It’s-All-Fun-And-Games-Till-You-Lose-An-Eye Crockpot Chili

Oct 11, 2010 by AndreAnna

At one point in life, I was asinine enough to touch my eye after making chili. It was an early Sunday morning years ago before children, where sleeping was, you know, something we did. Mike was sleeping and I got up early to start the chili. I had finished up, and I DID wash my hands. I had an itch and didn’t think anything of it, so I itched it. I died. The pain was so much that it clamped my eye shut, and I wear contacts and knew I had to get it out. I ran upstairs screaming like a banshee that I had maced myself, scaring the living crap out of my then-fiancee. He had to kneel on my chest and pry my eye open to peel out my contact lens. I kept yelling something about milk. I remembered milk helped counteract the capsicum in the pepper. I eventually rinsed it out, and put a milk-soaked cloth on it until it calmed down. We laugh at the story now, but man, that really really really sucked.

So learn from me and use gloves when chopping up peppers. Then clean up with the gloves on, washing down the surfaces, making sure all seeds and garbage are thrown away, THEN take them off and still wash your hands well. You can never be too careful.

This is a very chunky type chili, hearty, with lots of fresh ingredients. It does take some prep time, so I wouldn’t put it in the easy-peasy category, but it definitely is not difficult. In order to make it have the chili chunks so many people like in their chili, use all but 1/2 lb of the meat in the beginning. In the last hour, add chunks of the ground beef.

As for the spice, if you want it decently spicy keep the seeds and the ribs (the white edges inside the peppers) for one jalapeño. I find the spice of one whole jalapeño to be the perfect amount. It will bite, but in a good way. Extra spice (crazy fools)–use two. Less spice–remove the ribs and seeds completely and only add in a few seeds, pieces of ribs, or none at all.

See here for pictures/info on all types of peppers.

What you need:

2-3 lbs ground beef
1 24 oz can diced tomatoes (unflavored)
2 cups beef broth
1-2 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 c. each of the following fresh peppers, chopped:
-long green pepper
-red bell
-poblano
2 jalapenos, chopped (ribs/seeds added depends on your tastes)
2 tbsp. chopped parsley (can use for garnish later as well)
1 can red beans (optional)
1-2 c. pureed squash (for thickening) (optional)
2 tbsp honey
1 can corn (optional)

Spices

1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. onion pweder
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt

And my secret ingredient (shhhhh): 1 tbsp cocoa powder

OR if you want the lazy man’s way, you can use 2 pkgs. Simply Organic Chili Mix (Note: this is not cheating. It’s all the same stuff as above in one package and makes life much easier if you’re pressed for time.)

If the chili needs more spice/flavor to your taste, simply add a small it more of each spice.

What you do:
Set crock pot for 8 hours.
Put meat in bottom of crock pot first. Break it up. Then add the diced tomatoes, broth, and all the ingredients but the spices. I like to let the veggies meld and soften on their own before adding the spice.

It will look like this:

Cover and let sit. In about an hour, once the meat has had a good chance to cook, stir the pot. Let cook for an additional 3 hours. About that time, it will look like this:

Add in the spices. Let cook for an additional 2 hours. It will look like this:

Add beans in the last hour. Cook for the final hour to thicken. If you want to thicken, sprinkle sweet brown rice flour over the top, stir in. Repeat until desired consistency. The final chili will look similar to this: