Food Giraffe's Recipe O'the Month

Chili! Food Giraffe Loves Chili! I'm going to release a family secret...The Food Giraffe Family Chili Recipe. It's a amazingly delicious- ground beef, onion, chili powder, tomatoes and kidney beans all living in a giant pot in perfect harmony. Oh yes... Food Giraffe's chili is good enough to eat by itself in large quantities or added to scrambled egg for breakfast, on the top of hot dogs for lunch, or solo again for a midnight snack! By the way it's also won every chili competition it's ever entered. Yeah...bring it on! :-)

Ingredients:

Meat

2 ½ lbs. Ground Chuck

Veggies

2 cups Onion chopped

3 cloves Garlic chopped

1 Green Pepper chopped*

*For Spicy Chili replace Green Pepper with the following:

2 Habanero Peppers

1 Anaheim Pepper

1 Poblano Pepper

Canned

2lbs. Whole Tomatoes (un-drained)

16 oz. Tomato Sauce

6 oz. Tomato Paste

1 can Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed)

Dry

1 ½ tsp.  Cumin

1 Tbl.  Sugar

3 Tbl.  Chili Powder

2 tsp. Salt

1 ½ tsp. Dried Oregano

1 tsp. Dried Basil Leaves

¼ tsp. Crushed Red Pepper

1 Bay Leaf


Recommended Condiments:
Avocado
Lime
Tortilla Chips
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Instructions:
Step 1 - Meat!!!
Sauté beef over medium heat. When cooked, drain fat as best as possible.
Step 2 - Taking a trip to flavor country
Add onion, green pepper, garlic, chili powder, oregano, basil, cumin, and red pepper. Mix well and cook until onion and green pepper are tender.
Step 3 - The Red Stuff
Stir in sugar, salt, tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.
Step 4 - Busta Tomater
Bring to a boil, stir and break up the tomatoes with a fork.
Step 5 - Let it congeal
Reduce heat slowly to a simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened and flavors are blended (~40 minutes.)
Step 6 - Get ready to eat!
Add beans, simmer, covered for 10 minutes and serve.  Add your favorite toppings, might I suggest my personal favorite hot sauce Ass-Kickin' Hot Sauce.