We had our annual Chili Cookoff at my work today (to raise money for charity). As I made my chili last night, I figured I might as well do a cinemagraph while I waited for it to simmer. Fun!
So I didn’t win the cookoff. I didn’t even make the top three, but that’s ok because it turned out that the prizes included a gift card to McDonald’s or a gift card to Chili’s - while very nice for some, I can live without both for a looooong time!
At any rate, I tried a fun new recipe this year - the secret ingredient? Chocolate! I based my recipe on this one from Our Best Bites (I doubled it). After all was said and done, I found that it needed less brown sugar and less vinegar. (And I used beef instead of turkey). I will definitely try this again! It was rich and tasty. Not too spicy, with a sweetness you don’t usually find in chili. Great!
Here’s my adapted recipe:
Chipotle Chocolate Chili
2 lb. ground beef
2 med. onions, chopped fine
2 red bell peppers, chopped small
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 15 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans black beans (or you can make them yourself out of dry black beans)
4 cups beef broth (sounds strange, but I used chicken broth because it’s all I had - it worked fine!)
1-2 T. brown sugar (original recipe calls for 6 T. - this was too sweet, even for me)
4 T. chili powder
2 t. ground cumin
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used 1 T. Dutch Process and 1 T. black cocoa, but you can use regular)
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. cracked black pepper
Chipotle sauce (from two small can of chipotle chilis)
3/4 oz. unsweetened chocolate (3/4 of a one cube) chopped fine - be careful, use to taste, too much will make your chili too bitter
2-3 T. red wine vinegar (be careful here too, start with 1 T. at a time, then add, too much will make it too vinegar-y)
Shredded cheddar, sour cream, and onions to serve
Brown ground beef and set aside. Heat some olive oil in a large dutch oven (or stock pot) over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic until translucent. Mix in browned ground beef, tomatoes, beans, broth, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, salt and pepper. Add the chipotle sauce from two small cans (set the peppers aside). Heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer (uncovered), stirring occasionally, until thickened as desired (about 45 minutes worked for me). If desired, add some of the chopped chipotle peppers for heat. Add 1-2 T. red wine vinegar and a small amount of chopped chocolate. Taste and repeat as needed for desired richness. When thickened and seasoned as desired, serve with cheese, sour cream, and onions.
Enjoy!
