Chili 6
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb sausage
- 2 c cooked pinto beans
- 1 c cooked kidney beans
- 800 g canned chopped tomatoes (with juice (2 cans))
- 142 g tomato paste (1 can)
- 1/2 onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 1/2 green bell pepper (seeded)
- 1/2 red bell pepper (seeded)
- 1 jalapeno pepper (seeded)
- 2 T bacon bits
- 1.5 beef bouillon cube
- 3 fl oz beer (I use Guinness)
- 1/4 t chili powder (to taste)
- 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 t minced garlic
- 1 t ground cumin
- 1 t hot pepper sauce (I like half regular and half chipotle Tabasco)
- 1/2 t dried basil
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 t smoked paprika
- 1/2 t Sugar (Granulated)
Method
Heat a 5-quart or larger stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground beef and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
Coarsely chop the onion, celery, green and red bell pepper, and jalapeno; add to food processor and puree. Set aside.
Pour in the beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, jalapeno, bacon bits, and bouillon. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
After 2 hours, taste; adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate and serve the next day.
Notes
Note: When she shared this recipe, the author noted (a) she'd accidentally pureed the veggies instead of chopping them with her food processor and (b) she'd won the chili cookoff with the results of that and this recipe. Might do that on purpose when I try this.
SJ Note: This is a keeper! I did puree the vegetables, and that worked out nicely. Definitely better than my Chili 1.
SJ Note 27 Jan 2011: Much better having cut down the chili powder - though you may like it spicier, so taste and season accordingly. I used chorizo sausage this time, which is quite hot itself, so I may use more chili powder in the future with different sausage. Just remember, adding chili powder is much, much easier than taking it away!
SJ Note 17 Jun 2012: Did it as a slow cook recipe this time - prepped everything the night before (cooked the meat, pureed the veggies, measured out everything else, left it in the fridge), then tossed it in a pot in the morning, brought to a boil, moved to the oven on slow cook, and left it for the day (10 or 11 hours in this case). It was great as always. I've rounded up the tomato paste measure to a full can (from 2/3) and the chopped tomatoes to a full 2 cans (from 1.5), and this time I added a bit more paste that I happened to have in the fridge. It came out fine -- so know that the tomato measures are really forgiving. I'm sure the whole recipe is quite forgiving, really.