Chili

Oh no!! I don't have a recipe for this one, but you can see from my ingredient picture what I used. I did not use the whole large can of tomato juice, I only used 3/4 of it. I love to make chili. It is another food item that I just dump together, and I never use the same ingredients. In this batch of chili I added chopped celery. I chopped up at least a cup of each (celery and onion) and browned with a little over 2 pounds of ground chuck. I never drain the grease off my chili meat because it adds more flavor to the pot. When my meat is done browning I add the chili seasoning mix, and let that simmer for a little while before adding my diced tomatoes, assortment of beans, and tomato juice.

There are so many things you can do with chili. If there are left-overs you can make chili dogs, Cincinnati style chili (my favorite), chili mac, etc...

I have so many chili stories from when I was a kid. My dad used to have camping outings with his coworkers and their families. Everyone brought an ingredient to make fire pot chili (cooked over the fire). Sometimes they got carried away and the chili was so spicy hot that it couldn't be eaten. That was my theory as a kid anyway. I will always remember the fun times we had.

Just to touch base on my favorite kind of chili (Cincinnati Style) here is a tid-bit of information.

Cincinnati is the most chili-crazed city in the United States. Cincinnati brags about being a true chili capital, with more than 180 chili parlors. A true Cincinnati chili has a thinner consistency and is prepared with an unusual blend of spices that includes cinnamon, chocolate or cocoa, allspice, and Worcestershire. The people of Cincinnati use the chili mixture spooned over freshly made pasta and topped with a combination of chopped onions, shredded cheddar cheese, re-fried beans or kidney beans, and crushed oyster crackers. This is truly the official grub of Cincinnati.

Yes, there was an inventor of the Cincinnati Style Chili. His name was Tom Kiradjieff. He was a Macedonian immigrant. He created this chili in 1922 with his brother John. They opened a Greek restaurant called the Empress. The restaurant did poorly however, until Tom started offering a chili made with Middle Eastern spices. He called it his "spaghetti chili." It was a mound of spaghetti topped with chili, chopped onion, kidney beans, and shredded yellow cheese, served with oyster crackers and a side order of hot dogs topped with more shredded cheese.

To make things simple, I top a mound of spaghetti with my left-over chili, and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top. Wallah....Cincinnati Style Chili.

Good Luck~Happy Eating~Enjoy