Chili With a Lid

I served this casserole, which I made-up from leftover chili, at the first dinner party we ever hosted, a few weeks after we were married. That was a few weeks shy of six years ago now! It's always a hit. If you make the chili a bit on the mild side, but serve hotter salsas on the side, everyone can have the spice level they prefer. At that dinner party I also served a homemade tomatilla salsa verde. It turned out very well, but took hours. So now I buy salsa verde in jars at Trader Joes :)

Ingredients:

1 batch chili

2 boxes cornbread mix (Jiffy, or the store brand equivilant)

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375. Scoop chili (preferably from the day before - it actually tastes better the next day) into 13 x 9 pan. Heat in oven for about 30 minutes.

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Remove from oven:

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.Top w/ shredded cheddar:

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Combine cornbread mix, eggs and milk and pour over cheese.

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Return to oven. Start at about 25 minutes, then watch it until the cornbread top looks finished.

Chili

2 pounds ground beef, browned
1 pound each onion and bell pepper, chopped (or two pounds frozen mixture of the two - I get mine at BJs)
6 cans kidney beans (light, dark, or both)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce (just thick tomatoes, not seasoned)
1 jar salsa (or the last bits of three different types, as I did)
chopped garlic
juice of one lime

spices:
cilantro (approx 2 T)
cumin (approx 1 T)
oregano (approx 2 T)
ground red peppers: (chili powder, ancho, paprika, cayenne ...) (about 4T total of all types)
salt (1 T)
pepper(1T)
cocoa powder (yes, I said cocoa powder - it really makes a difference - add a tablespoon or so)

T = tablespoon

Combine all the ingredients in crockpot, and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve with shredded cheddar, topped with sour cream, and possibly salsa. I served this round with a simple corn pone - but it didn't turn out as well as I hoped, so I won't bother sharing the recipe. Corn chips or french bread are also good foils. A salad would be a nice side dish.

Don't eat it all today - tomorrow: one of my favorite casseroles, using this chili: Chili with a Lid