$20,000 Chili

While perusing around on the internet, I ran across this recipe, that supposedly won $20,000 in a chili cook-off. So, needless to say, I was a bit excited to make it.

This is a recipe, that to a certain point, you can make from memory. It starts off pretty easily.

Brown a pound and a half of ground beef.

Then drain it… catch at least some of the grease from the pan… you’ll need it later. Here’s my method of doing that…

Then, after your beef is golden brown, toss it into a crockpot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then….

Oh.. yeah.. brown a pound of ground pork. Not ground sausage.. just regular ground pork…

Ok… so you browned your pork… now drain it and add it to the crockpot….

Then… brown another pound of beef and add it to the crockpot.. so, in the crockpot should be a total of 2-1/2 pounds of browned ground beef and a pound of browned ground sausage..

Ok… meat in the crockpot… then time to get the veggies ready…

So, finely chop up 4-5 cloves of garlic and the equivalent of a medium sized yellow onion…

Now that the garlic and onion are finely chopped up, add 2 TBSP of your leftover meat grease to a pan and cook your onions until they get a little translucent, then add the garlic and get things a little caramelized and brown..

Toss the onions and garlic into the crockpot…. and this is where you might need to look at the recipe…

You’ll need:

• 8oz Tomato Sauce
• 1 Cup Water
• 12oz beer
• 3 TBSP Chili Powder
• 6 Beef Bullion Cubes
• 2 TBSP Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 2 tsp oregano leaves
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce

So…. mix all of this wonderfulness together…. then, put the crockpot on low for 4-6 Hours… you might need to stir it around a bit to make sure the bullion cubes break down… and to make sure everything gets equally distributed….

Ok…. here are my thoughts…

The chili isn’t bad.. but it’s nothing amazing as far as I’m concerned… it needs some sort of vegetable in it… so, if I make it again, I’d toss some banana peppers into it.. maybe a few beans…

However, I don’t know if I’ll ever make it again… this chili gives me wicked heartburn… and, the taste sticks with me all day long… I think the use of some different spices is nice.. but none of them seem to make a real difference… the cumin and chili powder are still the standout flavors.

All in all… it’s not bad chili… but… I’ve had better.