John Madden's Mess

Submitted by Lennie

"Okay, I admit it -- it does sound like a "mess"! This is from a January 1987 article in Family Circle magazine about throwing a "super bowl bash" with John Madden. This is John Madden's favourite, apparently. In truth, I bet it's good!"

 

• Ready In: 25hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 cup dried red kidney beans
• water, as needed
• 1⁄4 lb bacon, diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can whole tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon leaf oregano, crumbled
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1⁄2 lb spaghetti or 1/2 lb fettuccine, cooked according to package directions and drained
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tamales, heated
• 1 small onion, sliced (for garnish)
• dried red pepper, for garnish

directions

1. Rinse and pick over beans; place in a medium-sized bowl and cover with water; let soak overnight.
2. The next day, drain beans and place in a medium-size saucepan and add one quart of water.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower heat, cover; let simmer until beans are tender, 60 to 90 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a Dutch oven or large skillet until crisp; remove with slotted spoon onto paper towels to drain.
5. Pour off all but two tablespoons of the bacon fat; saute ground beef, large onion and garlic in bacon fat over high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
6. Add cooked bacon, undrained tomatoes, chili powder, salt, oregano and cayenne; stir well and bring to a boil.
7. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 60 minutes, stirring every so often; steal some liquid from the beans and stir it in if mixture gets too thick.
8. Now would be a good time to cook that spaghetti.
9. Drain beans, add to meat/tomato mixture, and heat just to serving temperature.
10. To serve, place hot drained spaghetti on a large platter and spoon all the chili on top.
11. Cut tamales into pieces and arrange over chili.
12. Finally, scatter raw onion and dried red peppers over top, and serve.