My three meat chipotle chili, inspired by a chili cook-off recipe and a recipe from the book Chili Nation!
Man, I am so glad I had my latest chili cook-off. As a cook, it is easy to get stuck in your own ways and your regular recipes, so it is always a blessing to have as many cooking inspirations as I did from my cook-off. I mean, I actually WANT to make a vegetarian chili! Hell hath frozen over, folks.
One of the cook-off prizes was a book written by Jane and Michael Stern called Chili Nation, featuring regional chili recipes from all 50 states. My friend Matt made a killer beef chili with chipotle and chunks of beef stew meat, and it inspired me to try something similar. I found the “Serious Capital Punishment Chili” from the District of Columbia (also the International Chili Society’s top winner in it’s 1980 cook off), which not only had cubes of beef round and chipotle in it, but also hints of dark chocolate and two kinds of ground meat in it. I made a few adjustments to the recipe, and hot damn. I got probably my favorite new chili of the year. Possibly even the decade. It has a few different textures of meat, which makes it really hearty, and a delicious, almost addictive heat and smoky flavor to it from the chipotle.
I did a search on my blog and for a bitch that talks a lot about chili, I sure as hell don’t have that many chili recipes on here. Time to make up for that. The recipe and photos for Leena’s three meat chipotle chili after the jump.
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