Chili dogs

Yay chili dogs! One of my favorite things. I saw this recipe for a thicker chili in Pioneer Woman's cookbook that I now own. So I tried it out!

Ground beef, chili powder, ground oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, tomato sauce, garlic. Not pictured, cumin, because I forgot to bring it over. Onion powder because I like it. And that yellow stuff in the hello kitty bowl is masa. Corn flour! You'll see what that's for later.

Ground beef and garlic in a pot. Cook it! I used medium to medium high heat. Man it smelled good.

Once the meat is browned and drained of fat, add your tomato sauce, and all your spices.

Mix it up and turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally. If it seems like it's getting dry, add 1/2 cup of water at a time as needed.

After the hour is up, mix your masa with 1/2 cup of water until nice and smooth. Pour some into your chili!

This not only thickens the meat and gives it a beautiful consistency but the corn flavor it gives is wonderful.

This is the point where you could add beans or a can of rotel or more masa or whatever if you wanted. I added a lil more of my masa mix and left it alone. Next time I'd add some rotel. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Delicious!

I made some hot dogs and grated some sharp chedder and voila.

Yum! I definitely liked it. But I wouldn't make it my go to chili for eating with a spoon. Maybe I have mom's chili on the brain. I should get her to give me the recipe sometime.

Anyway here is this one! I halved the recipe when I made it.

Simple Chili (original recipe from Pioneer Woman)

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano (I just took my dry oregano and crushed the heck out of it until it was more ground up)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of masa (corn flour, found in the mexican food section of many supermarkets)

1) Begin by measuring out your spices if you wish.

2) Place the ground beef and garlic in a large pot. Cook the beef until brown over medium to medium high heat. When fully cooked, drain the excess fat.

3) Pour in the tomato sauce, followed by all the spices and salt.

4) Stir together well, cover and reduce heat to low. Keeping the pot covered, simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes overly dry, add in 1/2 cup of water at a time as needed.

5) After an hour, place the masa in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of water and stir together with a fork. Dump the masa mixture into the chili.

6) Stir together well. Taste, adjust seasonings, and add more masa paste and/or water to get the chili to your desired consistency or to add more corn flavor. Add some beans, jalapenos and tomatoes if desired. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Mom is coming in to visit tomorrow. It's gonna be a long week! But I should at least make a few things to post. Maaaaybe.