I always come back to this chili recipe…not just because it’s won two awards, (let me just brag for a minute!)  but because it’s That. Damn. Good.  This week, I sent the recipe to a girlfriend of mine who made it for a potluck party.  She promptly declared– and I do quote: “Oh dear God, Parker.  I’m not kidding.  That’s the best chili I’ve ever tasted!  And I live in Texas.  I’m giddy with excitement to take it tomorrow!”

I never get tired of hearing applause compliments for my recipes— mostly just because it makes my heart happy to share food, and for me, it’s sharing pure L.O.V.E.

The show-stopper ingredients in this chili are the hint of chocolate (1 Tb cocoa) and the chipotle peppers.  Once you brown all the ingredients and combine, you can let it simmer on the stove or in a crockpot on low for about 3 hours, but don’t keep it going in the crockpot all night or it will dry it out.  Just put it in the fridge and thin it out in the morning with a bit of beef stock.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef (sometimes the butcher will label it “chili mix”– the beef is thicker than regular hamburger meat)

1 pound spicy sausage (I use Jimmy Dean HOT sausage)

3 Tablespoons butter

2 medium or 1 large yellow/white onion diced

4-5 garlic cloves diced

2 jalapeno peppers diced (not seeds)

2 cans Rotel tomatoes (original)

1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste

1 can of red beans with juice (Kidney)

1/4 cup honey

4 Tablespoons BBQ sauce

1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce

4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (diced with seeds), plus 4 Tablespoons of sauce

1 12 oz bottle amber beer

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Cocoa

2 cups of beef stock (I prefer using “Better Than Bouillon” paste. You boil 2 cups of water and add 2 Tablespoons of the paste and mix.)

2 Tablespoons Cumin

4 Tablespoons Chili powder

1 Tablespoon Garlic powder

1 Tablespoon Onion powder

2 Tablespoons Paprika (Hungarian/spicy is best)

2 Tablespoons Brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

2 Tablespoons Black pepper

4 ears corn on cob, cut off cob

Bunch of Scallions chopped to garnish

Shredded cheese to top

Directions: In a large saucepan, brown chili meat and sausage. Do not drain.  In a separate frying pan, melt butter and saute onion, garlic, jalapeno and corn until soft, 5-7 minutes. Add to beef saucepan and stir to combine. Add all the spices to the beef mixture and saute over medium heat until combined…Pour in everything else and simmer for 2-3 hours!  Top with chopped scallions and shredded cheese!

Love Jambalaya and Chili?  Try my Chili-laya recipe too!