WildWSS: WildWSS's Texas Tuff Chili

WildWSS's

Texas Tuff

Chili

Celebrating National Chili Day, which was February 28, I decided to try a 'new' chili recipe. After a little Sherlocking, it seemed more than appropriate to combine a few steps and recommendations from two recipes. I've been following Kurt's posts on his blog Smoked & Grilled for some time and I had saved a Pinterest post for his Texas Tuff Chili. Recently I stumbled across a chili recipe with a great pic from Jun on his blog Jun-Blog,which was titled Mom's Hearty Homemade Chili. It looked so good!

Integrating some ingredients and steps from both recipes was exactly what I wanted to try. I increased some spice amounts from one recipe, added some additional spices, tossed in extra ingredients and condiments from the other recipe and gave it that slow cooked time to bring those spices front and center. Kurt stated for his recipe that it was the BEST chili EVER! Well, I can't say mine was the BEST, but it was darn good!

One last little tidbit, there are those that will 'get in your face' if you have beans in your chili AND call it Texas Chili. I like beans in chili, so right back at you folks! Whatever! :)) Regardless, you have a few months to perfect your BEST chili recipe. National Chili Month is October, so you have plenty of time to plan your Chili Chow Down Celebration! Hurry, Get it ON!

Let's Try It!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground beef (I used 96/4.)
1 large red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 or 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded & minced (I used 3 large ones. )
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 tbsp. chili power
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (I added a bit more during the cooking/tasting phase.)
1 15 oz. can kidney beans, with liquid
1 15 oz. can black beans, with liquid
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted.)
salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon for both.)

Condiments (optional):

Shredded cheese
sour cream
chopped scallions

Preparation (serves 4-6):

1. Using large soup/stock pot, lightly brown ground beef breaking it up & drain*.

2. Add onion & garlic, mix well. Continue to brown a few more minutes.

3. Add jalapenos, bell pepper, celery, tomatoes & tomato sauce. Mix well.

4. Add spices & Worcestershire sauce. Mix well.

5. Bring mixture to a slow boil.

6. Reduce heat to simmer. Add kidney & black beans. Mix well.

7. Partially cover (you know, crooked lid) & simmer for 1 hour.

8. After one hour, give it the ol' taste test. Adjust spices to your liking, mixing well. Let simmer for another 30-60 minutes. (I actually let mine slow simmer, stirring occasionally for another 1 1/2 hours.)

9. Let chili rest, covered for approximately 15 minutes before serving. Serve with your favorite crackers or some homemade cornbread!

*note: If you use 96/4 lean ground beef, you may not need to drain meat.

For me, this chili had a distinct and unique flavor. Between the two of us, we finished the entire pot in two days! And it may have had something to do with the size of the serving bowl..., so Chow Down and enjoy!

WildWSS

WildWSS's Texas Tuff Chili