Billi

Time for the second recipe in this so-called foodie blog. This one comes from my dad, Bill, is much requested, and quite delicious despite it's simplicity, ease, and humble ingredients. Additionally, having been adopted into a family that does not cook, it is also the sole family recipe i have inherited. My love for cooking is apparently partly in my blood, and partly a survival tactic. There are only so many burnt eggs a kid can eat without vomiting.

Anyhoo, while we were at the beach last month, we celebrated both my sister Annliese's birthday and my husband Dave's birthday, on the 24th and 25th of August, respectively. Annliese, like a normal person, chose to go out for sushi to celebrate her special day. My husband, the humble, oft-forgotten, textbook middle child, asked that we simply make my dad's chili and stay in. It's not exactly chili, as it has rice and is not too tomatoey or soupy at all. But it is fantastic comfort food, and Dave can't get enough of it. So here it is!

Like any recipe worth a damn, this one begins with bacon. Start by cooking some bacon in the oven, like so :

While the bacon cooks in the oven, cook 1 cup of rice according to the package instructions in a medium pot. Then, dice an onion and a green pepper and saute them in a separate, big soup pot until the onion is translucent. Add a pound of ground beef (not the extra lean kind, you want the fat, you know you do. Fat tastes really good.) and brown it. Next, add a can of tomato sauce and a can of kidney beans. When the rice and bacon are done, add them to the pot, crumbling the bacon as you do (i add the bacon grease as well, because i am disgusting).

Season to taste with chili powder (i use a few big spoonfuls), and salt and pepper. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese, and enjoy, as you can see my father doing here. He enjoys life immensely, as is evidenced below:

 

Here are some more enthusiastic eaters in the family enjoying the delicious "Billi":

baby Kingston, i.e. "Tank" with Aunt LiLi, turrin' it up

Dave on round two...or maybe four