About once a month I get a craving for hot dogs. Some of the best hot dogs in town come off of the grill in my back yard, assuming I have homemade chili on hand. There are a few decent canned and packaged chilis available in stores, but none really do a hot dog justice.
Last week, the hot dog fever hit me again and I picked up a pack of all-meat Ball Parks and some Wonder Bread Buns. But I needed chili and didn’t have tons of time to make my usual homemade batch.
“I’ll wing it,” I said, and I bought a pound of 85/15 ground meat, a package of frozen diced onions and a jar of chili sauce. I had chili powder in the pantry, and water, of course, and that’s all I used. The chili was excellent.
Here’s how I put it together.
I used about equal parts of hamburger meat (1/2 pound) and frozen onions (about a large cupful) to make one batch.
Start the onions in a small frying pan with a squirt or two of Pam. I have found these frozen onions to be just as good as fresh, minced onions and a heckuva lot easier to cook with and prepare. I get them at Kroger’s in the frozen food section and I try to always keep a pack in the freezer.
On low heat, let the onions cook until opaque, then add the ground beef and cook until brown. Pour off the small amount of grease, add 1 teaspoon chili powder and ½-cup of water and cook down till the water evaporates. Next, add 1 cup of chili sauce. Turn the heat down to simmer, go out in the yard, cook 8 dogs on the grill and by the time you’re finished, the chili is ready, cooked down to a nice, thick texture.
You could make a double or triple recipe and mine made more than enough for eight hot dogs, but it’s easy and it’s delicious. I don’t know if I can wait another whole month for more hot dogs!
Easy, Peasy Chili (1 batch)
½ pound 85/15 ground beef
1 C frozen, diced onions
1 t chili powder
½ C water
1 C chili sauce