Friday, November 14, 2014

Cheeseburger Chili

Good evening everyone,

This is Stephanie from Kicken Confections about to post a recipe done at the last minute and it coming out very delicious. We all know how the cheeseburger soup has become very popular this days and I was actually going to try a slow cooked version of it from Pinterest but that didn't turned out as I wanted. I had all the vegetables, stock, and spices ready in the slow cooker, set it up on high and I left to let it cook for 4 hrs. Yeah that was a fail. I never realized the slow cooker was not plugged in so 3 hrs later I go to taste it to see if it needed anything else, yeah.... no it was still raw.

So after almost blowing a fuse for not paying attention, being 4:30PM, to late to cook it for 4 hrs in the slow cooker, I decided to throw everything on a pot and cook it that way. I say that was the best decision I made. It was literally ready to eat by 5:30 PM. So the reason I call it Cheeseburger chili is because of the consistency. Its as stick as chili, and I added a touch of hot sauce to give it that little kick in the back of the throat. I've had cheeseburger soup before and not to brag or anything, but this version is awesome.

Cheeseburger Chili

 Ingredients:
- 2 Lb uncooked beef, 80/20 (80% beef, 20% fat)
- 1 Whole onion
- 4 red skin potatoes, peeled and medium diced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced.
- 4 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup Half and Half, warmed
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 1/4 cup sour cream
-  2 cups Velveeta  shredded cheese
- 1-8 oz extra sharp cheese, cubed
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- 3 tomatoes, seeded and medium diced. 
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp A1 sauce
- 1 can of mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp dry oregano
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp dry mustard powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp of Franks Red Hot Sauce
- Salt and Pepper TT (to taste)

Procedure:
1) Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, chicken stock, oregano, cumin, dry mustard powder, and garlic powder to a pot, and bring to a boil. Once it boils, bring it down to a simmer, about 30 min.

2) In a saute pan, add a little bit of oil, when the pot is nice and hot, brown the ground beef, season with salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and A1. Strain and add the meat to the vegetables and cook for 10 minutes. Clean pan to use later.

3) As that cooks, in another pan, add the  4 Tbsp of olive oil, 1/4 cup of flour and mix until a paste forms and there are no lumps. Add the warm milk mixture and whisk until it starts to thickened and boil for 10 seconds.

4) Add the milk mixture to the beef and veg mixture, add the sour cream and stir. Reduce the heat to low and add the shredded cheese and the cubed of cheese, stirring occasionally to not let the dairy products scorch. 

5) In the pan you cooked the beef, add a small about of oil, and saute the mushrooms. After they start to brown, add the lettuce and tomatoes. Add a small amount of water so the lettuce doesn't crisp up and cook until the water reduces.

6) Add the mushroom mixture to the chili mixture, add the hot sauce and stir, bringing it back to a boil. 

7) Once it boils, turn off the heat and is ready to serve. 

Top with anything your heart desires. We used croutons  but I've heard some people like to use tortilla chips.
Also, remember you can always change up the spiced to your taste, and just like chili, it does taste even better the next day.

One more tip: remember to taste as you go. I was afraid to add salt since most stocks come already season and if I didn't taste it after adding the cheese, my product would have been bland. Always taste as you go.