My Favorite Chili

Kim127's Note:

This is the only chili recipe I've used for the last 8 years or so. I think its pretty outstanding. I vary the hot ingredients depending on who will be eating it and the mood I'm in. I've also used ground venison and it was just as good.

• Total Time: 4 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 cup onion , diced
• 1 cup green pepper , diced
• 1 large celery rib , diced
• 3 garlic cloves , minced
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 lbs ground beef
• 1 ½ teaspoons jalapeno peppers , seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
• 1 ½ bay leaves , crumbled
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning mix
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ cup chili powder
• 2⁄3; cup dark beer
• 1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 ½ cups water
• kidney bean (optional)
• cheddar cheese (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large kettle, stir fry the onion, green pepper, celery and garlic in the vegetable oil for about 8 minutes or until tender.
2. Add the ground beef and cook until done.
3. Drain.
4. Return meat to kettle, add remainder of ingredients (and kidney beans) and enough water to come to the top of the chili ingredients.
5. Stir til mixed completely.
6. Simmer on low heat, uncovered for at least 3 hours.
7. Top with cheddar cheese and sour cream if desired.

Reviews

[Debala]

Made this chili last night and OMG, this is so good! I changed very little, as I added a bit more jalapeno peppers, used less ground beef, used all beer for the water, added a can of Rotel tomatoes, omitted the honey, added 2 cans of Kidney beans (this house needs beans in their chili), and topped with sour cream & sharp cheddar cheese. The smell as it simmered made our stomachs growl! This was one of the best chili's I've had, and will be definitely be used from now on. My boyfriend had two huge helpings at dinner and in the middle of the night had another helping of it.

[DDW]

Great Chili! The blend of favors were wonderful. It was made minus the jalapeno - it somehow didn't make it in the shopping bag, and I only used a few of the pepper flakes because I was worried about the heat for the kids. I used 2- 14oz cans of tomatoes and added 4 cans of kidney beans - I have to have the beans! I love sour cream on my chili and left it off because I wanted to enjoy the full taste of the chili. Excellent recipe.

[~Nimz~]

This was absolutely wonderful. While cooking the smell filled my house and we almost couldn't wait until it had simmered the full time. The flavors were absolutely wonderful and I followed the direction to the T except I upped the hot stuff and left out the beans. Great recipe.