Ken's Chili

Everyone likes their chili differently, and I am no exception. Here is a recipe that I have fine-tuned over many years for an easy-to-prepare, delicious chili. I seldom hear any complaints from my guests. 

I use a slow-cooker. It's easy and the slow cooking makes certain that you don't impart a burnt flavor. I also like how the slow cooking breaks down the ground beef into very fine, tender pieces. My favorite model has a low setting for 8-10 hours. I will often start the process in the late evening and allow it to cook over night. 

The recipe easily scales-up for the amount of chili that you want. Each pound of ground beef makes about four servings. The exact amount of each of these ingredients is approximate. Don't get hung-up on being precise. It's cooking for goodness sake, have some fun in the kitchen! 

Ingredients: 

For EACH pound of ground beef you will need... 

1 Tsp garlic seasoning, or diced garlic. 

1 Tsp onion seasoning, or diced onion. 

1 - 12 oz bottle of beer. I prefer Sam Adams Boston Lager for cooking. Your choice. However, the darker the beer, the more of the yeast and hops flavor you will enjoy in the chili. 

2 - 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes. Your choice on type: plain or with peppers, onions, etc. Feel free to dice your own; I'm too lazy. 

1 - 10 oz can of tomato soup. Plain old Campbell's Tomato Soup.

Chili seasoning. Your choice here. I am not too proud to simply use a pre-packaged chili mix most of the time. Brand is not important. I do not like my chili spicy hot... only spicy flavorful. If you have a concoction of pepper and spices that works for you, use it. It's the other things I use in this recipe that give this chili its special flavor.

4 Tbsp flour. Corn flour is best (masa, NOT corn meal), but regular white flour is fine too. 

4 Tbsp brown sugar. 

Milk chocolate (to taste). Not semi-sweet or dark chocolate, but MILK chocolate. I use about 2 Tbsp. 

- or - 

Grape jelly (to taste). I use about 2 Tbsp. 

Salt (to taste) 

Black pepper (to taste) 

Instructions: 

- Turn the slow cooker on low. 

- Place the fresh / thawed ground beef in the slow cooker and use a wooden spoon to break up and loosen the meat. 

- Add the garlic and onion (seasoning or fresh), beer, diced tomatoes, tomato soup, and chili seasoning of choice. 

- Stir completely and thoroughly. 

- Cover and allow to cook. It does not hurt to uncover and stir occasionally, but it is not necessary if your slow cooker is on a low setting. 

- After 6 to 8 hours 

- Turn off the slow cooker. 

- Uncover and BEFORE stirring, ladle-off any surface oil. This step may not be necessary depending upon the ground beef. Some has less fat than others. 

- Stir thoroughly. 

- Lightly spread the flour on top, and stir into the chili. The flour adds both taste and texture. You may use more or less to your taste. 

- Lightly spread the brown sugar on top, and stir into the chili. You may use more or less to your taste.

- Add the milk chocolate - or - grape jelly, and stir into the chili. Do not use both. Each one provides a unique flavor, but I do not think that they go well together in the chili. Experiment and choose the one that you like best. 

- Do not add the brown sugar and milk chocolate / grape jelly until the long slow cooking process is complete. If you add it at the beginning, the sugar is likely to burn on the bottom of the slow cooker and leave you with a bitter flavor. 

- Salt and pepper to taste. I wait for this step to the very end as the need for salt will depend upon your other ingredients. Extra salt may not be needed for your taste. Don't over-salt early, as it's very hard to undo later. 

Serving: 

Notice there are NO BEANS. Sorry, but chili was not meant to have beans. Since some people like beans with their chili, I will prepare them separately so that they can be added by choice. Everyone in the family likes to be creative when eating their chili. I like mine on a bed of corn chips, topped with shredded cheese and sour cream. The kids like a bed of pasta (your choice) or saltines. Diced onion or jalapeños are good on top as well. There is no right or wrong way to serve chili at our house. 

Enjoy!