Lone Star Steak House Chili

From my Top Secret Recipe book........



1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp fresh jalapeno, diced
1 15-ounce can kidney beans (UNdrained)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf

garnish:
grated cheddar cheese
diced onion
diced jalapeno
corn chips
sour cream

1. brown ground beef in a large saucepan over medium heat. drain fat
2. add onion and jalapeno pepper and saute for about 2 min.
3. add reamining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.serve one cup in a bowl with any garnish desired.

** I used about a 1/3 cup of onion finely diced that I sauted in a tbsp of olive oil while the gound beef thawed in the microwave. I am not a fan of strong onion flavor and I have found that this method seems to ease up the flavor, or I use shallot if I have it. I didn't have a jalapeno, but I had a pasilla pepper, so I used about 2 tbsp of that, diced fine. I also did not have a bay leaf, so I just left it out. I did add a 1/2 tsp of ground cumin, which gave a nice flavor to it. It was a really easy recipe and we liked it. I have never made chili from a recipe before, but this seems to be a keeper, and we won't have to eat it for a year, like my usual HUGE pot of chili.