Hound Picks - Hard Times Chili Mix For Chili Mac- Presto Pasta Night*
Hard Times Cafe is a casual and fun restaurant in Alexandria, VA and has over a dozen outposts throughout Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. It’s a chili parlor with other good food that’s bad for you, like burgers, ribs and wings. I first tried their chili 10 years ago when visiting friends in Alexandria. They told me to boil some spaghetti while they went out to pick up the chili. What?
You see, I had never heard of chili mac. Chili mac, for the unitiated out there among you, is chile over spaghetti. Now, forget about what constitutes “real” chili, whether beans should be banned or visible vegetables are verboten. This ain’t about what kind of chili you like or is from your “neck of the woods”. It’s about taking that favorite chili and piling it on top of spaghetti. Topping such as cheese and diced onion are good too. Whatever you like, you put it on. For me, it’s shredded cheese, sour cream and chives. I can do without the chives really, but the cheese and sour cream are a must. In fact, when I made this last Sunday, we had to make a stop at our closest market just to pick up some sour cream. It’s essential in the Houndstooth household.
One of the best things about chili mac is the tasty mess that it turns into as all the ingredients get mixed. It actually improves as you eat it!
If you are in the area, do take a hand from the Hard Times Cafe chili mix by stopping in and buying some mix. Or, order it from their store. You’ll be glad you did! I go for the Cinncinati style mix which has slight heat and permeates the meat with cinnamon. Plus, it’s so damn easy to make. No chopping, no cutting. I just brown the meat, open a couple cans of beans and a can of tomato puree. Then, it can simmer on the stove and fill the house with wonderful smells.
There is a recipe on the back but of course I ignore it and make it my way (for one, it calls for boiling the meat. Uh,no). Here’s what I do:
Ingredients:
2 lb. ground beef (I use 80/20 mix)
2 cans beans, such as kidney or pinto
1 large can tomato puree
1/2 cup water
1 box Hard Times Cafe chili mix
Directions:
Brown meat in heavy bottom pan. Drain grease if you want. Pour chili mix over meat and add water. Stir to evenly coat. Add beans and tomato puree. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, covered. Stir every 5 minutes. Serve over spaghetti and add your choice of toppings.
* Presto Pasta Night is a weekly blogging even held by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.
Wow. This takes me back to my childhood. There was a restaurant in Montreal called Piazza Tomazzo - long gone, but they had awesome chili mac.
I will definitely be trying this version! Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.
Chili mac seems to be everywhere, but I’d never heard of it growing up in Philadelphia. Now, it’s the only way we eat chili!
I used to go there! I liked some really spicy chili they served, but can’t remember what it might have been. It always smelled really good when you entered.
Great photo. It looks delicious.
I love chili mac — but to some of us from the Midwest, it means chili and macaroni.
Your photos remind me of Skyline Chili in Ohio.
Thanks for sharing!
I make a Cincinnati Chili where you boil the beef…it’s good! And interesting step and one I cringed at, but the results are PRIMO GOOD!
[…] you’re interested in giving Hard Times a try, check out how The Houndstooth Gourmet whipped some up at home and the awesome photos on sabine01’s flickr […]