Chili Weather

Mmm. Smell what's cooking!

Okay, so today may not be chili weather, but Sunday was a gloomy day in Milwaukee, which made it perfect weather for a nice, hot bowl of chili. And there are a lot more of those days coming as fall approaches.

I came home to find Chris in the middle of making a big pot of it, using our favorite recipe that we found on AllRecipes.com. The Boilermaker Tailgate Chili recipe was posted by MIGHTYPURDUE22 - we were able to look past the Big 10 rivalry because the chili is so delicious. You will notice that it has lots of stars. Others are big fans too.

We definitely modify to meet our own tastes and what we have on hand, as there are a lot of ingredients involved. If you are looking for a recipe to try, give this one a shot. Thanks so much for sharing MIGHTYPURDUE22! Made excellent leftovers for lunch today.

Boilermaker Tailgate Chili from MIGHTYPURDUE 22 on AllRecipes.com

Prep Time:30 Min

Cook Time: 2 Hrs

Ready In: 2 Hrs 30 Min

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon bacon bits (I obviously leave these out)
• 4 cubes beef bouillon
• 1/2 cup beer
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™) (We used Sriracha, which also worked)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2. Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.