My chili recipe is evolving. v1.1 involved a different spice mix, and v1.2 brings us the Triple-B – beef, beer and bacon! I’m also using cubed sirloin instead of ground beef, just to see which I prefer.
New ingredients:
750g sirloin steak
9 or 10 rashers of bacon
2 tbl chili powder
1 tbl ancho chili powder
1 tbl paprika
1.5 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
0.5 tsp ground oregano
The rest of the ingredients are the same as the original recipe:
Large yellow onion, roughly diced
28oz tin of diced tomatoes
Small tin tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
19oz tin of red kidney beans, drained and washed
1 cup sliced pickled jalapenos
1 green pepper, cored/seeded and diced
Cut up the steak(s) into cubes around 1.5cm on a side. Take the bacon and cut it crosswise into 1cm wide slices. Heat a skillet sprayed with cooking spray over a medium-high heat, and drop in the bacon when it’s hot. I cooked the bacon for just a couple of minutes, long enough to render out some fat and have it start to crisp up. Remove the bacon and place on kitchen towels to drain, then drop in the beef to brown it in the bacon fat (I had to do it in a couple of batches). Remove and drain as you did the bacon. Now add the onion and saute it in the beef/bacon fat with a bit of salt and pepper. Don’t brown it but cook until it goes transparent, then remove and drain.
Then chuck everything except the green pepper in the crockpot and cook on low for 7 hours. Put the pepper in at the end and cook for another 15-30 minutes on high. I sometimes do this last step uncovered to lose some moisture if it’s too saucy. Warning: house will fill with amazing smell about 3 hours before you can eat. Slow cookers are so cruel.
It came out pretty great. Turns out I prefer using steak to ground beef. It’s about 50% more expensive and more hassle to prepare. Typical!
