This beefy, spicy chili cooks up in your crockpot while you go about your day, and while it will heat up your taste buds, as it bubbles away in your slowcooker it certainly won’t heat up your kitchen. Crepes of Wrath is one of my favorite food blogs, where Sydney is no stranger to Southwestern cooking. I had to adjust things to make it a little less toasty for my poor Canadian tastebuds, but feel free to amp up the heat if you feel you need to. I love to top it with salty tortilla chips, a bit of cheese, cooling sour cream, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. Try serving it with fresh bread for rave reviews!
Ingredients:
4 slices of bacon, diced
3/4 lb ground beef
3/4 lb fresh chorizo sausage, casings removed (or I have used dried chorizo when I haven’t been able to find fresh, just chop it into bite sized pieces
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper (or, chipotle puree-see *notes below)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, seeded, cored, and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, cored, and minced
1/4 cup of beer of your choice
1 28 can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup chicken stock
juice and zest of 1 lime
two 15 oz cans of beans (I like black beans and kidney), drained and rinsed
garnishes:
tortilla strips, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), cheese, freshly chopped cilantro, or diced red onion
In a skillet, sauté the bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Drain the grease from the pan. In the same pan, saute the ground beef until no longer pink. Spoon the meat onto a plate and set aside. Wipe the pan with paper towel and then sauté the chorizo briefly until crisped and brown.
Transfer the bacon, chorizo, and beef to your slow cooker.
In a dry, clean skillet over medium heat, toast the chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and cumin for about 5 minutes until you can smell their aroma. Transfer to slow cooker.
Add the bay leaves, chipotle puree, salt, pepper, oregano, onion, carrot, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, garlic, cocoa powder, beer, chicken broth, lime juice and zest, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, tomatoes, and tomato paste to the slow cooker. Give everything a good stir.
Set the slow cooker to low for 6 hours and leave it alone. About an hour before you are going to eat the chili, stir in the beans. Let bubble away for another hour before tasting and adjusting the seasoning.
Top with the garnishes of your choice and enjoy!
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Crepes of Wrath
Note: I like to buy a can of chipotle peppers packed in a abodo sauce and puree them in a food processor, then freeze the mixture in small cubes. This lets me add flavor to all sorts of things when I can’t find dried chipotle peppers.
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