It was chilly on Saturday, which got me thinking... HMMM, chili!
(Chilly / Chili, get it?)
After some thought, I remembered that my cousin's wife not only has won medals in local chili cook offs, but she is also a chili judge. I called her up for some tips. Here is the result...
Pic 1: base ingredients.. My local grocery store sells packets of that they call "Meat Loaf Mix" which is simply equal portions of ground veal, beef, and pork. I got 2 of these plus 1/2 pound of 80/20 beef (just to make beef the dominant meat).
Pic 2: started off by browning the meat under high temp. I remove the fat as I go along so that I get real browning (if I left the fat in the pot, the meat would boil and not brown).
Pic 3: While the meat was browning, I diced up 1 onion, 1 red bell pepper, 2 poblano peppers, 2 Serrano peppers, and 4 cloves of garlic.
Pic 4: After meat is browned, I added in all my diced veggies. After the veggies have sweated, I added 1/2 bottle of red wine to de-glaze the pot (lots of nice, tasty brown bits were stuck to the bottom of the pot).
I then added a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of plumb tomatoes (that I mushed up in my hands), half a can of water, and equal portions of chili powder and paprika (about 4 tbsp each).
I then added 1 can of kidney beans (rinsed and drained) and then let the chili simmer for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, I added a dash of worcestershire sauce, a dash of balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp. of brown sugar, and another dose of chili powder.
I then let it slow-cook for another 3 hours.
Pic 5: Made a nice batch of sweet corn bread and served the chili with a nice lump of shredded cheddar cheese.
Very tasty!!! Nice glass of 2014 Chilean Cab
(chili / Chilean, get it?)
