Jeb’s Chili

 

One of J’s favorite dishes is his father’s chili. It makes more than enough for three meals and a few lunches for us. Like most of our favorite meals, this one gets better the longer it simmers. It looks complicated, but I promise it’s easy and worth it.

Jeb's Chili

Ingredients
  

Base Ingredients:

  • 1 pounds and 1/2chili or stew beef you can also use ground beef if you want
  • 1 pound pork chop cut up or you can use ground pork
  • 2-3 green bell peppers chopped
  • 1-2 onions chopped

Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1 beer (any kind cheap is particularly good)
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder (REGULAR chili powder not ancho, not super, not hot. Trust me)
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 2 teaspoons ground chipotle we buy them whole and use a coffee grinder for this
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 to 1/2 d cup iced celery
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 can rotel or green chiles
  • lime juice as needed
  • 1 can rotel or green chiles
  • lime juice as needed

Instructions
 

  • Brown the meat.
  • Add the chopped bell peppers and onions and cook until desired caramelization.
  • In a separate pot make the sauce by adding the first 11 ingredients and simmering for about 45 minutes until smooth.
  • Then add the tomatoes and meat and peppers and onions. Simmer one to two hours.
  • Add 1 to 4 tablespoons massa flour to thicken if needed (most of the time we leave this step out).
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

My opinion: This is delicious with shredded Monterrey jack cheese, lime juice and tortilla chips. J prefers his with corn bread. It’s perfect for a cold winter’s night.

Homemade Mag Mud

In honor of tailgate season (and Mizzou’s first SEC game against Georgia!) I wanted to share one of our most favorite tailgate dips, Mag Mud.

In Austin, Texas, is the most amazing restaurant, Magnolia Cafe. My very, very dear friend B insisted (it didn’t take much!) we go there whenever I visited her and it was always packed and always delicious. Regardless of time of day or night, B and I always started with their famed Mag Mud. It’s surprisingly easy and if you make it in a crock pot, last well through a long tailgate.

Ingredients:
1-2 cans black beans, drained (or if you prefer to soak your beans, feel free to do that instead just make sure they’re ready to go)
1 package Velveeta Queso Blanco, cut into squares
1 can Rotel, drained (we used medium, but go with the level of spice you want)
2 avocados, sliced
1 cup pico de gallo (store bought is fine!)

Directions:
Put the black beans in the bottom of the crock put. Turn crock pot to high. Wait about 20 minutes and add the cubed Velveeta. Stir. Let Velveeta melt (about 15 to 20 minutes). Stir. Add the drained Rotel. Stir. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips by topping cheese with avocado slices and pico.
*Note: The time depends on your crock pot. Ours has three levels, keep warm (low), Low (medium) and high. If your dip is a bit too runny (or slides right off the chips!), you can thicken it by adding shredded Mexican Blend cheese. We used about a half cup.

My opinion:
The original Mag Mud is layered, this one isn’t. Other than that, I can’t think of a single thing wrong with it. So good!