Chili

I have always loved chili in the winter. The best chili I have ever had is at a crazy place in Missoula, Montana. It was at this crazy joint that was a diner/bar/gambling establishment in one. It was late at night, after having a few drinks, I stopped in to this place and looked at the menu. It was standard diner fare, with the exception of the chili. It was titled- Taylor made Best Damm Chili (please allow 20 minutes). The chili came out with a mound of minced onions and cheese on the top. The chili had large chunks of beef and was otherwise a red chili. It was really quite good.

Since that time in Montana, I have been playing with recipe on chili recently, and I think I am ready to share it. It started from a recipe I got from my neighbor. It had a great meat-forward flavor and had a bit of allspice in it, which I found different. I have tweaked it a bit, which I think gives it a bit more depth. Most recently, I have made it with ground venison, but I have made it with beef and bison as well.

Texas Style Chili

2# ground beef/ venison/ or bison.

1 T oil

1/2 t cumin

1 1/2 T chili powder ( ideally use good chili powder- spice islands is decent)

1/4 t allspice

1 1/2 T tomato paste

3 cloves minced garlic

3 stalks celery thinly sliced

2 large onions chopped

1 green/yellow/red pepper chopped

1 t oregano (preferably Mexican)

1 16oz can whole tomatoes-corsely chopped

3 8 oz cans tomato sauce

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

2 bay leaves

1 T sugar (optional)

1 15oz can pinto beans drained

1 15oz can kidney beans drained

Brown meat over high heat in 2 batches, pouring off and reserving liquid in between batches. Add chili powder, allspice, cumin just before second batch of meat is done and stir until fragrant. Add tomato paste to bare bottom of pan and stir in for 2 minutes (should deepen the color of the paste). Add other ingredients and reserved meat except the liquid ones. Reduce heat to med-low and partially cover, stirring frequently. Once vegetables translucent/softened, add other ingredients. Bring mixture to boil, then reduce to simmer until reaches desired thickness/flavors melded/can't wait to eat. Salt/pepper/cayenne pepper to taste. If able to, wait to eat next day. Consider garnishing with pile of raw diced onions and shredded sharp cheddar.

In your glass- Winter Storm beer from Clipper City Brewing Co.