Mike's Chili (Whoever Mike Is!)

This recipe won the chili cookoff in the Silver Pines Ward years ago.   I believe Mike McLemore made it, but the recipe was provided by Cindy (Richardson?)

Chili is so easy to make for the wonder oven.  Just make it up, let it boil with the lid on for 15 minutes to get it to a safe temperature, and then put it in the wonder oven until you're ready to eat.  It will continue to keep it hot, which means it continues to cook and simmer in all the yummy spices.  I've made this recipe before and then put the whole wonder oven, inside a plastic tub with a lid, of course, and headed to Dallas to meet family.    It's a 4 hour drive, and we ate about 2 hours after we arrived.  The lid was still too hot to touch.

Here's the recipe:

2 lbs ground beef
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped (I use dehydrated)
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder (I used 1 Tbsp cayenne - and it's got a kick to it)
1 large can tomatoes
1 small can tomatoes with chilies (Rotel)
1/4 cup water
2 tsp each:  salt, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, cocoa, ground cumin, oregano)
2 cans kidney beans (I used 1 can kidney and 1 can of black beans)

I've been told that I rarely use the exact ingredients, and that's okay.  At least I'm sharing the variations with you.

Brown the ground beef in oil.  Add onion and cook until it turns clear.  Add remaining ingredients, and then put the lid on your pot.  Let it boil for 15 minutes and then put it in the wonder oven.

It's delicious!

Sometimes I'll stir in a bit of sour cream or even shredded cheese.  If the chili is too spicy for you, this will tone it down just a bit.  Dairy does that.


Note:  After making it, I see that cayenne and chili powder are not the same thing.  Chili powder is a combination of cayenne with cumin and other spices.  Oops!  No wonder it's got a kick.