December 2nd- No Bean Chili

     Its getting cold out these days, 20 degrees or lower most nights.
     Its time for Chili!!

     Ok now lets get this out of the way before anyone freaks out. I do not use beans in my chili.
Why? Cause beans are an abomination if you ask me. they're disgusting and I have never liked a bean in my life. I have tasted one bean dish I could stomach but I still wouldn't say I liked it. and so, travesty or not, there are no beans in my chili. if you're looking for beans, look elsewhere now.

     With that out of the way, back to the topic. This is one of my more normal recipes. There isn't really any twist to it. my girlfriend just asks me to cook it so often that I felt obliged to put it into my blog. It's just a well balanced, mildly spicy, very tasty chili. it's kind of basic really.
     Despite that I've got no doubt that most of you will love it given the chance. Its great on a cold night or after a hard days work. and it doesn't take much to fill you up.
     Usually I make about 3 lbs worth, but this time around I did 5, so that's the recipe I'll be using.

Here's what you'll need!

2 lbs 93% lean meat
3 lbs 86% lean meat
1 large onion (Diced tiny )
1/2 medium green bell pepper
1/2 medium red bell pepper
1 jalapeno (use a spicier pepper if you want it hot.)
4 tomatoes (I use several kinds depending on what's freshest at the moment. cluster tomatoes are my favorite)
12 to 16 oz can tomato paste ( I use 12 for 3 lbs of meat and forgot to get a bigger can for this recipe but it still came out fine. still 16 oz may be worth looking into.)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp parsely
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ginger
1 cup dark brown sugar
(a few dashes of salt to taste)

     wow, there are a lot of ingredients in this one. But no worries. If you're spice rack is small you can mess around with the ones you've got until you find a good tasting blend.
     Alright, now that we've got everything we need...

Lets get cooking!

1. Brown your meat slowly under low heat, this could take 30 minutes or longer. but dont turn the heat up and risk actually cooking the meat. keep your stove strictly to low-medium heat.
2. Once its all browned you want to strain out all the fat out of the meat. if you don't, in my opinion it gives the chili and almost spongy texture. But go for it if that's what you're into.
3. Dice up your onion finely and mix it into the meat. simmer the meat stirring occasionally until the onions become translucent.
4. Red and green bell peppers, and jalapeno go into the pot chopped at least as finely as the onion. Simmer those for 10 minutes as well. Add all your ground spices at this point as well.
5. add in your tomato paste and chopped tomato cubes. half a cup of brown sugar. mix everything in well and taste. Add a 4th cup of brown sugar at a time, tasting after mixing until you're satisfied with the sweetness. I find the full 1 cup works perfectly.
6. simply simmer for 2 and a half hours, stirring every 15 and draining out excess far if it rises to the top in the form of liquid.

     It takes a while and there are a lot of ingredients, but in the end chili isn't very hard to make. just have everything prepped in advance and you'll be enjoying a hot bowl on a cold night in no time. and no gross beans to mess up that beautiful tomato-meat flavor!

Not only that, but you'll have left overs for days, and it will only get better!