Chili Cornbread Bake (or, "Suck it, Rachel Ray part II")

My mother, godblessher, is not the greatest cook.  She can bake like the dickens but tends to recycle the same ten meals, all of which are definitely on the bland side.  A half teaspoon of cayenne in jambalaya will set her mouth ablaze.  She is a wuss.  It's not entirely her fault - her mother used plain old original Ragu for spaghetti night - weird, watery, and congealed with the slightest hint of red sauce were her noodles.  And speaking of noodles, Dad ate almost everything over noodles, he loved them so.  He'd even put ketchup, yes you read that right - Heinz Ketchup, on cold noodles and eat them like they were manna from heaven.  Consequently, pepper and salt were the only "taste" ingredients she used for most of her adult life.  And because of that, I never liked chili.  

In my early 20's, I started cooking.  Adding this spice, using that herb - 95% of the time, I received a good response.  While my brother was in the hospital, I'd make dinner for Dad a couple nights a week, and he eventually let it slip that he preferred my chicken & mashed potatoes over Mom's baked-at-400-for-an-hour-chicken-breasts and wallpaper paste taters (though we never told her).

When I was dating my now husband, I started tackling Mom's old recipes trying to improve upon them.  The Chicken Kiev I made from scratch is pretty much the reason why he proposed.  Stroganoff, for example, has become one of my husband's favorites.  Then I decided to take on chili.  I've smelled good chili at restaurants, so I knew it's not just tomatoes, 1 tsp of chili powder, ground beef & kidney beans despite my mother's attempts to make me believe otherwise.  

I searched recipe websites looking for the perfect chili.  Texans, apparently, make the best chili but I know you don't mess with Texas. (Never EVER insult a Texan's brisket - they'll kill you dead with their bbq-covered tongs)  I wanted to give it some kick - not quite like my chili con carne which requires 3 different peppers with varying degrees of heat, but something I could whip up in a cinch without making a supermarket stop.

Here's what I ended up with (just don't make the mistake of serving it as a Valentine's Day dinner like I did one year ~ not so romantic)

Nanner's Easy Chili

1 medium white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs canola oil

1 lb lean ground sirloin

1 can Bush's Chili Beans, medium sauce

1/2 jar salsa (I use Tostitos because it's pretty smooth) OR 1 can Ro-tel

Palmful chili powder (yes, it's a measurement dammit)

1 tsp cajun seasoning

2 tsp cayenne

2 tbs ketchup

3 or 4 shakes Worcestershire

3 tbs bbq sauce (we like Kraft honey barbeque)

1 tsp mustard

4 or 5 slices cooked bacon, crumbled  (crowning glory)

1. In a stockpot, mix together onion, garlic, and oil.  Sweat 'em all down until the onions become translucent, 4 -5 mins on medium heat

2. Add chili powder and cajun seasoning, combine to coat

3. Add beef and cook through

4. Dump everything else (except the bacon) on top, give it a few stirs, bring to a boil and then let simmer for 20-30 mins on medium-low heat.  The longer it simmers, the less watery it will be.

Sprinkle in the crumbled bacon, stir and serve.  We like it over egg noodles or with some Pepperidge Farm Original Goldfish Crackers.  Rice or cornbread works too.  Garnish with cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, chopped scallions - whatever blows your skirt up.  After the flavors meld in the fridge for a day, this tastes even better.  

This recipe serves 4 -6, but if you're not a leftovers-from-last-night person, like my husband grrr, then it will keep nicely in the freezer for up to 30 days.

So you come home from a long day and decide it's time to break out the chili when you realize you forgot to get scallions and crackers. Is there a way to enjoy chili sans fixings?  Hallelujah, there is!  It's called the CHILI CORNBREAD BAKE!

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 425.  Thaw the chili and throw it in the microwave to take the chill off or melt any remaining ice chunks.  It shouldn't be hot, just lukewarm.

2.  Mix up 2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix, but instead of using 2/3 cup milk, use 1/2 cup milk and 1 small can of creamed sweet corn.  Let it rest for a few minutes.

3.  In a greased cassarole dish, pour 2/3rds of the cornbread batter and spread evenly.

4. Dollop chili on top as evenly as possible, but don't mix in.

5. Sprinkle 3/4 cup shredded cheese over the chili.  I use chihuahua, cheddar & jack - whatever you prefer.

6. Dollop remaining cornbread batter on top 

7.  Turn the oven down to 400 and bake for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle another 1/2 cup shredded cheese on top and bake for another 7-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the edges of the cornbread brown slightly & start to pull away from the sides of the baking dish.

Let it rest for a few minutes, cut into portions with a spatula and have at!  My husband liked this so much, he told me to put it on "the list."  It ends up like a delicious bastardized version of lasagna.  (PS - Keep in mind that you can do this with any chili, your own secret recipe perhaps?, provided it's not very watery when you assemble the cornbread bake)