Not too long ago we had a chili cook off at work. It's been an annual occurrence for almost 10 years! This was the first time I participated and it was a lot of fun!
The chili's were lined up on the table and had small jars in front for anonymous voting. Each individual was given one dry bean as their vote. Fun!
I've only made chili a handful of times in my life, to be honest I never used to like beans, but in chili they are okay. I quite enjoy making chili though and another confession, each time I make it I use a different recipe! The cook off was no exception, I had the attitude that I was participating for fun and if I won great, if not, it was fun to try (an ancient family recipe wasn't a stake here haha).
And in fact I got 2nd! (out of 5) The man who won last year won again this year. It was good chili I'll admit, but I've got a plan now and I'm in it to win next year!
If you'd like to know which recipe I used I'm going to share it! I made some adjustments from the original as I doubled it to feed more as well the grocery store didn't have all of the exact ingredients I needed. I also took a tidbit from another recipe I read and incorporated it in. But hey, it's chili and the greatest thing about that is it is completely flexible and fairly forgiving :) That's my kind of cooking!
Enough talk, let's cook!
Chocolate Bacon Chili
Ingredients
-1 package of bacon
-2 pounds ground beef
-1 onion, chopped
-1 tbsp + 1 tsp chili powder
-1 tbsp ground cumin
-2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-Two 15oz cans Home-style Baked Beans
-1 tsp dried oregano
-One 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
-One 15oz can red beans, drained and rinsed
-One 15oz can diced tomatoes
-4 cups tomato sauce
-2 cups beef broth, low sodium
Directions
In a large fry pan cook your bacon. Fry it fairly crispy, but not burnt. Set it aside, but leave the bacon grease in the pan. On medium heat add your ground beef and brown it. Drain off the fat.
In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, stir together your ground beef, onion, chili powder and cumin. Next add the cocoa and garlic, mix together and cook for 2 minutes. Next, add the home-style beans and oregano and cook for another minute. Add the black and red beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth. Lastly, crumble up the bacon and mix in. Cover your chili and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
I love to eat my chili over nachos with sour cream and cheese, delicious :)
The chili's were lined up on the table and had small jars in front for anonymous voting. Each individual was given one dry bean as their vote. Fun!
And in fact I got 2nd! (out of 5) The man who won last year won again this year. It was good chili I'll admit, but I've got a plan now and I'm in it to win next year!
If you'd like to know which recipe I used I'm going to share it! I made some adjustments from the original as I doubled it to feed more as well the grocery store didn't have all of the exact ingredients I needed. I also took a tidbit from another recipe I read and incorporated it in. But hey, it's chili and the greatest thing about that is it is completely flexible and fairly forgiving :) That's my kind of cooking!
Enough talk, let's cook!
Chocolate Bacon Chili
Ingredients
-1 package of bacon
-2 pounds ground beef
-1 onion, chopped
-1 tbsp + 1 tsp chili powder
-1 tbsp ground cumin
-2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-Two 15oz cans Home-style Baked Beans
-1 tsp dried oregano
-One 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
-One 15oz can red beans, drained and rinsed
-One 15oz can diced tomatoes
-4 cups tomato sauce
-2 cups beef broth, low sodium
Directions
In a large fry pan cook your bacon. Fry it fairly crispy, but not burnt. Set it aside, but leave the bacon grease in the pan. On medium heat add your ground beef and brown it. Drain off the fat.
In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, stir together your ground beef, onion, chili powder and cumin. Next add the cocoa and garlic, mix together and cook for 2 minutes. Next, add the home-style beans and oregano and cook for another minute. Add the black and red beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth. Lastly, crumble up the bacon and mix in. Cover your chili and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
I love to eat my chili over nachos with sour cream and cheese, delicious :)
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| The trophy - next year! |
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| The competition! |
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| When you double a chili recipe it make for a lot of cans! |
Notes:
*Original Chocolate Chili recipe courtesy Paula Deen, see it here.
*This recipe I've provided is not doubled.
*I typically like to make my chili in the slow cooker, works for any recipe, just add a couple of hours and cook on low.
*I also don't like anything spicy...not fitting for chili I know, so I eliminated all peppers and anything that might give it too much kick, but feel free to add your own!
*Original Chocolate Chili recipe courtesy Paula Deen, see it here.
*This recipe I've provided is not doubled.
*I typically like to make my chili in the slow cooker, works for any recipe, just add a couple of hours and cook on low.
*I also don't like anything spicy...not fitting for chili I know, so I eliminated all peppers and anything that might give it too much kick, but feel free to add your own!
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