Greetings to our dear Our Community Table readers!
We have a special treat for you this issue. Our community member and Federation board member, Donna Barton Ayres, who shares our love of recipes, cooking, and all things culinary, gifted us this month’s article and recipe for her Aunt Ruthie’s chili. I don’t know about you all, but whenever I am in the mood to make chili, I always find myself searching for a new chili recipe to love. I just haven’t found the perfect one yet. Perhaps this will be the one! Thank you, Donna!
My aunt, Ruthie Barton, knew chili. And who doesn’t love chili, especially on a crisp, cold day in the fall? In 1980, Ruthie’s husband, Max, and her younger son, Todd, opened “Max’s Hot Dog Restaurant in Tuscon. Max suggested they give out small freebie samples of chili based on Ruthie’s mother’s 1890 recipe. It was a great marketing idea since they were soon making up to 19 gallons a day to put onto hot dogs, into tortillas, or sending out as take-home orders for customers as far away as Chicago and New York. The restaurant was a hit for the year and a half it stayed open, ending because of Max’s difficult commute between Munster, Indiana, to Tuscon, Arizona.
See if you can improve on this easy but delicious recipe—add hot pepper jelly or jalapeños. Then send us your own version. In the meantime, make it yourself and top it with your favorite toppings!
As a side note, you may remember Ruthie’s older son, our esteemed Jewish community member for many years here in South Bend. He is my first cousin, Doug Barton.
Donna Ayres
Community Contributor & Board Member
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ lb. lean ground beef
2-3 (15 oz) cans of red kidney beans
1 onion
2 long pieces of celery
1 clove garlic
1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
2 tb chili powder
½ cup catsup
DIRECTIONS
Cut onion and celery into small pieces.
In a skillet brown the meat and add the onion and celery to cook.
Crush and then add the clove of crushed garlic and chili powder.
In a large pot cook the beans & tomatoes on low.
Add the catsup, then add the meat after pouring off the grease.
Cook 2 hours until thick. Add water to thin.
Put it on hot dogs, burgers or eat by itself!