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.