Sunday, December 13, 2009

Chili Casserole



Finished casserole.


Spoon chili into baking dishes.

This recipe is perfectly adaptable to campfire cooking. As a matter of fact that's how I had it the first time, prepared in a huge castiron dutch oven. It was so good I didn't want to wait until the next campout to have it again, so it can be done in your home oven. Substitute ingredients as you see fit, the main idea is to make a yummy chili and top it with a yummy cornbread.

My playgroup has decided to do a meal swap. I picked this meal to make for our first swap for a couple of reasons. It's easy to make in bulk (I needed enough for 3 families), it is perfect cold weather food, and I had all the ingredients on hand! You can scale it down to suit one family meal or make it in bulk and freeze the extra casseroles!
-Amanda

Chili Casserole

Chili:
1 onion
2-3 pieces of bacon
2.5 lbs of lean ground beef
2 cans of black beans, drained
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 can of diced green chilies
4 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
salt & pepper

Cornbread: (You can also use a Cornbread Kit)
2 1/2 cups of cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded mexican cheese
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (give or take)

Dice bacon into tiny bits. Saute the bacon with diced onion and garlic. Add ground beef. Break up the beef with the end of your spoon and add seasonings: chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and mix it into the ground beef. Add drained beans and fire roasted diced tomatoes. Last, add the diced green chilies. Continue cooking over medium high heat until meat is fully cooked. Transfer over to baking dishes. I made 3, 9"x9" casseroles.

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all the ingredients for the cornbread into a big mixing bowl. Spoon wet cornbread mixture over the chili in a thin layer. Sprinkle the top with extra cheese. Bake for 25 minutes.

4 comments:

  1. Hah! I made Chili and cornbread the other day too! It is such a nice winter dish.

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  2. I just made some chili and have a bunch left over...can't wait to put this one together tonight. Thanks!!

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  3. That looks so good! One question though. At what point do you freeze? Can you pour the unbaked cornbread on and then freeze before baking?

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  4. Thanks for asking! I always bake first and then freeze. Not sure how the raw cornbread would freeze? I haven't tried it that way. To reheat I keep it covered and cook on a low temperature (325º) for about 1.5-2 hours from completely frozen. If you thaw in the refridgerator before hand, it won't take as long to reheat in the oven, but I'm not sure how long. Hope this helps! Let me know how it turns out.

    Oh, and to be honest, this isn't my favorite cornbread recipe. For that I'm trying to squeeze it out of my Mema, who like me, never measures. I hope to capture it down next time she makes it!

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