Chili and Corn Bread

Chili and Corn Bread

This week, I needed some serious comfort food. What a better dish than chili and corn bread?! I used Bittman's recipes Chili non Carne with Tomatoes (429) and Bacon Corn Bread (831). Like when I make any recipe, I always tweak the ingredients to my liking.

For the corn bread, I decided to add green onions for some extra flavor (yum!) The corn bread turned out delicious, and it was nice and crispy on the edges. It was a perfect vessel to soak up the chili!

I made lots of variations to the chili recipe, but most of them were suggestions made by Bittman in the book. I decided to make the "tomato" variation, since I like tomatoes in my chili. It just seems fresher and lighter. I completely skipped the process of boiling dried pinto beans for two hours... I get too impatient! Instead, I added canned kidney, pinto, and red beans. I really like the variety of beans to add some different colors and textures.

I started by sauteing some onions, green pepper, and garlic. Then I added the spices to toast them a bit.

 Next, I added the rest of the ingredients to simmer.

The finished product was amazingly delicious!  I topped off the chili with a sprinkle of bacon and green onions and a dollop of sour cream. A perfect cozy comfort food. The spices were just right in the chili, and the cornbread was both sweet and salty.

-Ellen