Chili
Ingredients
Carroll Shelby's chili kit
1.25 lbs 80/20 ground beef
1 lb hot Italian ground sausage
1 large yellow onion
1 large green pepper (or 1 small red and 1 small green)
2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes (ok to use ones with added flavors like oregano, garlic, etc)
3 15 oz cans of beans (various types such as pinto, kidney, black - low sodium, if available)
1/4 cup datil pepper medium hot sauce
** see notes about following ingredients
1/3 cup of leftover coffee
2 Tbsp of real maple syrup
1 Tbsp or cocoa powder
2 Tbsp pepperoncini, diced
1 Tbsp pepperoncini brine
Topping suggestions:
sour cream
shredded cheese of choice
green onions/chives
fresh, thin jalapeño slices
cilantro
avocado
Fritos
Directions
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a Dutch oven to medium
Chop onions and bell peppers and add to hot oil
Sweat the veggies for about 5 minutes, no color
Scoot the onions and peppers to one side and add the beef and sausage to the other
Break the ground meats into smaller pieces as they brown
When the meats have very little pink left, add the contents of the chili spices pack from the kit (do NOT add cayenne or masa flour at this time)
Mix well and begin to mix the meat with the onions & peppers
Add however much cayenne you'd like. None for mild, all for HOT. (I like 1/2)
Add the cans of diced tomato and chopped pepperoncini, stir to mix everything
Add all 3 cans of beans, liquid included
Add the datil pepper hot sauce, stir to incorporate everything
Add cocoa powder using a sieve and stirring so it does not clump
Add coffee and maple syrup
Set to a low simmer, cover, and stir every 15 minutes or so.
After about half an hour, scoop out about a cup of liquid from the chili and mix in the masa flour. Return that to the pot and stir well so the flour mixes thoughroughly but does not clump.
After about an hour total of simmering, your chili is ready to enjoy.
Notes
Carroll Shelby's chili kit can be found at most grocery stores. https://carrollshelbyschili.com/products
** The idea for these ingredients came from this article: https://felix.me/chili6 Others in the article but not listed in this recipe are canned pumpkin and root beer! If you try those, let me know.