Here is the chili recipe that I whipped up the other night. Sorry to all my friends and family down Texas way, but this isn’t Texas chili (no beans), nor is it competition chili (1/4 inched diced cubes of steak, instead it uses ground beef to keep it inexpensive). This is just standard, cheap and spicy chili con carne for a cold day. It goes great with your grilled cheese sammies. Lucky isn’t so hot on spicy foods, so if this is for everyone, I will remove or reduce the amounts of chipotle peppers used.
Four Pepper Chili con carne
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2 – 2.5lbs ground beef – 3 – 4 patties
1 medium onion
1 Green Bell pepper – 1/4″ dice
1 Ancient Sweets Red Pepper – 1/4″ dice
1 Poblano Pepper – 1/4″ dice
4 chipotle peppers from a can of Chipotle in Adobo sauce – whole
2 cloves garlic – pressed
3 tbsp Dwain’s not-so-secret spice mix
1 sm. can of tomato paste
1 box Kitchen Basics Beef Broth
1 med. can of Brook’s chili beans
2 tsp cocao powder
2 tsp dried thyme
Salt – to taste
Pepper – to taste
Heat a large pot over high heat until just smoking. Sear the meat patties until brown, then break up into desired size. Lower heat to medium high and add in onion. Salt and pepper as desired. Cook for about 1min, then add in all peppers except the chipotle. Stir and cook for 2 minutes allowing the vegetables to begin to soften. Add in 2 tbsp of Dwain’s-Not-So-Secret-Spice mix, thyme, cocoa powder and garlic. Stir to incorporate and cook for 1 min. Add in tomato paste and mix to combine. Cook until tomato paste begins to carmelize, approximately 4 minutes. Add half the beef stock and stir. The tomato paste acts as the thickening agent for the soup, so we add in half and stir to determine the desired consistency. Add in more beef stock if desired. Add in Chipotle peppers, add more peppers if you like more spice! Turn down the heat until the chili is just simmering and allow the chili to cook for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add in the chili beans and stir to combine. Check the consistency and add more beef stock as desired. Add in the final tbsp of spice mix. Allow beans to heat through. Stir, taste and adjust seasonings. You can remove the chipotle peppers if desired or mash them into the chili.
Makes about 8 – 10 servings
