Black and Gold Chili

For the past several weeks my husband, A.J., has been talking about making chili. It's all been talk.  Friday with the snowy/icy weather on the way, I was in the mood to make a batch of chili.  While I was at the grocery store with all of the other crazy people scooping up bread and milk, I was scooping up ingredients to make chili.

First off, let me tell you I am a little bit imtimidated about posting this recipe.  There is a championship chili maker that I hold in high esteem that reads and comments on this blog.  Enough said.

I adapted this Emeril Lagasse recipe a bit but was very captivated by it because it had some out of the ordinary ingredients like cinnamon, chocolate, brown sugar and beer and I was very curious about the taste combination.  We both loved the taste of the chili.  It has the right about of heat, a wonderful texture and the chili doesn't have the strong cumin taste that I loathe.

Preheat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add in 2 lbs. of lean ground beef.  We used 1 lb. ground chuck and 1 lb. ground sirloin.  Brown the beef and drain off any excess fat.

Add 2 chopped yellow onions, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 bay leafs, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes.  Thoroughly combine and cook until the onions begin to turn soft, about 10 minutes.

Add two tablespoons minced garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.

Then add in three 12 ounces bottles of dark beer.  

Once the foaming from the beer subsides, add in 18 ounces of crushed tomatoes.

and 1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste.  Stir to completely blend.

Add on 1/2 ounce of unsweetened chocolate and stir.

Add in 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

Allow to come to a boil then lower heat and let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occassionally.

Then add in three 15 ounce cans of rinsed and drained red kidney beans.  Adjust seasonings and allow to simmer for 90 more minutes.

Serve garnished with shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, sliced green onions and chopped cilantro.

Keep warm and Geaux Saints!