideas to "beef" up your next chili supper:

• You can't go wrong adding a pound of pork sausage to your chili — choose from one of many here
• A bit of bacon chips — why not?
• A lean ground round? Get a few pounds here
• Traditional ground beef is always our go-to
• Have you tried a bit of diced tri-tip?
• Team member Heath SWEARS by his chili recipe — he uses our ground beef heart and says it's the best recipe he has and gives anything he cooks an awesome, beefy taste!

This Hearty Beef Chili recipe is a great base and very simple.

Cook your onions, peppers, then garlic in a heavy stock pot until just soft but not too soft, on medium heat. Add a pinch of coarse salt to help it along.

Scoot it to the side of the pot and add your ground meat. Dust with a bit of chili powder, salt, and cumin. Stir to combine and completely cook through at medium to high heat.

Add in the beans, pasta, diced green chili's, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and beef stock. Stir to combine.

Place the lid on and reduce heat to medium to low. Stir every 5 or so minutes to prevent it from sticking.

Test the pasta for firm doneness and taste to season. At this point you should add the desired amount of chili powder, cumin, or if you like it- cilantro. People have feelings about cilantro!

Reduce to low and serve when you are ready but do not allow to overcook.

Note: this can easily be made in a slow cooker- but you will need to add in COOKED meat, the rest of the ingredients can be uncooked.

Leftovers? Split into small freezer-safe containers and freeze for later eating!