Mark's Marvelous Chili

Every year when Superbowl Sunday comes around I make a big pot of homemade chili to enjoy while Laurie and I watch the start of the big game and before we lose interest around the end of the first quarter and find something more productive to do for the rest of the evening. While the ingredients list is long and patience is required to make it, you will be rewarded once you taste the best chili you will ever eat!

I don’t really care about the NFL and have only a casual interest in the results of the games each Sunday during the season. More specifically, I look to see if the hated New England Patriots lost (which warms my heart if they do), if the hapless Washington Football Team won (less than a 50 percent chance of that happening on any given Sunday), or if the over-hyped Kirk Cousins’ excuse for losing yet another game ever changes (“We just have to play better, …”). Which makes it odd that I actually always plan one of my favorite dishes around an event I have little interest in – Superbowl Sunday. I guess it’s just tradition that drives the decision!

Regardless, my chili recipe started with one I made from a recipe in some forgotten cooking magazine 15 years ago and then adapted to my own over time. I liked the recipe because it used a mix of ground beef and cubed stew meat, and it had great depth of flavor due to the extended time required on the stovetop. But I thought I could do better, and after about 15 tries I finally came up with this recipe that bears little resemblance to the original. For example, I traded out the beer for wine, increased the amount of cubed meat, added a step to sauté the onions and jalapeno peppers to a golden brown before adding them to the chili, and changed the accompaniments to “Geisify” the end result (I mean, who DOESN’T eat chili without apple cider vinegar poured on top, along with sour cream and Fritos scoops on the side?). Make this chili and you’ll never go back to any other recipe!

Ingredients for Mark's Marvelous Chili

Mark’s Marvelous Chili (Serves 8-10)

This chili is worth the time and effort it takes to make it – set aside 4 hours from start to finish to get it right (only about half that time is active time in the kitchen). Almost as good as the chili itself is what you need to do with the leftovers which is to make chili dogs! I’ve included my recipe for those as well.

Ingredients

5 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 lbs. beef loin cubes (stew meat), cut into ½” cubes

2 lbs. ground chuck (90% lean)

2 pkgs McCormick regular chili seasoning mix

1 pkg McCormick hot chili seasoning mix

1 750 ml. bottle red wine (choose something spicy – either a red Zinfandel or Syrah)

3 tbsp. ground cumin

2 tbsp. sweet paprika

2 tbsp. chili powder (I like either ancho or chipotle for their depth of flavor)

2 large sweet onions, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced, or more to taste

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. fresh ground pepper

3 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, diced, or more to taste

1 4-oz. can diced green chilies

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes with juice

1 28 oz. can tomato puree

1 15-oz. can kidney beans

1 15-oz. can pinto beans

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Frito Lays Scoops

Shredded cheddar cheese

Sour cream

More apple cider vinegar to taste

Directions

In an 8-quart Dutch oven, heat 3 tbsp. vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add the beef cubes and brown with 1/2 package of the hot chili seasoning. Add the ground chuck and brown with remaining 1/2 package of hot chili seasoning. You can do this in batches if you want to ensure the meat is all browned and you have bits to scrape up once you add the wine – it will only make the flavor better!

Add the bottle of wine, cumin, paprika, and 1 package of the regular chili season mix to the beef and bring to a boil - then lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, heat the remaining 2 tbsp. vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onions and jalapeno, plus 1 tsp. salt and ½ tsp. fresh ground pepper and sauté until onions and jalapeno are golden brown and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add cooked onions and garlic to chili, along with the chipotle peppers, green chilies, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with juice, tomato puree, kidney beans, and pinto beans. Add the final package of chili seasoning mix along with the chili powder. Simmer for 2 hours.

Add apple cider vinegar along with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Frito Lays scoops, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and more apple cider vinegar.

Mark’s Marvelous Chili Dogs (Serves 4)

The only thing as good as the chili is making chili dogs the next night! These are super easy to make and are a great way to use leftover chili before freezing the rest for future dinners! Using the best ingredients are critical here so make sure to get the right buns and beef franks! This recipe makes two chili dogs per person because you can’t stop at just one.

Ingredients

3 cups of Mark’s Marvelous Chili, heated

1 white onion, chopped

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Nathan’s Famous Jumbo Restaurant Style Beef Franks – 2 pkgs

Martin's Famous Pastry Potato Long Rolls- 15 oz. Bag

French’s classic yellow mustard

Shredded cheddar cheese – 1 8-oz. bag

Directions

Place the chili in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until simmering and heated through.

Cut the beef franks in half lengthwise, being careful not to cut all the way through so the two halves stay connected. In a 12-inch non-stick skillet, heat the EVOO on medium heat. Place half of the beef franks in the skillet, cut side down for about 3 minutes. Flip the franks and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove to a plate and cover with foil and repeat the same for the remaining beef franks.

Open the potato rolls without separating them and slather both sides with mustard (don’t be stingy here, the more mustard the better!). Place a beef frank in each roll cut side up, scoop a generous portion of chili on top of the franks, and top with shredded cheese and onions. Chomp away and enter culinary heaven!!

Best chili dogs ever!