2 Time Company Chili Contest Winner!!
I won our company chili contest for the second year! My entry, C4, featured cayenne, chipotle (Pain Is Good Chipotle from Heat Hot Sauce Shop), cinnamon, and a pound of Conecuh sausage (replacing a pound of ground beef. It had a good taste profile without the spice overpowering the meat. My big mistake was that I did more "throwing in ingredients by feel" instead of tracking measurements. I did take a picture of the ingredients except for the ground beef.
- After browning the beef and cooking the sausage, I cut the sausage into diced pieces.
- Carmelized a whole sweet onion diced then added back the drained beef and sausage.
- Added in the roasted diced tomatoes (two with garlic, one just roasted), the beef broth, and the mad scientist mix of paprika (lots), cummin (not so lots), cinnamon (not heavy-handed...just needed a touch), cayenne (went a bit CRAZY), and the chipotle sauce.
- I later added the tomato paste to thicken it up since I didn't have masa. This brand in the picture, partially obscured, has very low sodium, which was preferable because I was getting sodium from other ingredients.
- Brought it to a boil then a strong simmer for at least 1.5 hrs then started adjusting for taste.
- I added some fish sauce to bring out some of the meat flavor (more than a splash, less than a guzzle) and some lime juice. Then added chipotle, cumin, cayenne, and to dial in the taste.
- I kept it in the refrigerator overnight and reheated it in the slow cooker at the office.
- Collected my prize and reveled in the jealous glares of my co-workers.
I do like adding red kidney beans for my home recipe.
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