Crazy Chili Recipe

I recently purchased some new cookware (thanks to The Boss), and as is common with this type of purchase, a little cookbook came with it. We all know those recipes are usually pretty standard and boring, and like many people, I frequently keep them for a little while before I lose them in a junk drawer somewhere. I find them two years later when I attempt to declutter the drawer, and they end up in the circular file.

But as I casually flipped through the pages of this latest cookware recipe freebie, I laughed out loud at the chili recipe offered up. Here it is in it's entirety:

-- CHILI --
Ingredients:
3 lbs ground beef
2 jars salsa
1 24-ounce can kidney beans
1 pack taco seasoning

Directions:
1. Place the (brand name cookware item) on the stove over medium heat
2. Brown the ground beef
3. Pour in the taco seasoning and stir
4. Add the rest of the ingredients
5. Place the lid on the pan and simmer for two hours
6. Serve

That's it!

Honestly!

I'm not making that up!

That's the Chili Recipe offered in the "cook book," and it's supposed to be the recipe used by a famous chef (btw, one whom I've never heard of).

I thought this was so ridiculous that it had to be a joke. But then I got to wondering..... I wondered if any poor soul out there taking his/her first steps into the world of cooking might actually TRY this recipe. Or maybe, someone who feels like they are a bad cook might give this whirl out of desperation. As chili, this recipe will fail on so many levels it's incredible, and I hope that whoever may try to make chili using this crazy formula comes to realize that its failure is due to the recipe and not due to their efforts. I hope it doesn't discourage them from continuing to reach out and trying to improve their overall skills.

If it wouldn't be a waste of money and perfectly good ingredients, I would attempt it just for shits and giggles.

So if one day, you find you have nothing better to do with your time and money, give this a try, and please please please, send me the details of your experience. I promise to share them with the world, and give you kudos for your bravery and sense of humor.

Until Next Time...
Here's the polar opposite --- a chili recipe from a good ol' boy in Arkansas who has won half a dozen chili contests and cook-offs around the United States..

Humorly Yours,
Michael