Pretty good but not the ultimate chili recipe--Chunky Beef Chili

Chunky Beef Chili
The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook Copyright 2006

4 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into ½-inch pieces I used round steak
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (32-ounce) container beef broth
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

Cornbread sticks (optional)
Toppings (optional) : crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, onion

Brown meat, in batches, in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove meat, reserve drippings in Dutch oven; cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cook 5 minutes.

Return beef to Dutch oven. Stir in beef broth and next 9 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 1 ½ hours or until beef is tender. Serve chili with cornbread sticks, if desired, and desired toppings. I served it over some Smart Taste rotini and topped it with chopped sweet onion and shredded cheddar cheese.

Yield: 9 cups Per cup: 394 calories, 18.2 g fat, 42.7 g protein, 13.2 g carbs, 3.1 g fiber, 125 mg chol, 1478 mg sodium
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I've always wanted to make chili using small cubes of meat other than ground beef. I always thought it would be tedious but it took no time at all to cut up the meat. I did halve the recipe so it would take a bit longer to do 4 pounds.

I really did want to make this with chuck but, of course, when I went to buy it, it didn't look good. The one roast they had left was fatty with too much gristle. It was on sale and I should have learned by now not to get my hopes up when I see that meat is on sale in the weekly ad, for this particular store. I don't know if I'm shopping on a bad night or what but if I'm lucky enough to even find the meat that's supposed to be on sale, it usually doesn't look worth the sale price when I finally see it.

So I bought round steak. I've seen chili recipes call for round steak. I didn't think it was ideal but it wasn't bad. I'll keep trying. I probably would have preferred ground beef but my son really went to town on this and he would not have if I had used ground beef.

I definitely need to invest in a better chili powder next time I make chili. The cheap stuff isn't cutting it.

I always serve chili over pasta, macaroni in this case. That's just the way we roll. In this economy we can't be eating our chili straight! Refer to yesterday's post to see my current stance on beans, in case you're wondering why I just don't stretch it out with beans.

Question of the Day: What brand of chili powder do you use? I have some cheap stuff, not sure of the brand. I'm sure I got what I paid for but I've never minded it in other recipes.