Sweet Sweet Chili

Football season at our house can get kind of tense - my hometown team is the Seattle Seahawks and D's bay area roots keep him faithful to their division rival - the 49ers.  Yeah, like I said, it can get kind of tense.  The light at the end of this rivalry tunnel is our agreement on football food - especially this versatile chili which is a staple at our house for the entire season.  

Originally I made up this recipe because I had Thanksgiving turkey coming out of my ears, over the years it evolved into this simple, sweet & hearty chili.  

FYI all of the ingredients can be thrown into a crockpot and the chili can be made that way, I am going to show the stovetop version which usually takes me about half an hour to make.

Here is what you will need:

1 lb ground beef 

1 lb sausage

1 white or yellow onion (I like yellow)

1 cup (ish) ketchup

1 cup (ish) BBQ sauce (I love Sweet Baby Ray's but just choose your favorite!)

1 can sweet green chilis

1 large can of kidney beans (drained)

3 cans of chili (pinto) beans (not drained)

chopped garlic

salt 

pepper

Tapatio 

Chop the onion and add the meats, onion and garlic to a 6 qt pot and cook. 

As you are cooking the meat smash it into small pieces.

Shameless plug: I love this angled Kitchen Aid spatula/smasher thingy, perfect for getting the meat into dip chip sized chunks! 

Next, add the beans and chilis. 

Now it is time to add the ketchup, Tapatio and BBQ sauce. 

This is always where I just keep adding BBQ sauce.  Just a little more.  Eh maybe a just a touch more.  Okay, one more blob more...

Then it is time for a taste to see how much salt and pepper I should add, also this is when I typically throw in a few more glugs of Tapatio to give it just a little more kick. 

Done and done. 

Typically I serve this with sour cream (or cream cheese) and avocado with cornbread or Fritos.  

A few variations of the recipe:

-My "garden use" variation:  I picked some bell peppers and green tomatoes from our garden, chopped them up and cooked them in a little olive oil, then I added the meat, onion and garlic to that veggie mix and started the recipe from there. Rating: Good  

-My Thanksgiving leftovers/clean out the fridge variation: Chopped up turkey meat instead of ground beef .  Rating: Good 

-My "let's try a healthier version" variation: Ground turkey instead of ground beef.  Rating: Bad.  (The ground turkey is dry...no thanks!)

Hope you all are enjoying this football season and give the recipe a try at your next gathering, we'd love to hear your variations on it!  

We are so thankful for the (much needed) rain and the time we get to spend enjoying football games, good food and even better friends!  

~D & H