Chili Chili Chili

One night a few weeks ago I clearly didn't make enough food for dinner and Dan came to bed a wee bit hungry. There is a poker forum he reads and on the site there happens to be a chili thread where guys post their best or favorite chili recipes.

When we woke up on Sunday, Dan was chattering on about this chili for dinner idea...so off to the grocery I went. Turns out it's closed on Sunday so we settled for order in pizza. However, I had to promise chili as a Monday night dinner! After thoroughly researching this chili thread and settling on a recipe posted by a guy who calls himself "El Diablo."

Since we are in Vienna where I don't think spicy chili is a regular thing there was a bit of a change/modification on the ingredients based on what I could get here. I did write down exactly what I did and used so below is our new favorite fancy schmancy chili recipe for the fall. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 red bell peppers
2 medium onions
8-10 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
5 chili peppers
1 medium sized habanero pepper
About 1 pound of beef stew pieces/chunks?
1.5- 2 pounds of ground beef or turkey or chicken. We used beef.
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1 tsp. black pepper
4 tsp. cayenne pepper (El Diablo called for paprika, but we didn't have it)
2 tsp. cumin (we didn't have that either so we left it out)
7 tsp. chili powder
1.5 tsp. sea salt
3 tsp. brown sugar
1 bottle of beer (I used Erdinger, but I read people using everything from Guinness to anything they had in the fridge)
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
6 oz. tomato paste
About 16 oz. chicken broth
2 tsp. white vinegar
1.5 squares of dark chocolate chopped or grated
2 cans red kidney beans

1. Chop all of the veggies, garlic & peppers.

2. Brown your meat. Do not overcrowd it. Do it in batches so it has a nice good brown on it, not grey. I did the chunks first then put them into the chili pot. Next I did the ground beef and added it to the chili pot.

3. Save some of the fat from the meat and sweat the chopped onion and red bell pepper. Add it to the pot.

4. Sweat the garlic, jalapeno, chilis & habanero. We used all of the seeds too, but use what you want based on heat you like. Add them to the pot.

5. Add all dry spices.

6. Add bottle of beer.

7. Add tomatoes, paste, broth & vinegar.

8. Simmer for about an hour uncovered stirring every so often.

9. Add in beans and chocolate. Let it cook for about another hour.

10. Take off the heat and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. You can top with tortilla strips or chips, shredded cheese, onions, sour cream...really whatever you like.



This recipe makes a thicker chili..and a LOT of chili. We had leftovers and it may have even been better the second day! It does have a long list of ingredients, but I would say it's worth it. A little time intensive as well, but it hits the spot on a cool fall football Saturday.

What is your favorite chili recipe? Let me know if you try this one and how it turns out!