Craig's World Famous Top Secret Super Awesome Ultimate Chili Recipe

 By popular demand, I'm finally going to publish my chili recipe. This is a Craig original, a recipe that has been slowly crafted and refined over the last several years. It has come to be a favorite of many of my closest friends, and I've decided it is time to share it with all of you.

Chili is one of those things that people can never seem to settle on. Some want it super spicy, others want it rich and meaty. And of course, there is the timeless debate: beans or no beans. I set out to create something unique. I had a vision (or whatever the taste-bud oriented equivalence of a vision is.) I've had enough chili in my life to know what I did and didn't want, so I turned to recipes of chefs I knew and trusted, and then started building from there. This recipe owes a great deal to Alton Brown, Emeril Lagasse, and Ellie Krieger. Emeril and Ellie both have some great recipes out there for chili, and their thoughts on ingredients definitely affected my choices. Alton dedicated an entire Good Eats to his chili recipe. It's a great watch, and it's the origination of many of the steps involved here.

As I said earlier, this recipe has been a labor of love for the past several years. I started out following Alton Brown's own recipe more closely, then made some major changes. His follows a more traditional Texas approach: cubed beef and no beans. However, those of you who know me know I'll light my own head on fire before I do something the Texas way. (For those of you who don't know me, IMHO, Texas should be sold back to Mexico, and all the inbred Anglo residents who claim to be "native" Texans should be forced into indentured servitude by their new Mexican overlords.)

OK, that's a little harsh. In all fairness, I was very willing to try the cubed-beef version prescribed by Texas tradition and Brown's recipe. But my chili has to have beans. And why not? Beans added wonderful texture, flavor, fiber, and protein. So the first iteration was made with cubed stew meat. It came out... well... just OK. One friend really loved it, but I knew it could be better. And step one was going back to ground beef. Otherwise, the flavor and texture just aren't right.

All that out of the way, here was my vision for my ultimate chili recipe: Flavor, not heat.

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's those morons who think the best food is the food that is so hot it could kill you. Call me unadventurous, call me a coward (just don't call me late for dinner.) But think about it: what's the point in all that heat? You can't taste it. It causes intense pain. And it's not actually a flavor. It brings very little to the table.

My chili is nice and spicy, definitely plenty of heat to keep you warm on a cold winter's day. But there is much more to it. This is all about building a flavor palate, layering one exquisite (and sometimes delicate) flavor on another. Every ingredient matters. Remember that. I encourage everyone to experiment with this and make it their own, too. At various times, this has contained cubed beef, carrots, and various amounts of salt.

What you'll need:

• 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
• 1 pound 90/10 ground beef
• 1 pound 90/10 ground turkey
• 2 teaspoons peanut oil
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle of ale (a nice pale ale works best)
• 1 (16 ounce) jar of chunky medium salsa
• 30 tortilla chips, crushed (yes, you do have to count them)
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the cipotle peppers)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 cups (1 can) crushed tomatoes
• 1 onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) kidney beans, drained and rinsed

You'll also need a large pot, at least 6 quarts.  I use my stainless steel 6-quart Dutch oven.

Heat the oil in the dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, red and green bell peppers and one of the jalapenos with a pinch of kosher salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin, stirring, and cook 1 minute more. Remove the veggies from the heat and transfer to a large bowl.

Put the pot back over high heat, and begin browning the meat, 1 pound at a time. I always start with the 80/20 beef, then the 90/10 beef, then finally the turkey. After browning each pound, remove it to a large bowl and brown the next batch.






Once all of the meat is browned, add the beer to deglaze the pot. Remember to really scrap everything up off the bottom and sides, this is where some of the best flavor comes from.









Add the meat and veggies back to the pot, along with the salsa, chipotle peppers, the remaining jalapeno, adobo sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chili powder and crushed tortilla chips.(Alternatively, you can now add all ingredients, including the scrapings and liquid from the pot, to a slow cooker.) Stir thoroughly to combine, then simmer over low heat for at least 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning.  (Alternatively, you can now add all ingredients, including the scrapings and liquid from the pot, to a slow cooker.)

 While the chili is simmering away, you can go get a ton of stuff done. You know, all those chores you've been putting off. The dishes. The laundry. Your taxes . . .






Oh, who am I kidding. Grab a cold one, relax in your favorite chair, and enjoy how awesome your home now smells...













When there are about 20 minutes left on the cook time, add the beans.











Serve in a large bowl with a bottle of your favorite beer (I recommend a bottle of whatever went in to deglaze the pot.) I like mine with just a little cheddar cheese on top, Mari and her family prefer it with cheese and a nice dollop of sour cream.