First Foodie Friday!

Welcome to my first Foodie Friday post. This fun new event is hosted by the ever gracious Gollum at Designs by Gollum. We are all invited to a cyber potluck! To see what everyone else is bringing today, make sure to visit Gollum at
http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/


If you saw my Valentine's day swap post, you will remember that I mentioned a wonderful chili recipe that I found in Southern Lady magazine. I had not seen this publication before, and was so excited to discover it. It really has a wealth of wonderful decorating ideas, but more importantly (at least in this house) some really great recipes! This is probably one of the best chilis I've ever made or had, and considering that we live in Texas where chili is an art form, that's saying something.


Spicey Chipotle Chili (makes 8 servings)

Ingredients:
2 pounds lean ground beef or chili meat
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Cups chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 Cups water
2 (16 oz) cans hot chili beans, undrained
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce, minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1. In dutch oven, cook beef over med-high heat until browned. Remove meat from pan, drain and set aside.
2. In dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add reserved ground beef, water and remaining ingredients. Stir to combine well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cook covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Tip: PLEASE make sure to wear gloves or wash hands VERY well after dicing the peppers. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT forget and rub your eyes, bite your nails or do anything else silly while working with peppers, such as attempting to pet the cat. I'm speaking from personal experience here!

I always serve chili with green chili corn muffins. I'll be honest, I cheat and use a fantastic mix that I get at a little gourmet kitchen store here, but you can always chop up some canned green chilis and throw them into your favorite cornbread recipe.

Hope you enjoy this chili as much as we did. DH suffers from acid reflux, so we don't have spicy food every day. But some days he just says "it's a two purple pill day" and throws caution to the wind lol. This is fairly spicy, some might find it too hot, some might not think it's hot enough, but I'm going to play Goldilocks and says it's just right! Enjoy! Now stop by Gollum's place and see what everyone else is bringing to the party.