Hi-Fi Three Bean Chili

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Winners of Mount Joy PA chili cookoff 2/25/12

On Saturday March 25, 2012 we participated in a Fire & Ice Chili Challenge here in Mount Joy with 11 other participants. We were delighted when Brooksyne's Chili came in first prize as several hundred community folks came through to sample and vote for their favorite chili! (In the photo above are the second and third place winners as well.)

This fun contest helped to support community events such as Fire & Ice since each vote cost $1.00 (we were unaware of the way the contest was held - samples were free but votes cost money). We did have some of our Daily Encouragement readers stop by and it was delightful to get to know them better.

(Because of the cold weather, with wind gusts of 50 MPH, the event was moved indoors for which we were very thankful.)

Here is the recipe, as best as Brooksyne could recall, since she didn't use a printed recipe!

Hi-Fi Three Bean Chili Recipe

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large sweet onion, peeled & minced
6 or more cloves garlic, peeled & minced
Sea salt, black pepper (to taste)
Lima Beans, (also called butter beans), 15 oz. can
Black Beans, 15 oz. can
Chili Beans (which are prepared pink beans), 15 oz. can
Whole Kernel Sweet Corn, 15 oz. can
Spaghetti Sauce, 24 oz.
Tomatoes & Green Chiles, 10 oz.
Tomato Paste, 6 oz.
Water, 6 oz. (You may want more water for a thinner chili batch)
1/3 C. Cider Vinegar
Hot Chili Seasoning Mix 1½ packets of 1.25 oz. or season according to preference

Cook ground beef, drain & discard fat, saute onion & garlic in beef, add salt and pepper. Drain the juice from the 4 cans of beans and corn. Add them along with spaghetti sauce, tomatoes & chiles, tomato paste, water, vinegar and seasoning to beef mixture. Cook on stovetop or slo-cooker until thoroughly blended and piping hot.
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This is a very simple, easy recipe that came together in my head while I shopped at Aldi’s so there is no fancy brand recognition in the ingredients (all major ingredients came from there except beef). I gave it a fun name (hi-fi) since most ingredients are high fiber. Just the spaghetti sauce, beans, corn, tomatoes and tomato paste come to a grand total of 78 gm. fiber for one batch (according to info on packaging.)

Fresh Fixings: Chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, fresh minced onion, extra chili powder, vinegar (these I offered at the contest.) You may want to add sour cream, doritos, you name it!! Cilantro got raves at the contest.

Of course you may choose kidney, black eyed peas, pintos or whatever you have on hand. Condensed tomato soup makes a great base (I would use 2 cans for this recipe.) It’s very possible that I just got lucky on Saturday with this recipe. On the other hand I was gratified by the many who came back for seconds and told me, “Yours was my favorite, as they dropped in their votes.” I was also surprised by the number of children who voted since my chili was pretty spicy.

We enjoyed the chili made by our fellow contestants. My next door contestant used brisket for his meat – the burnt charred ends. I thought it was delicious, though surprisingly his didn’t score in the top three prizes. Brisket will cost you more but it sure is tasty! If you shop Costco or Sam’s you’ll find 90% lean ground beef usually for $2.99 a pound (as of February 2012).

For the contest I made three batches (9 qt.) and had about 1 quart left - so I guessed just about right!

Hope you try it and tell me how you made it more delicious.

Check out this excellent site on the benefits and info on beans which is one of my favorite foods.

Winner of Mount Joy PA chili cookoff 2/25/12

After the contest I had Brooksyne sit down on the ice chair (one of many ice sculptures in front of businesses downtown). She is holding a pewter serving bowl from Wilton Armatale, a local business, that she received as a grand prize, along with three local restaurant gift certificates. The Wilton Armatale Serveware is great since it takes heat up to 1000 degrees and can be served on the table afterwards keeping the food hotter.

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