I would do it to you.

Yesterday I had a craving for chili, but because I no longer live at home with the chili-master, my mom, and because I never took the time to take down her recipe, I decided to find my own.

I went on epicurious.com, foodtv.com, allrecipes.com, and a whole bunch of blogs searching for the right chili recipe. After a (much too-long) time, I realized that I was never going to find it. Everyone’s chili is different, and everyone’s chili is somebody else’s. To make the perfect chili, it has to involve your own personal tastes and loves. There’s green chili, white chili, vegan chili, chicken chili, Cowboy chili, Mexican chili, Texas chili and Cincinnati chili. There is even a Frito-lay chili. The list goes on and on.

So you can judge me by my chili. It contains ground beef, not cubed sirloin, and a lot of it. It has lots of onion and corn. I use dried ground chilis because I am too clumsy to work with fresh ones (and anyone who knows me will remember that fateful day when I tried.) I would never, ever use bottled tomato sauce, and if I am too lazy or cheap to cut up real tomatos, I always use San Marzino. I also add a little tomato paste and some fresh basil, because–goddammit–I’m Italian. I make my chili hot and then I add sour cream and cheese. It’s not fine or fancy. But it’s freaking good.

Robin’s Chili

1. Saute onions and garlic on medium-high heat in soup pot coated with olive oil for a few minutes.
2. Add meat and saute for about 5-10 minutes.
3. Add green pepper, black beans, salt, chili, cumin, chili powder, pepper, Worchestire and tomato paste. (Add more spices at the end if needed.)
4. Cook for another 10 minutes, then add crushed tomatos, basil, and corn. Cook another 5-10 minutes and then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and cover.

I love this chili served over a bowl of iceberg lettuce, with cheese and a dallop of sour cream on top!