From Chili to Chili Cheese Pretzel Burger

From Chili to Chili Cheese Pretzel Burger

Chili is one of those dishes that's not only comforting and warm, it's also extremely versatile and can be incorporated into numerous other dishes. I cook for only my fiance and I, but I will make a full batch of my chili to use for other applications in my kitchen. Like, the chili cheese pretzel burger that we're going to get to in a little bit.

But first, let's take a look at some of the ingredients that can be used in making chili.

Some people will use ground beef or other ground meats in their chili, which will cut the cooking time significantly,  but my personal preference for chili is to use cubed chuck roast. I create my own marinade and marinate the cubed steak for 24 hours before starting the all day cooking process. The fat content in this type of meat adds to the meat breaking down in the chili while it slow cooks in the crock pot, which makes the texture more like a pulled beef. It's absolutely fantastic. 

The next ingredient that can vary in chili is the type of beans that are used. My favorite combination is using a 4 bean mix of black, light red kidney, dark red kidney, and white northern beans. For this particular recipe, I used black and light red kidney beans for a color and slight flavor contrast. 

Tip: if you're not fond of soaking beans and cooking them yourself, using canned beans is a great alternative. Since canned beans can be loaded with sodium, I suggest rinsing the beans w cold water before adding to the pot of chili.

Now let's take a look at the different veggies and spices that can be added. There are so many ways to make a chili your own. For a traditional red chili, a good tomato base is a necessity. Some like to make their own sauce, but using a store bought spaghetti sauce, or using canned crushed tomatoes, will work beautifully too.  I make my own chili seasoning w the dry seasonings I have in my kitchen... and I have a lot of them! This is also where there is the choice given on whether to go spicy, or not so spicy. I love a little bit of heat, and use crushed red pepper, cayenne, and jalapeño. 

Tip: topping a bowl of spicy chili w a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese helps to reduce the spiciness. Plus, it just tastes good with these toppings!

And now, what you've been waiting for... on to the recipes! 

Steak Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup worcestershire 

3 tbsp dried minced onions

3 cloves finely minced garlic

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or zip lock bag. Add 1 to 1 1/2 pound cubed steak and massage marinade evenly on the meat. Cover bowl, or remove excess air from zip lock bag, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Brandee's 2 Bean Spicy Chili

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs cubed chuck roast, marinated

1 large white onion

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, diced

1 24oz can crushed tomatoes

2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes, drained well

1 6oz can tomato paste 

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed well

1 15oz can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well

olive oil

Chili Seasoning:

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 tbsp chili powder 

3 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp dried parsley 

2 tbsp onion powder 

2 tbsp garlic powder 

2 tbsp crushed red pepper

1 tbsp cayenne pepper 

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Sauté onions, garlic, and jalapeño in olive oil over medium low heat until caramelized, 8-10 minutes. At the same time, sear marinated meat in a cast iron pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove both the meat and onion mixture from heat and let rest 5 minutes.

2. Open all cans. Drain liquid from diced tomatoes, and drain and rinse beans. Dump all ingredients into a 4 quart crockpot. 

3. Mix together seasoning mix in a small bowl. Gently mix in the chili seasoning into the ingredients in the crockpot. Add seared meat and onion mixture. Gently mix all ingredients together. 

4. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours (3-4 hours on high) until steak starts to shred. Gently stir hourly (every half hour if cooking on the high setting) to keep chili from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. 

5. Serve hot. Garnishes can include sour cream, guacamole, shredded cheese, and green onions. Tortilla chips and Ritz crackers are also awesome accompaniments.

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Ok, so now that the chili is made, what are we going to do with it? Besides eating a nice, big, healthy serving of it fresh out of the crockpot, this stuff tastes awesome on just about everything. I found this out by making burgers for my honey when he got home from work at 2 in the morning! We just sat there, in almost complete silence... the only noises to be heard was "mmmmm" and a lot of chewing. It's not the cleanest thing you can eat, but, oh man, is it delicious.

PS- this chili seems to develop more flavor the next day. It holds well in the fridge for up to 7 days, and can also be kept frozen for up to 6 months. 

Chili Cheese Pretzel Burger 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce 

salt and pepper

2 pretzel buns, split and toasted

1 1/2 cup chili, heated through 

2 pepper jack cheese slices

Directions:

1. Preheat a 10" cast iron pan over medium high heat on the stove. 

2. Mix shredded cheddar and worcestershire w the ground beef in a medium bowl. Form mixture into 2 burger patties.

3. Drizzle pan w olive oil and place burger patties in hot pan. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes on each side, turning only once. Place cheese slice on burger patty after turning to start the melting process.

4. Toast pretzel buns. Put some of the heated chili on the bottom bun. Place burger patty on the chili, and top with more chili. Top with the top bun. Voila! 

If you like what you see here, check out my website at Brandee's Basics for more great recipes. Thanks for stopping by!