(Apparently) Award Winning Chili

This week I was surprised to win my office chili cook off. I've climbed the ranks over the last three years winning third, second, and finally first. So many people liked it that it was also People's Choice. I even got two fun trophies. It's especially surprising because I wasn't planning on entering this year. I felt like I had too much going on outside work, but last week the office administrator came and begged me to enter given my past success.

Now I wish I could say that this was an old family recipe and that it's been handed down through the generations. That it has morphed and perfected over the decades and now is finally ready to be a champion chili.

But that's not true.

A few years ago we were planning a church chili cook off with the scout troop. I had to participate so I got on the Google Machine and clicked a few times. Pretty soon I came up with this one:

Emily's Chipotle Chile

Now, I'm always a fan of chipotle flavored foods so I thought it was a good candidate to start with. I made a couple of small modifications, too, so I'll put down my modified recipe. The biggest change comes from the fact that kidney beans suck, while black beans are delicious. Black beans also fit the chipotle theme better in my opinion. (Of course, all this discussion on beans is purely academic anyway, seeing that real chili should be bean free.)

Anyway, here we go.

Tom's Chipotle Chili

• 1 lb Ground Hot Italian Sausage
• 2 lbs Ground Beef
• 1/2 lb Thick Cut Pepper Bacon, Diced
• 5 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Tbsp Ground Coriander
• 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 Large Onion, Diced
• 1 (28 oz) Can Diced Tomatoes (Not Drained)
• 1 (15 oz) Can Tomato Sauce
• 1 (14 oz) Can Black Beans
• 2 Tbsp Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, Minced
• Salt/Pepper to taste

Cook sausage, bacon, and ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat until lightly browned and crumbly. 

When the meat has released its grease, and has begun to brown, drain off accumulated grease, and season with chili powder, cumin, and coriander. 

Cook and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.

 Stir in the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, chipotle peppers, salt, and pepper. 

Bring to a simmer and cook on low for 30-60 minutes.

Find some sour cream and shredded cheese QUICK!

At this point, the original recipe says to put it in a slow cooker and cook for 8-10 hours. I think it's good right away. To be fair, though, the chili in the contest had spent about 4 hours slow cooking in the crock pot.

In my recipe I also upped the chipotle peppers from 2 Tsp to 2 Tbsp. This is not a mistake.

I hope you like it.