Mom's Copycat Chilli

Chilli is a big thing in my family, so naturally I'm rather protective of it. My mom has books on the history of it, the varieties of it, the regional differences, and how to make it from scratch or "cheat" with prepared ingredients. She can make it on the stove, in the crock-pot, or (I'm sure) even on a campfire, and with the exception of a few people here or there, almost every guest we've had to our home has left with a stomach full of chilli and my great grandmother's cornbread at some point.  It's so much more than a family favorite. It's practically a legacy.

Having said that, however, I've a bit of a family secret to admit. Our chilli is... well... based on the Wendy's Chilli copycat recipe found in Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur. There! The secret is out! We're loud and proud of our chilli, even if it is modified from a fast-food copycat.  Try it and see - you just might be won over, too.  Why not try our cornbread as well?

Homemade Chilli

Serves: 10-12

2 lbs ground beef

1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste

2 (29 ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 (29 ounce) can kidney beans, with liquid

1 (29 ounce) can pinto beans, with liquid

1 onion, diced (medium to large size)

1/2 cup or 1 can diced green chillies

1/4 cup celery, diced (about 1 stalk)

3 medium tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cans, diced)

2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

2 cups waters

1. Brown beef in a large skillet and drain fat.
2. In a large soup pot, combine beef with the rest of the ingredients and bring to a gentle simmer.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring every 15-30 minutes, for 2-3 hours.
4. Serve with bread or crackers, sour cream and/or cheese to garnish.

Cooks' note: If you are using canned, diced tomatoes, keep an eye out for Rotelle which often has a blend with green chillies already in it. If you are using this, omit the green chillies from the recipe.

Great-Grandmother Mary's Cornbread

My great-grandmother was the most Southern woman I've ever known, with the exception of my own mother. She was everything to me that my grandmothers never were, and I'm so glad I had the luck to know her for almost 20 years, even if we didn't always understand each other.

Her name was Mary, and she was born on Christmas day.  She had two daughters, three grandchildren, and four to five great-grandchildren when she passed away over 90 years later on Valentine's day.  Those years were full of love, laughter, hardship, happiness, and perseverance.  Most of all, they were full of her smiling.

When she passed away and her daughters began divvying out her belongings, I asked for two things: her photo albums and her recipe books. They were some of her most cherished belongings, and I could not bear to see them lost or shelved somewhere they wouldn't be used and enjoyed.  Mary would've wanted to be remembered by her food and her escapades, I'm sure. That's just the sort of great-grandmother she was.

Mary and Henry

A family favorite of hers was her sour-cream cornbread, which both my mother and I still make to this day. We've differences of opinion on whether to use Greek yoghurt or sour-cream, but I like to think Mary would've tried either and enjoyed them.  (Her recipe books, after all, were written almost entirely in her own measurements and substitutions.) Mary was always up for something new, after all. Even if it meant wearing knee-high shorts in the early 1930s. The scandal!

Try this recipe with Mom's copycat chilli, while you're at it. They were made for each other, even if they were separated by a generation. 

Great-Grandmother Mary's Cornbread

Serves: 6-8

3/4 cup + 3 tbsp polenta flour or cornmeal

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

½ cup oil

8 oz sour cream (or Greek yoghurt)

16 oz corn, puréed (or 1 can creamed corn)

2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 425 and grease pan. 
2. Mix ingredients until just blended. Pour into pan. 
3. Cook in lower half of oven for 25-30 minute until set and lightly golden.

Cooks' note: If you are using self-rising cornmeal, omit the baking powder and use 1 cup of cornmeal. We haven't been able to find this in the UK, so we had to make our own self-rising cornmeal with polenta and baking powder. 

Indo-Caribbean Couscous

You get a slightly bastardized culinary palate when one spouse is from the south-eastern United States while the other is from south-eastern Britain.  Between us, we are quickly becoming hesitantly adept with blending Indian, Thai, Cajun, African, Middle-Eastern, and even Kosher flavors and methods into our respective English and American roots....  And Thankfully, it even works out as something edible more often than not!

Shortly after I moved to the UK, Solaris introduced me to the Reggae Reggae licensed products, and after a few misses involving near-destruction of our taste buds, we hit on a few mainstays. The following recipe was inspired by Mr Roots' signature British-Caribbean fusion but does not have any Reggae Reggae sauce or by-products, so (we hope) it can be made regardless of where our readers currently reside. Please enjoy!

Indo-Caribbean Couscous

Serving: 5

2 smallish garlic cloves

2 mild strength peppadew peppers, rinsed and finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp tamarind paste

½ tbsp sugar (or less, dependent on taste. 1/2 a tablespoon will not make this too sweet.)

200 grams couscous

300 ml hot water

1. Mix all ingredients but couscous with hot water.
2. Add to pan and return to boil.
3.  Add couscous, stir, and remove from heat when it begins to boil again.
4. Cover and leave at least 5 minutes.
5. Fluff gently with fork to serve.

Crock Pot Apricot Pulled Pork

On Solaris' first trip to visit my family and me, I'll admit it - we had a lot of fun exposing him to our South-Eastern American favorites. We did Cajun and Mexican, Chick-Fil-A, and (of course) Memphis-style Barbecue, among others.

When we moved to the UK, neither of us were particularly besotted with the variants of barbecue that were being sold here or there in various chain restaurants. None really compared to the Memphis and Western Carolina styles I'd been raised on and Solaris had become addicted to.  So we decided to find our own and circumvent England's BBQ interpretations. The following recipe is what we ended up with. It's a bit sweeter than it is savory but it's delicious all the same. 

Apricot Pulled Pork

Servings: 8 (at least)

3 – 3 ½ lb pork shoulder roast, boneless

10 oz jar apricot conserves 

1 cup barbecue sauce

½ cup chopped Vidalia onion (or regular)

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

8 Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns

1.  Lightly oil crock pot.
2. Trim fat from meat and place in cooker.
3. Combine conserves, barbecue sauce, onion, and apricots.  Pour over meat.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
5. Transfer meat to cutting board and gently shred the meat with two forks. Return to sauce, mix thoroughly, and serve on rolls or buns.