It's Chili Cook-off Time

No, before you think I enter these big National cook-offs-- I don't-- it's just some friendly rivalry between good friends.  I don't always win, but no matter what, the time of hanging out and talking with friends is great.  Today I am trying a new recipe.  I usually make Chili with beans -- this recipe did enter a real cook-off and won some nice change.  I found the recipe at:
http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/best-chili-recipe.html
Here is the original recipe:
Best Chili
(Their Title, not mine-- we shall see)
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 1/2 lb. lean chuck, ground
1 lb. lean pork, ground
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
8 oz. hunt's tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 can beer (12 oz.)
3 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons instant beef bouillon (or 6 cubes)
2 Tablespoons cumin, ground
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons oregano leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon coriander, ground
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon louisiana hot sauce
1 teaspoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon warm water
Directions:
1. In a large saucepan brown 1 1/4 pounds of the ground meat (the beef and the pork), drain the fat.
2. Remove meat (the beef and the pork). Brown the rest of the ground meat, drain all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.
3. Add the garlic and onion, cook and stir until tender.
4. Add the other half of the meat and the tomato sauce, water, beer, chili powder, bouillon, cumin, paprika, oregano, sugar, coriander, cocoa, and hot sauce. Mix well.
5. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, covered , for 2 hours.
6. In a small bowl, stir together the cornmeal and flour, then add the warm water and mix well.
7. Stir into chili and cook, covered, for an additional 20 minutes.

I always tinker with recipes and make them mine.  I made a few minor changes.  I used 2 1/2 lbs of Beef Chuck Thin Sliced, trimmed them of most of the fat and cut them into 1/4 inch cubes.  Since I used ground pork, I wanted the texture of the beef to be different, so I cut the Thin Sliced Chuck into small cubes (smaller than bite size)
I used 5 cloves of garlic because the measurement of meat was slightly more than the recipe called for.  I love garlic. The onion I used was also slightly larger than the yield of 1 cup (probably close to 1 1/2 cups)  I used Gebharts Chili powder, because I like the flavor and I reduced the Louisiana Hot sauce to 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2 because I was not sure how hot the chili would be and my children will be eating it later for dinner and I didn't want them to not be able to eat it.

This is a departure from how I usually make chili- I typically make it with beans. I know, in cook offs that are on the National level, this is almost sacrilegious!  To finish them off, I top them with crisp bacon bits (not from the bottle!!), cheese and have sour cream on the side to cut the heat if it is too spicy.  I also bought some avocados to top the chili this time.  I love living in Southern California, avocados are easy to find and of great quality.  Another key point is to make the chili ahead a day or even two days ahead  of an event if you do not have to cook it on site.  This mellows the seasonings out.  Yum Yum.

Sorry about the soft focus on this one.  This is the trimmed, cubed Chuck Beef that I had purchased thin sliced.

I cooked the ground pork and beef in two batches and drained them well after cooking.






Browned beef- drain well.











Add chopped onions (1 to 1 1/2 cups)

Add 5 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Add 1 1/2 cups beer, 1 cup of water and 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

Add the seasonings (sugar not shown in this picture)

I added half of the Louisiana Hot Sauce that it called for because you can never remove the heat you can always add it though.

Here is a picture of the seasonings before I stirred it into the meat mixture.

The chili before I put the lid on it and reduced the heat to low, simmering for 2 hours.

After it has simmered it will be this beautiful color.  The aroma is great at this point, but there is still the thickening step to this recipe.

Combine 1 teaspoon cornmeal and 1 teaspoon flour with a few teaspoons of warm water.  I actually ladled some of the chili into the bowl and stirred it so that all the thickening agent would end up in the chili, then returned it to the pot of chili.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes longer

I ladled the finished chili into a bowl and topped with my favorite toppings.

Avocado
Crisply cooked bacon
Shredded Mexican style cheddar jack cheese

It was quite good. I do think I will use this recipe.  I will have to double it to serve the crowd.  I hope to reserve enough of this tonight so I can see how it tastes tomorrow.

I enjoyed this recipe and I am sure you will as well.