Basic Pantry Staples ed. 3

Edition 3 - Garlic

Why garlic? Well, I would probably have garlic over any other seasoning agent available , even salt. It brings out a hidden depth in flavor of meats and casseroles, stews and sauces, "wows" up jarred foods and covers a multitude of sins. It's even rumored to help lower cholesterol, which we could all use. Now, it comes in many forms and I tend to keep 2 on hand at all times. One is garlic POWDER (not salt, not ever salt, hello high blood pressure? - you'll oversalt your food on accident), add it to the top of frozen pizza, sprinkle it in pasta, use it in a pinch to flavor up your dishes. The second kind I keep on hand is minced garlic ( yup, you heard me, pre-minced, refridgerated jar in the door with the condiments) - this is for convenience, alright. And a jar lasts forever. It's packed in water, so no extra oil, you can easily measure (or not) right out of the jar, and it doesn't go bad and start growing green things out of it, begging to be planted in the ground. Nuff said. Today's recipe courtesy of H.M.A., which we had for lunch. Mm Mm Good.

Ed.3 Recipe
Chili

2 Q Tomatoes, mashed (or crushed or diced canned-4 lb cans)
2 Q Tomato juice (one big can plus half another big can)
1 envelope chili-o mix (near the taco and gravy mixes)
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove minced garlic (rounded teaspoon)
2 cans chili hot beans
1 T brown sugar
1 t salt
2# ground beef

Brown meat with onion and garlic. You can do this in the bottom of your stock pot, draining excess fat from the pan, or start the rest of the ingredients in the stockpot and brown the meat in a skillet and then add it to the stockpot of ingredients (your choice). Simmer 2 hours. Done.