Not My Mama's Chili Mac or Chili Three, Four or 5 Ways

Not My Mama's Chili Mac or 3, 4, 5 Ways Chili

My husband grew up in Texas. He loves chili. (I don’t know if this is a Teyxas thing or not but I suspect it could be.) He loves chili however many ways he can get it. He loves chili for breakfast, lunch or dinner. He loves it with eggs. He loves it with burgers. He loves it in a bowl sprinkled with cheese and onions and jalapenos. He loves Texas chili; the kind with hunks of meat and deep, dark chipotle, ancho seasoning. He loves it made with hamburger meat, too. And chorizo. He loves it with beer in the recipe and beer on the side. He loves it with football games or on a snowy day. He loves it with pintos, but he’ll eat it with black beans. He loves it green. He loves it red. He loves it over cornbread and especially over fritos. He adores it over hotdogs. I’ve never seen him eat it over tuna fish but I suspect he might... Well, maybe not. Yes, my husband loves chili.

I, on the other hand, grew up in Illinois. We didn’t eat chili like THAT. We ate chili with red kidney beans and I do not like red kidney beans. No. I do not. I do not remember cheese or onions served on the side. But I do remember my mother ordering chili mac three ways whenever we went to Kankakee’s version of Steak and Shake - Wally’s. It was named Wally’s. I liked their thin, crispy burgers and my brother loved the pork tenderloin. We all liked their shakes and fries. My father probably had the jello that was always on the counter cut into neat little red or green cubes with a squirt of probably fake whipped cream.

Whatever. I remember this chili mac. I never ate it. Never had a bite that I can remember. But I did eat the saltines. It always came with a lot of saltines. And my mother gave us each a package. But back to chili. I get tired of chili. I wanted a new way to make chili. One that wouldn’t burn my mouth with heat. Well, Midwest chili is not known for its heat at least that I know of. And that is when I remembered my mom’s chili mac. She always ordered it so I figured it must be good.

Simmering Chili

I searched Google to see what made chili three, four or five ways. I found Cincinatti chili that seems to always contain some chocolate. I found numerous recipes for numerous things that just didn’t sound like what I envisioned. I did find out that the number of layers is what determines the name. Macaroni or spaghetti is one layer. Chili makes two. Cheese makes three. Onions-four. Etc, etc, etc. I found out that crackers were often served because they help soak up the juice from the chili because this kind of chili is often soupy or liquidy. I also remember a container of dry parmesan cheese on the table that was sprinkled over the top. So feel free to add that. I also found some with some type of bbq type sauce spread between the meat and the cheese. This works really well. DON’T LEAVE IT OUT!

In any case what is featured below is probably not my mama’s chili mac. But I will tell you that it is really, really good. And I like this better than Texas chili but let’s not start a fight or anything.

See the beans, the onions, the stuff from a can.

Not My Mama’s Chili Mac or Chili Three, Four, or 5 Ways

(Serves 4)

1 lb ground turkey (you can use beef)

½ c diced onion plus ½ c more for topping

2 minced cloves of garlic

1T ancho chili powder or just use your favorite chile powder

1T rojo chili powder

1 t oregano

¼ t allspice

½ t smoked paprika

1 t cocoa

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

½ envelope Lipton’s onion soup mix

½ c ketchup

1T yellow mustard

1 t Frank’s hot sauce

1 c water or beef bouillion

1 can pintos, drained and rinsed

1 ½ c grated cheddar cheese

Canned Parmesan cheese at your discretion

½ lb cooked spaghetti or elbows

Brown turkey over medium heat and crumble it as it cooks. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Push to side and add chili powders, oregano, allspice, and paprika. Cook for  minute or so until spices are toasted. You will smell them.

Add can of tomatoes, cocoa, onion soup mix, ketchup, mustard and Frank’s hot sauce. Let simmer a few minutes until liquid has disappeared by about half. Stir in can of beans. Now stir in water and let simmer about 10 minutes. It should still look like a thick gravy but not be so thick as to not have liquid. If you let it sit a bit to long and it gets too thick just add a little more water. It can take it!

BBQ Sauce

1/4c ketchup (I’m a Heinz girl)

2T Worcestershire

2T brown sugar

Mix together. You will taste the sweet and the tart.

Assembly

Place a serving of pasta on a plate. Top with several spoonfuls of chili. Spread the top of that with about 1T of BBQ sauce. Top with some spoonfuls of diced onion and then the grated cheddar. Feel free to use the parmesan out of a can. And just for good measure we topped it off with a few pepperocini slices, but you could use jalapenos. And if you like saltines-go for it!

I don’t know what my mama ate but this is what I will eat from now on! This is How I Cook! (most definitely!)