Drema's Southern Fire-Breathing Chili-Cornbread

For a head start or day before "Chili Day" I place the picked & washed pintos and white beans together, add cold water to cover above them (about 3 qts) I add a pinch of salt to these. Allow to stand overnite or for several hours before starting your chili recipe. I also at this time wash, pat dry with paper towel the chicken and pork roast. Cut the pork roast and chicken breasts in bite size pieces. Cover and refrigerate overnite until you are ready to prepare chili.

On Chili Day - heat a large skillet and crumble the ground beef. (If you are using very lean ground beef you may want to add a tablespoon of canola oil). Meanwhile remove chicken and pork roast pieces from fridge. Drain any liquid and pat dry again. As the hamburger starts to brown, separating into crumbles, add pieces of chicken and pork roast into the hamburger. (Stir basically like stir fry or sear the meat. You are basically searing the meat to keep the juices inside.) Don't overcook since we are "recooking" shortly. You will not drain any drippings from pan.

As meat is sizzling, add all the peppers and onions to this mixture and stir well to slightly cook vege's. Add 1 cup of hot water to mixture and stir in the 2 packages of dry chili mix. Stir well or use spatula to "lift" and turn over meat and vege's. Total skillet time will be approximately 10-15 minutes.

Meantime, Set up your crockpot on High 4 hours. Drain water off the beans. Set aside. In separate glass or container dissolve your cornstarh into cold water by whisking or stirring. Set aside.

Add your meat mixture of chicken, pork and hamburger to the crock pot or large stock pot (whichever you prefer. Add cornstartch mixture, canned tomatoes with original juice, soaked and drained white and pinto beans and remaining spices. (Add enough warm water to cover all - depending on how much you have made). Stir throughly but gently. Cover and allow to cook for about 2 hours. Lower Crock pot setting to Low, add drained kidney beans and drained corn at this time. Stir thoroughly and gently. Recover and cook the last 2 hours. You can always turn your cooker on Warm and serve straight from the pot! ** Once in the bowls we add a big dollop of sour cream and shredded cheeses! Enjoy with the super Cornbread recipe below.

Decide if you want skillet fried or skillet oven cornbread. The skillet fried, of course will be fried into shaped thin patties on top of your stove and the skillet oven cornbread will come out in one "cake" that can be sliced into wedges at serving time. (You may also adjust the amount - my recipe above is for a large cast iron skillet (made in a "cake) - otherwise any skillet will work for frying on stove top. You will just keep frying patties until you have the quanity you need.

If using oven, heat it up oven to about 425 degrees. Grease the skillet with shortening and place in hot oven for about 10 minutes.

In large mixing bowl place cornmeal and flour. Add slightly beaten eggs, shortening, pinch of salt. I use my hands (gloves don't work very well but clean would). Start mixing your ingredients, adding buttermilk. Mix well until all buttermilk has been used. (The batter should be thick but pourable if using the skillet oven cooking method. If not you will need to mix in about 1/2 cup warm water to make mixture a pourable consistency. Mix again, scraping all sides of bowl with hands. Skillet oven mthod - remove hot skillet (with a mitt). Pour batter into the hot skillet. Place back in oven and cook until browned and crispy crust appears and a toothpick comes out clean. (Appoximately 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your skillet).

For stove top skillet cornbread - heat shortening or oil in large skillet on stove top on med high heat. Mix batter without using the 1/2 cup of warm water for a consistency to make patties. Once mixed well, scoop up a good handful, shape into a patty and place in hot skillet. Keep adding patties and adjusting your grease levels till browned really good on that side. Do not attempt to turn until patty has crispy edges forming. Turn over patties carefully. Gently press the patty flatter with the spatula or flipper. Allow to cook till browned - approximately 5 minutes. Reduce your heat to med low and continue cooking till pattyies are done. Add more oil and make your next batch. (Iremove scrapings before I start a new batch with papertowel). Place cornbread patties on paper towels with a slotted flipper to remove any excess grease. Enjoy with above chili or else!