kruizing with kikukat

Monday, May 14, 2012

Phoenix Chili

In light of my recent trip to San Antonio, this week's featured recipe celebrates the flavors of the southwest.  San Antonio is known as the birthplace of chili, so this is truly a fitting post.

Phoenix Chili is based on a recipe given to me by a friend.  The original recipe used beef instead of chicken, and when I made it, it was unreal salty.  I liked the saucy quality of the chili, something I've been trying to make for years.  After a few changes, I came up with what I consider the perfect chili.

This chili is great eaten over rice with a small scoop of mayonnaise on the side (Hawaii style, which I'm sure some people would find gross) or atop a red hotdog (another Hawaii thing).  I'm sure it would also make a great contribution to mound of tortilla chips.  I like my chili topped with shredded cheese and served with a chunk of sweet cornbread.

If you are pressed for time (or lazy) and cannot possibly throw this recipe together, Don's Grill makes the best chili in Hilo.  Don's chili tastes very similar to this recipe, except they use ground beef.  Their chili is available for sale by the quart (good idea to pre-order if you need gallons), and you can get it hot or cold (if you are serving it later and want the convenience of heating it up when you are ready).  You can always order a bowl of it off the menu too. . .and, yes, they will gladly give you a scoop of mayonnaise on the side (Best Foods, of course).


 click on recipe title for printable recipe
Phoenix Chili

     2 lbs ground chicken
     1 small onion, chopped
     vegetable oil
     1 small can tomato paste
     2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
     1 (15 oz) can tomatoes
     2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
     2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
     2 tsp sugar
     2 packets chili mix (Schilling or Lawry)
     2 (15 oz each) kidney beans

Brown ground chicken and onions is a small amount of vegetable oil.  Drain.  Add all ingredients except beans. If using whole canned tomatoes, break up with kitchen shears or smash with a spoon.  Simmer for 1 hour.  Add beans and simmer an additional hour.

Note:  Blue corn chips in the pictures are the Archer Farms brand, available at Target stores.  In a foodie magazine taste test, Archer Farms organic tortilla chips garnered "best buy" honors, second only in flavor to some multi-grain Doritos costing over $2 more per bag.  I found the chips to be light and crunchy and not overly salted.  Although I've made several references to saltiness in this post, I need you to know that I am not sodium-phobic, but some things are just too dang salty.

About my trip. . .I spent 6 nights in San Antonio, staying at the Marriot RiverCenter Hotel.  Overall, I enjoyed Texas.  The food was delicious, and I was able to see my friend Badman Jose.

I took my Nex on the trip, expecting to come home with kick-ass pics.  Unfortunately, something bad happened the day I arrived, which I didn't find out about until I got home when I uploaded the pics to my computer.  Many of my pics had a strange haze in one area.  I was worried it might be the sensor, but The Help noticed grease smudges (likely carried out of the Salt Lick) on the uv lens filter.  The Help cleaned the filter and the hazy spot magically disappeared.  Sheeeeiiittttt!!! 

Anyway, I made a short slideshow of my trip (yes, with the greasy lens pics), so please be sure your speakers are turned on.  I love the song!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
This free picture slideshow created with Smilebox

No comments:

Post a Comment