World's Greatest Chili - The secret is out!

The World's Greatest Chili

This recipe doesn't really have an "official" name because it is my own invention. I personally refer to it as "The World's Greatest Chili" because that is simply what it is. It could also be called "Goldilock Chili" because it isn't too spicy or too bland -- it is just right! We have sort of a family tradition when my wife, Elizabeth, is cooking. She is an excellent cook and we love what she makes for us. The problem is that she seldom uses a recipe to make her creations. A bit of this, some of that, and a dash more of something else and she'll have created another wonderful "Elizabeth." We then eat, ooh and ah about it, and when we ask her to make it again...we get to enjoy a lot of close attempts but it will never be exactly the same since there was no recipe. Her potato salad is a classic example which is always different based on what was in the fridge at the time (mustard could be plain yelow, honey-dijon, Guldens, hot and spicy...who knows!).

You may have noticed but I digressed a little. That's because I've always done my chili recipe much the same way. I know the ingredients I want to use but the quantities have always just been a "guesstimate" that I add until I get the flavor I want. This cooking adventure was a bit different since I still cooked it the way I always have but I actually kept track of the ingredients. I'll list them here so you can try making this yourself and so that I can have the recipe to use next time. Hmmmm, not sure if I'll use the recipe thought because it's always been fun to just add ingredients and not worry about measuring spoons.

Now remember, this has always been my secret recipe so don't tell anyone. Of course you can share this blog post with friends, on Facebook, in e-mail, etc., and I hope you will, but please don't let the secret out! One more thing, I hope you'll forgive me but I did this the lazy way and used some canned ingredients to simplify the process. If you want to make it completely from scratch you can soak and cook raw beans, dice and stew tomatoes, make your own tomato sauce, and even grind your own spices. Yep, you can. I can pretty much guarantee that other than using dried bean I'll probably stick with the canned goods for this.

So, to get started, here are the not-secret and secret ingredients:

2 - lbs of lean ground beef

2 - tablespoons of flour

4 - medium onions, chopped

3 - 40.5 oz cans, red kidney beans

3 - 28 oz cans, diced tomatoes

1 - 15 oz can, tomato sauce

1 - 12 oz can, tomato paste

5 - tablespoons of chili powder

1 - teaspoon of chipotle chili powder

1 - shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend) for topping

Shhhhhhh, here come the secret ingredients...

5 - tablespoons of brown sugar

5 - teaspoons of liquid smoke

1 - 1/4 cup of molasses

Once the ingredients have been gathered, the actual preparation of this chili is quite simple. I began by browning the ground beef. As it is almost done browning I like to add about two tablespoons of flour to thicken the chili a bit. If you prefer your chili juicier you can leave out the flour. After being stirred in to evenly coat the ground beef I cook the flour and ground beef for another 1-2 minutes over medium heat and then add the chopped onions. The onions will cook as the chili simmers but I still like to cook them for a minute or two to slightly soften before adding the other ingredients.

At this point I add the chili powder and chipotle chili powder. Since I had the grandkids eating dinner with us I only used a teaspoon of the chipotle chili powder to give the chili just a hint of heat but adding more will certainly give this chili more zip if you want it! I like adding the chili powders at this point so that they can get evenly mixed in before adding the rest of the ingredients. Now we've got our "base" ready and can fill up the pot with the rest of the goodies.

I added, in no particular order, the diced tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and mixed everything up. Then, after carefully checking that no one was peeking in through the windows and spying on me, I added the secret ingredients. Brown sugar, molasses, and liquid smoke were used to give this chili a slightly "barbeque" flavor that we really love. After letting the chili simmer for an hour or so you can sample and easily adjust the sweetness and smokiness to your personal taste that day by adding more of the secret ingredients.

WARNING: When sampling, be sure to leave enough in the pot to serve for dinner. This stuff is sooooooo good you'll have a hard time sampling with a spoon. You may end up sampling it with a cup, or a bowl, or a realllllllly big bowl.

I like to let everything simmer together on low heat for a couple of hours to bring out the flavor but you can start munching as soon as everything has warmed up to the temperature you like it.

Now the best part, eating it! You can serve it plain (like the photo below) but I like "garnishing" it with a bit of shredded cheese to give it some color. If this was French cooking I suppose I'd be using parsely but this is chili! Besides, who can resist some gooey melted cheese?

We really love this chili on a cold day and this time, as always, I made a large batch so there'd be some leftovers (guess what I'm having for lunch today!). Now that you've got the secret I hope you'll enjoy some of the world's best chili too!

Bon appetit!