Chris' Kick-Ass Chili

Chris' Kick-Ass Chili

(I have not tried this on the Big Green Egg...yet! - I first need to get a dutch oven or cast iron pot large enough for the recipe but also fit in the egg)

A lot of people have tried my chili, and almost everyone has said it is the best they have ever tasted... (they could be trying to save my ego, but I will take it anyway!)

My chili is somewhat unique in that it has a ton of ingredients, yet is very consistent. I cut everything small, because my philosophy for chili is that every bite should taste the same... (I don't want to get a hunk of onion in one bite and a hunk of pepper in another and have different tastes with each spoonful)

Before you decide to partake on this endeavor, I will point out a few things and modifications (the below recipe is about 7 years old and I have modified a few things)...

1. There are 41 ingredients... even if you have most of the spices handy, it will still cost over $40+ to make this batch - but you will have chili for weeks (unless like my wife and I, you end up giving a lot away)

2. Although the recipe calls for Guinness beer, I have actually stopped using it. I prefer a hoppy IPA, but any beer will do (I have actually used High Life on more than one occasion)

3. In the instructions, it says to use a processor to dice the vegetables - I actually recommend against this, as it can create a puree instead of a fine dice... I actually use a cool tool from Pampered Chef - their Food Chopper. (I cut the vegetables to small pieces with a knife and then finish them off with the chopper to get finely diced consistency)

4. Instead of 4 cans of beans, I have lowered it to 2-3... I'm just not a big fan of a lot of beans in my chili (you could actually cut them completely out if you want)

5. It is important to let simmer for 8 hours, but I don't refrigerate overnight anymore (When I wrote this recipe, it was primarily for football tailgates, hence the overnight refrigeration... now I just cool down and freeze in containers whatever I will not eat within a few days)

6. I have changed up the meats for several batches (once did a game batch - boar, lamb, deer, buffalo, bison) - but 90% of the time, I stick to the below meats.

7. Nowadays, I just eyeball each ingredient - which gives each batch its own character. I also have changed up the hot pepper selections from time to time (almost always add a couple habanero peppers now) - this can change the heat and flavor as desired...

8. The biggest instruction is to make with love... I have got the process down to about 3 hours until simmering, but still a big endeavor....

Without further adieu, I present to you my recipe...

Here is the link to the original document, in case you want to save/print:
Chris' Kick-Ass Chili

Enjoy!

Happy Eggin...

Chris