Doug’s Chili

I doubt anyone is coming here for the recipes, but I was asked for my chili recipe, and it will be easier to share this page than to text the recipe. Also,  I might want it here for posterity. If it helps out the wider world, then you’re welcome! It’s good stuff.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound Italian sausage

2 packets McCormick Chili Seasoning (“Original”)

1 can (4 oz) green chiles (my preference is La Preferida but any will probably do).

1 can (15.25 oz) black beans

1 can (15.25 oz) kidney beans (my preference is the dark red)

2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 onion

1 or 2 jalapeño(s)

Hot sauce (my preference is Frank’s Red Hot)

Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

Chop up the onion and put it aside. Cut the jalapeño(s) in half, remove the seeds, and chop it up. Put it with the onion.

Brown the Italian sausage and ground beef in your chili pot. (Medium heat or lower). Once it is browned, mix it with the chili seasoning packets. Once that is mixed, douse it with Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. I’ve never measured either of these things. I go heavier on the Worcerstershire than the hot sauce – several splashes of the former versus a couple of splashes of the latter.

Add the onions, jalapeños, and green chiles. Stir it in with the meat and let these cook for two or three minutes. (Make sure to stir fairly frequently – this is the point where the seasoning tends to get burned on to the pot if you let it sit too long.)

Add the black beans and kidney beans. Stir into the mix.

Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir into the mix.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and leave it on until the chili boils. Stir periodically.

After the chili has been at boil for ~5 minutes, cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for 45 minutes or so. After that, if you’re not ready to eat yet, you can turn off the stove and let it sit. Reheat when you’re ready. (You can even put it in the refrigerator overnight and reheat the whole thing the next day).

Notes: This is pretty tough to mess up. Don’t worry too much about exact measurements. Some of the ingredients might not be very necessary. I’ve made it without hot sauce or jalapeños. I’m not sure how much work the Worcestershire is doing. I’ve used ground turkey instead of ground beef. The Italian sausage and the McCormick’s seasoning seem to be the linchpin.