Shhhhhh . . . Secret Sauce Chili

Rain, rain go away but if you’re not . . . we are having chili today!

This brings cheers of joy to my family. They love this chili and this chili alone. It is not your average spicy-hot-peppery, salty chili-dog chili but a mildly-spicy, sweet, tangy, addictive concoction. It is a family recipe passed down from Nan.  Too bad its not more complicated.  Here’s the secret. Another Not-So-Martha Good Thing. 

Homade (yes, that’s how it is spelled) Chili Sauce

(I’ve given you an online link to order but I get it at my local grocery store in the condiment aisle. If they don’t carry it-ask them to order it for you.)

It is a vinegar, tangy- sweet sauce that makes this chili unique.  The jar is pretty too!

Nan also has a secret recipe for corn muffins . . .

Love the Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. You can’t go wrong with “America’s Favorite” since 1930. 

These Not-So-Martha Good Thing muffins come out perfectly toasty on the outside and crumbly, soft on the inside.  Drizzled with honey or crumbled in the chili-they are perfect-and you can’t beat the price! In a later post, I’ll share a recipe for Blueberry Muffins using this mix but with homemade flair.

I know, I know. Not very Martha-like but worth it. You’ll like it-maybe even love it. So try it and let me know what you think.

Rainy Day Chili

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

1-2 Tablespoons of chili powder

pinch of red pepper flakes

salt

1 clove of garlic, crushed and minced

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey

1 jar of Homade Chili Sauce (secret sauce)

1 30 ounce can of dark red kidney beans (undrained)

1 15 ounce can of dark red kidney beans (undrained)

1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 Tablespoon of tomato paste

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onions, chili powder, red pepper flakes and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook until onion is soft, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 15 seconds until fragrant but not brown.

Add meat and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Stir in the “secret sauce’, beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, and another ½ teaspoon of salt Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove lid and continue to simmer until meat is tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Serve with corn muffins, cheese, diced onions, sour cream and whatever else you like on your chili.

You can also serve “Cincinnati style” over pasta.  That’s good too!

Thumb’s Up With A Cherry On Top!

Nan called me the other day. Who is Nan you ask?  She is my 79 year-old nanna.  She needed to ask me a question.  Just so you know this is exactly what all her messages say.  “Hi, its Nanna. Uh, uhm. Hello? Just have a question. Call me back. Love you. (Long pause) Bye.” She still really hasn’t adapted to voicemail or answering machines or telephones of any kind, for that matter.  Gotta love her though.  Back to her question of the day.  She needed a cake for one of her bible study ladies.  They like to celebrate birthdays with cake.  She wanted to order a coconut cake.  Panic set in . . . I have not been able to make a good coconut cake. It is one of the few cake recipes I have yet to master.  So, I hopped on to Pinterest for a few hours minutes and came up with a plan.  I would like to credit Chocolate Therapy’s The Best Coconut Cake  for the filling, assembly and inspiration.  I then used my “favorite, all-time, go-to, super-secret, very-complicated, white cake recipe.” And it won’t be a secret anymore because I am going to share it with you.  It comes from my trusty Cake Mix Bible. I know, once again, a Not-So-Martha Good Thing-using cake mix but it is always everyone’s favorite white cake; moist, vanilla-goodness with a little something extra, you can’t quite put our finger on (it is almond extract). Then, I put it all together and put a cherry on top because that’s all this beautiful, snowy-white vision of coconut needed. Don’t you think?