Rat's Chili

When it comes to chili there are a million different recipes. Here in the workplace my recipe tends to be a favorite. The tough part about chili is the recipe is always changing. Here is a rough sample of mine but I urge you to adjust it according to your own tastes. I call this 3 Meat Chili.

Ingredients: 1lb ground beef ( I prefer 80/20 for the extra fat)
1lb ground buffalo (You should be able to find this at the grocery store. If not replace with beef or sausage or whatever your tastes prefer)
2 small steaks (simple and inexpensive is good. I like to brown these on the stovetop and cut them into small bite size pieces. It’s a little steak bite surprise.)
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons pepper
4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes of A1 steak sauce
¼ cup of your favorite barbeque sauce
2 chili seasoning packets (I recommend one pack of carol shelbeys seasoning)
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons red pepper flake
1 large white onion
4 garlic cloves
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
4 serrano peppers (You can also use jalapeno, or habanero peppers depending on spice)
1 ½ cans of tomato juice (generally these are 46-48 oz)
1 can kidney beans
1 can great northern beans
2 cans chili beans
½ can extra sweet niblets corn
¼ cup brown sugar
1 dark chocolate bar
2 tablespoons flour

First brown the meat in the large pot the chili would be made. Season with salt and pepper, Worcestershire, and A1. While the meat is browning work on the vegetables. I prefer to cut down on chopping time and put them all into a food processor. Just make sure you remove the seeds from the peppers. If you do not have one go ahead and finely chop the onion, bell peppers, garlic, and Serrano peppers. To cut down on spice you can also remove the seeds from the Serrano peppers. When the meat is browned add ½ of the vegetables to the meat. At this point I like to add my seasoning to the meat with the flour. The flour will help thicken the chili but if you don’t want to thicken it you can skip this step. Next add in the tomato juice and all the beans along with the rest of the vegetables. When it comes to tomato juice use the amount depending how you like your chili. Some people like a thicker chili while some like a good amount of liquid. Once the chili starts to warm add in the brown sugar and the dark chocolate bar. The nice thing about these elements is if you have a good amount of spice the sweetness will help balance it. At this point I prefer to let the chili simmer low and slow for a good amount of time. As you cook the chili go ahead and sample everything to make sure it is at the spice or sweetness level you want. I always end up adding more chili powder, cumin, and or chili flake for more kick. If it is already spicy enough and you want more sweet just add more brown sugar and or barbeque sauce. Once you have the taste you are looking for you are ready to serve!