Cam’s Chili Recipe
I’ve taken some liberties with my mom’s chili recipe that I think you’ll enjoy. It has a subtle amount of spiciness that’s offset with a little sweetness so you can enjoy more than one bowl at a time.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 4 stalks of celery (halve lengthwise and chop to 1/4″)
- 2 sweet onions (diced)
- 24 oz V8
- 14.5 oz can stewed tomotoes
- 14.5 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 15 oz can light red kidney beans
- 15 oz can pinto beans
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons of Valentina hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- kosher salt
- pepper
Brown the ground beef with some kosher salt and black pepper. Drain the fat but leave just enough for a little beef flavor. Remove from heat and add the chopped celery and diced onions. Crush the stewed and whole peeled tomotoes through your fingers and add along with the juices from the cans. Add one 15 oz can of tomato sauce and about 24 ounces of V8 drink. Cover, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
Add 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 3 tablespoons of Valentina hot sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of chili powder. Simmer for 30 more minutes.
Add more brown sugar or Valentina to taste.
Drain both cans of beans in a strainer (don’t rinse, or they’ll get mushy) for a few minutes and add 5 minutes before serving.
I usually aim for flavor that’s just a little on the sweet side to offset the acidity of all the tomato. Don’t go hog-wild on the chili powder or Valentina, you should sense the spiciness when you stop eating the chili but not be overpowered by every spoon full.
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