Ben’s Awesome Chipotle Chili Recipe

Update 2015-11-22: I entered this recipe into the RJMetrics Chili cook off and took first place! We can now refer to it as Ben’s Awesome Award Winning Chipotle Chili Recipe

A few weeks ago I settled on what I believe to be the best chili recipe ever. I based it on a recipe I found in a cookbook, but made some important modifications. Here it is.

Ingredients
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (or just enough to cover the bottom of the pot)
2 medium yellow onions, chopped up fairly small
3 Tbsp chopped garlic
2 chopped jalepeno peppers, seeds removed
7 Tbsp chili powder (this makes the chili fairly mild, so up the chili powder if you want it to be spicier)
2 Tbsp paprika
1/2 Tbsp cumin (be careful not to add too much, it can dominate the flavor)
2 Tbsp dried oregano flakes
About 1.5 lbs ground beef
About 1 lb of Italian sausage links (don’t forget to take the casing off like I did!)
2 tsp salt
About 20 ounces of crushed tomatoes in puree (too much tomato can turn it to soup)
1 15 ounce can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 ounce can of baked beans, drained

The most important ingredient…
1.5 minced chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce. *ONE AND A HALF CHILI PEPPERS, NOT ONE AND A HALF CANS!*
They can usually be found in the mexican section of a decent sized grocery. They come in a can, so just fish out two peppers and cut them up. Don’t worry about getting the seeds out. They disappear.

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat until nice and hot
2. Throw in the chopped onions, garlic, and jalepeno peppers for 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently.
3. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin, and oregano and stir until mixed thoroughly.
4. Add the beef, sausage, and salt. Mix everything as well as possible and raise the heat to medium-high while breaking the meat up with a spatula. Cook until beef is no longer pink (at least 8-10 minutes).
5. Reduce heat back to medium. Stir in the baked beans and kidney beans.
6. Pour in the crushed tomatoes. Stir.
7. Put in the chipotle chili peppers. Stir.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pot and let simmer for 1 hour.
9. Adjust flavor with salt or tobasco if necessary.

Optional:
Serve with any or all of the following: sour cream, red pepper, shredded cheese, tobasco for extra heat, chopped green onion, salsa chips, fresh baked flakey rolls.

Suggestions:
1. The chili freezes great. Make it, eat some, and put the rest in the freezer.
2. Put the chili in a bowl, add cheese, and a dollup of sour cream in the middle. Don’t mix it up, but get some sour cream and chili on each spoonful.
3. I made the best chili dog ever with this chili. Try it.

If anyone makes this let me know how it turned out.