Favorite Chili

This is by far my favorite chili recipe!  I took some things I liked from a few of my past recipes and combined it to make the best chili ever!  It's thick and chunky and soothes the soul on a cold day!  

It has just a little kick if you put in a whole jalapeno, but I wouldn't say it's spicy.  If you'd rather not have that extra heat, you could just put in 1 tablespoon jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped. 

1 lb ground beef

2 onions or 1 extra large onion

1 cup green pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped  

1 (10 ounce) can Mexican-style tomatoes (Rotel - Mild Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilis)

1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce (or four 8 ounce cans tomato sauce)

1 quart homemade canned tomatoes, or store bought crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons cumin

2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 (14 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

Toppings - sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese

Cook ground beef with onions and peppers in a large cast iron pot or dutch oven.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drain excess grease and add the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 - 60 minutes.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

This is one of our favorite dutch oven desserts!  It is by far the best peach cobbler recipe that I have ever had.  The original recipe comes from a scouting magazine article and was created by H. Kent Rappleye, the International Dutch Oven Society president.  I just changed the flour to use gluten free flour, and added xanthan gum and it works great!

INGREDIENTS

2 cans (32oz) peaches

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup tapioca

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla

Topping

1 1/2 cups featherlight flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 pkg (3 oz) peach jello

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs, beaten

Sauce

1/4 cup featherlight flour

3/4 cup peach syrup

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp lemon zest

1/4 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Drain the peaches, setting the juice aside for later use. Mix together the peaches, brown sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla in the dutch oven.

2. Topping: Mix together the flour, xanthan gum, Jello, lemon zest, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until mixture becomes coarse. Add in the honey and eggs and stir into mixture. The mixture will be very coarse and thick.

3. Drop the topping by spoonfuls onto the peaches. It will look like dumplings. Cook for 45-50 minutes. Remove the dutch oven from the heat and allow cobbler to cool while making the sauce.

4. In a small Dutch oven, mix the flour and peach syrup until smooth; making sure there are no lumps. Add in the brown sugar, salt, butter, and zest. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often until the sauce thickens. remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the cobbler in the Dutch oven and serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Note:

•  I like to use the dutch oven liners shown in the picture below!  They make cleaning up so much easier!