GeekBone’s Chili – The Best Chili Recipe
My wife suggested one of my first posts should be about my Chili (I warned you to expect randomness). As I do many things, I have latched on to cooking. The interesting thing is this hobby has stuck around longer than most. This is not to say I enjoy cooking enough to cook every day, nor do I want to become an expert at it, but I do like to be competent. Both my wife and I work, so getting too crazy with cooking just isn’t practical. For that reason, I have a tendency to look for simple recipes that do not take too long to fix.
One of my favorite foods has always been a great bowl of chili. My Mom used to make some when I was a kid and, of course, I loved it and I have compared all chili since then to the memory I have of my Mother’s. Of course, somewhere down the line my Mom decided she was going to go all healthy on us and she never made the chili again.
But I digress. Back to the chili…
I spent a lot of time reading about chili and comparing and trying different recipes and I can honestly say this final version is my recipe. To be sure, there are influences like Red Caldwell and even Walt Disney, but the final version is all mine and it has turned out to be a favorite of both family and friends. I had one friend who told me it was the best chili he had ever had. Of course, it was the super spicy version of my chili and he is from Trinidad, so take it for what it’s worth.
The secret is the spice broth. Be sure to make the broth and mix it thoroughly, before adding it to the mixture. Also, in the interest of simplicity, I only use dried ingredients. This way it only takes about 30 minutes to prep and about 6 hours in the slow cooker.
One last thing: I am well aware that true chili does not have any “fillers” like beans. Traditional chili is all meat, spices and sauce with nothing else added. The old saying is “If you add beans to your chili, then you don’t know beans about chili”. Okay… I get it… but frankly when I made it without beans, it just seemed like a whole lot of meat.
GeekBone’s Chili – The Best Chili Recipe
Equipment
- Skillet
- Slow Cooker/Dutch Over
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chuck Browned with onions
- 15 ounces pinto beans Rinsed
- 1 whole onion Diced
- 5 cloves garlic Diced
- 2 whole jalapeno chile peppers seeded and chopped
- 1 whole poblano pepper seeded and chopped
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 15 ounces diced tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 3 tablespoon EVOO
Instructions
- Add some olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Chop the garlic, onions, and chili peppers and add to skillet once oil is rippling. Cook until fragerent and add ground chuck. Cook until brown.
- While the beef is cooking, open the can of beans and strain them. If they are not organic, rinse them otherwise leave and set aside. Once the beef is browned, add the beans, mix and simmer for a few minutes.
- In the crockpot, add the tomato sauce and rotell and mix well. Then heat up your cup of beef broth and add all of the dry spices and mix well until you have a nice dark spice broth. Once mixed, add to crock pot and mix the tomato base.
- Drain meat and beans and add to crockpot. Heat on high for 2 hours or low for 4-6. Could vary with the crock pot. The meat is all cooked but it needs to cook in the sauce and spice mixture for best results.
- Server over rice or plain, add cheese as desired. Best after sitting for a day in the fridge.
A couple more thoughts; the spice broth is more effective when mixed and then added to the solids. Also, if you are cooking this for the average family or group of friends, be careful not to make it too spicy. I have found that most people are good with this level of spice, but if it is still too much, try it with 1 or 2 tablespoons of chili powder and, if that is too much, cut the jalapeños all together. If it is still too hot after that, then maybe you need to eat something other than chili! Whatever you do, keep the poblano as it helps to add the smokey flavor.
If you do adjust, it is important to keep the ratio of beef and bean balanced with the sauce. This recipe uses 1 lb of beef and 1 can of beans to 1 can of tomatoes and 1 cup of broth. So, for example, if you want to add another pound of beef, you will want to add another can of tomato sauce. I probably would not add another can of diced tomatoes unless I was doubling the beef and beans. I have also made this with Ro-Tel instead of the diced tomatoes, but I could not really tell the difference.
Serve with rice or pasta. Also, this is excellent over hotdogs. Let me know how you like it!!