In my opinion, the perfect chili DEFINITELY doesn't come without two ingredients: beer and avocado. But the other ingredients are pretty important too, and will only turn your plain and simple chili into the best you've ever had.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef, defrosted if frozen (you can add more than 1 lb. if you'd like)
1 poblano pepper, chopped
1 yellow chili pepper, chopped
2 jalapeños, sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 lb. fresh tomatoes, chopped
6 oz. tomato paste (one small can)
24 oz. (2 bottles) cream stout of your choice (amber ales works very well too)
15.5 oz. (1 can) black beans, rinsed (use non-canned & soaked if you prefer)
31 oz. (2 cans) kidney beans, rinsed (use non-canned & soaked if you prefer)
1/4 c. lime juice
1/4 c. chili powder (yes a quarter cup)
1/4 c. dried oregano
2 tbsp. fresh parsley
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. ground black pepper
Optional Garnishes:
avocado is a must, in my opinion
sour cream or even greek yogurt for a healthier option
shredded cheese
cilantro
tabasco or other hot sauce
green onions
more jalapeños
more chopped white onions
tortilla chips
cornbread
oh, and beer to drink of course
Directions:
Put first 9 ingredients into a pan. This includes beef, peppers, onion and garlic. Sauté in fat from beef until beef is cooked through. If you're worried about overcooking peppers, onion and garlic, you can add only the beef first, cook for a few minutes, then add peppers, onion and garlic and cook everything together. If you are not adding meat, add a tbsp. or so of oil to the pan (preferably coconut oil or olive oil). Note: Do not heat olive oil at too high of heat.
While beef mixture is cooking, add the rest of the ingredients, excluding garnishes, to a crock pot. Once beef mixture is done, add to the crock pot. Set temperature to high. Let cook in crock pot for about 4-6 hours. You can also set temperature to low and cook for 6-10 hours while you're at work all day. I don't think that extra time really changes the flavor much though. You can also cook chili on a stove in a big pot. If you choose this method, bring all ingredients to high for a minute, then simmer for 4-6 hours. If you're in a rush, cooking chili for just an hour is perfectly okay! (Although keep in mind that the alcohol content may be a little higher with this shorter amount of cooking time)
Spoon into a bowl, add garnishes of your choice, pop open a beer, and float to the clouds.
*** For you crazy people who can't handle spicy, easy: don't add jalapeños, yellow chili peppers, poblano pepper, and possibly add less chili powder. Oh and you won't want to add Tabasco as a garnish!
*** You can add different proteins like chicken, pork, tofu or seitan, but beef is best in my opinion. Note: You'd probably want to add tofu and seitan at the end to avoid it breaking apart and becoming mushy.
*** Don't drink too many beers and then drive!! Note: Most of the alcohol in the chili will burn off because of how long it cooks for, so this recipe is kid friendly :)
Enjoy!
