Chili

Ingredients

• 1 lbs 85/15 ground beef
• 3 large poblano pepper
• 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo
• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15oz can fire roasted diced tomato
• 28oz San Marzano tomatoes, hand crushed
• 2 15oz cans black beans
• 1 15oz can sweet corn
• 1/2 tbsp beef better than bouillon, mix with 1/2 cup boiling water
• Spices
  • 3 tsp chili powder
  • 3 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp dark & smoky pepper flakes

Instructions

1. You gotta try the baking soda trick for browning ground beef. You just add a tsp per pound, mix it up, and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. It keeps the moisture from pouring out and steaming the meat. Saw it from America's test kitchen and have used it ever since.
2. Cut the peppers in half and bake them at 400 convection for 10-15 minutes or so, broil at the end until the skin bubbles up. Peel the skin off and chop them up. Chop the chipotle peppers together.
3. Brown the ground beef in a fry pan with salt and pepper and add it directly to a 5 quart dutch oven on low. Dice the onion and add it to the fry pan in what's left of the beef fat, add olive oil and saute. Once the onions are soft, add the peppers and cook off some of their liquid until they take on a little more color.
4. Mix all of the spices together in a dish and prepare the garlic. Once the veg is ready add the spices and garlic to toast quickly. Add everything to the dutch oven.
5. Crush the San Marzano tomatoes in a bowl, add the fire roasted tomatoes.
6. Drain the beans and corn (some of the bean liquid will help thicken the chili), add those to the pot and stir everything together.
7. Bring the dutch oven to a boil, stir, lower to a simmer, cover for about 4 hours.

Notes

• Try 100% cacao bakers chocolate
• Try espresso powder
• Add a can of spicy rotel
• Try beef better than bouillon

This chili is dark and smoky, it can be modified to be sweeter with chocolate or a touch of brown sugar. At some point I switched out jalapenos for chipotle peppers which I think have a better flavor and bring the same heat. Nicey sweet, spicy heat.