Mouser-Style Chili

Chili is sometimes a poorly-defined dish. Growing up in Minnesota, I only ever had my dad's chili recipe and to me it was just "chili." When I moved out to New Mexico, "chili" meant something else entirely and usually came in red or green. The chili I was used to was referred to as "Texas-style chili." This is further confused, however, by the fact that Texans themselves refer to Texas-style chili as a specifically beanless chili incorporating chunks of steak rather than ground beef.

So I don't know what this is. Let's call it Mouser-Style Chili.

This is another in a series of dinners I cook that are really easy to make and don't take very much effort. Although I enjoy cooking, by the time I come back from a day at work I'm usually too pooped for a big ordeal. This dish is a nice comprimise of laziness and yuminess.

I must warn you that to the average mortal, this recipe will seem very hot. To make a more mild chili, do one or more of the following:

  • Substitute a 14 oz. can of regular diced tomatoes for the Rotel tomatoes.
  • Exclude the green chiles.
  • Reduce the cayenne pepper (try half a teaspoon instead)
  • Reduce the chipotle pepper (though this is less hot than the cayenne)

    • Ingredients:

    Instructions:
    In a deep 10" saucepan, saute the garlic and oil on high for about one minute.
    Toss in the cayenne pepper, cumin, chipolte pepper, and half of the chili powder. Stir constantly just long enough for the spices to get well mixed with the oil.
    Add the beef and stir constantly until the beef is thouroughly browned, well mixed with the spicy oil, and broken up into little bits. Drain the beef [the oil will be bright orange and you'll feel good about yourself for removing it].
    Add all of the canned products, the corn, the sugar, and the remainder of the chili powder and stir until well mixed. It will be rather watery.
    Cover the pot and let the chili boil down for about 15 minutes. At this point, you can either add the flour and stir or let it continue to boil down for another 15 or so minutes to achieve the desired thickness. I opt for the flour, because it's much faster and doesn't result in significantly different-tasting chili. You can also add additional spices to taste. I find that another ½ tsp each if chili powder and cumin usually do the trick.
    There you have it! This recipe will feed about 4-6 people, depending on appetite. Makes great leftovers!