Lucille's Chili

I started this blog anticipating uncovering exciting new recipes, impressing my family with newly learned culinary skills, and expanding my cultural awareness of the foodie world around me.  Yet, here I am again writing about one of my oldie-but-goodie recipes that is just as blog-worthy as a new recipe would be.  What's old hat for me might be a new find for you, so share it I will.

I don't remember how  Heart and Soul: Stirring Recipes from Memphis came to be a member of our cookbook collection, but it is one we often pull out to make a favorite chili recipe:  Lucille's Chili, page 57.

The changes I make to the recipe to give it my own "flair": I use Rotel for the 10-ounce can of diced tomatoes and green chilies. I leave the jalapeno pepper out but you can throw them on top if you like the heat. Instead of kidney beans, I either leave the beans out or add black beans.  I also like to let it cook longer than the 10 minutes the recipe calls for -- it's even better when you let it sit over night and reheat to serve over Tostitos as a taco salad or nachos with the works.

It's a great cookbook. The little Memphis anecdotes and history sprinkled in amongst the recipes make it an interesting read as well.