I made my first Chili on Sunday and it won 1st place in the 2012 4th Annual McEver Woods Chili Cook-Off. Yes, there were only 4 other entries but I’m still proud of my Chili.
For posterity, and because some friends of mine asked; here is the award winning chili recipe. But first, a little background. Since I hate the beans in most chili, I decided to make a no beans chili. I didn’t find out until the next day that “real chili” (especially Texas Chili) has no beans in it (this was from Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory so I knew it had to be true (since he’s a know-it-all and never wrong…and yes, he’s my hero)).
Since I’ve never made Chili before, I needed to do some research as to what one should put in Chili, so I headed off to the Internet and Googled “Chili No Beans” for starters. Quickly I realized that every Chili was different and you could put just about anything in it that you wanted to. I knew I wanted my chili to taste a little bit like my favorite Thai dish, Orange Chili Chicken; but I knew that it was going to be meat-based and wasn’t sure the Orange would go well with that. I found one recipe with beer in it and another one mentioned Tequila I think, so I knew since booze was allowed as an ingredient, I would put some in.
In short, I decided on a 3-meat chili and either Mango or Orange would be part of it (and I knew I’d be using multi-colored peppers). So, off I went to Publixs to get the ingredients.
Cassavaugh’s Crazy 3-Meat Chili Recipe
- 1 lb hamburger
- 1 lb lean stew beef (cut into even smaller cubes)
- 4 Hot Dogs (Armour – Angus)
- 1 jar Barilla Napoletana – Roasted Garlic pasta sauce
- 1 small (14.5 oz) can of Hunts Diced Tomatoes
- 1 smaller (10 oz) can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
- 3 peppers – Green, Orange, Yellow
- 1 small yellow/white onion
- 1 jar of Del Monte Mangoes (for the Juice only)
- 3-5 shots of Vodka
- Garlic Salt (liberally added while lightly browning the meats)
- Chili Powder (2-4 teaspoons (oh heck, just go for it))
Steps:
- Lightly Brown each meat separately, adding lots of Garlic Salt in the mix. (The Hot Dogs should be minced into tiny cubes – approximately 48 pieces per hot dog.)
- Use mostly the middle section of each pepper, cut into strips.
- Dice onion
- Add onion, peppers and the 2 cans of tomotoes to the pasta sauce and simmer.
- Add Mango juice to cut the bite.
- Add the Vodka to add some kick.
- Add Chili Powder until you’re happy with the sauce.
- Add Sauce and Meat to the pressure cooker and stir until well mixed.
- Pressure cook on medium (for 15 minutes beyond the pop-up point).
- Turn off heat and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours.
Done – Serves between 8-12 people. I like mine on an open hamburger bun.
If anyone tries it out…please let me know how it came out.
–Chef Joe