I’m a fan of one pot meals, from stews to soups to chilli, I’ve made them all. I tend to overdo them at times, size wise anyways. I always set out to make a normal sized chilli, but then I end up with enough to feed an army. While this isn’t always (if ever) a bad thing, as long as you have room in your fridge or friends to feed it. The nice thing about chilli is that they are pretty much fool proof. You can add or remove whatever you want.

Here’s the recipe for the most recent chilli I made. This recipe will turn out a vat of it, so if you’re looking for not-so-much chilli, definitely cut down the recipe.

Mandy’s Three Meat Chilli

Ingredients:

3 hot Italian sausages (casings removed)

1 lb of ground pork

1 kg of cubed beef

2 yellow onions diced

5 celery stalks

2 green peppers

1 light green Hungarian pepper

4 jalapenos (Seeds removed but reserved in a small bowl)

12 large mushrooms

 

4 cans of tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

2 cans of kidney beans (or the same amount in dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)

1½ tbsp ground coriander

1½  tbsp cumin + 1 tsp

1 tbsp dried cilantro flakes

2 tbsp oregano + 1 tsp

2 tsp pure chipotle powder

4 tbsp brown sugar

½ tbsp. salt + 1 tsp

1 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp cocoa + 1 tbsp

1 – Start by browning the meat, I used three different pans and did them in small batches to make sure get some nice searing on the meats. (I broke the sausage meat into “balls” so you could differentiate between the meats. I wasn’t sure if it would hold up during the simmering, but it did quite well.)

2 – While the meat is browning, dice all the vegetables into smallish pieces. (I sauteed the mushrooms, but I assume you don’t have to do this.)

3 – Seed and mince the jalapenos. I use gloves for this, to prevent burning. Reserve the seeds in a small bowl.

4 – Sautee the vegetables in the bottom of your chilli pot in a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook until the vegetables are soft.

5 – Add the first round of seasonings and cook for a few minutes. (You’ll notice the ingredient list for the seasoning is split into two for a few of the ingredients, I like to add more seasoning after the chilli has been on for awhile. The “+ whatever measurement” is what I added after the chilli had been on for a few hours.)

6 – Add the meat to the mixture.

6 – Add all other ingredients except for extra spices (kidney beans, tomatoes and paste) and allow to simmer uncovered for a few hours. Stir frequently.

7 – Add the second round of seasonings, including some of the reserved jalapeno seeds. (I figure I used about a half teaspoon of them.)

8 – Simmer for another hour or so, until desired consistency is reached.

9 – Spoon into bowl and top with some cheese of some sort and enjoy.

This chilli turned out excellent, the beef cubes were fall apart tender, resulting in mostly just shredded beef floating amongst the myriad of other ingredients. Between the cocoa and the chipotle powder, there was an amazing  depth of flavour. I did add a little heat to it, by adding some of the reserved seeds to the mix, but I think it turned out just right. This chilli froze extremely well and tasted just as good, if not better, reheated.

I’ll definitely be making this recipe (or some variation of it) again.

Chef-In-Training Mandy 😀