Since I am an immigrant to the US, winning the Chili Contest was a shame to the guys I worked with in Lexington, KY. Bless their hearts they switched tags admitting that they could not, just let me win that one, it was “just wrong”, they claimed. I have made my chili for years since then and it is still a hit.
Here is my Chie Sonia recipe for chili: Bel Hanna Wel Sheffa! (with happiness and health) roughly translated from Arabic.
1- lb 80% lean ground beef
2 -16 oz cans stewed tomatoes
1- 6 oz can tomato paste
2- large onions diced
1 – head of garlic, mashed
8-10 oz baby Bella mushrooms sliced
1 – red pepper sliced
1- yellow pepper sliced
1- orange pepper sliced
2- oz toasted sesame oil (optional)
1/2- c olive oil
Chili powder
Salt and Pepper
_Brown ground beef in deep pot thoroughly. Make sure that the bottom gets brown and stuck. You need that flavor.
_Separately brown the onions and garlic in 2 Tbsp olive oil.
_Add mushrooms to onions and garlic and saute in the caramelized onions.
_Brown peppers in 2 Tbsp olive oil.
Add Salt and pepper to taste to the meat.
Add all cooked ingredients to the meat pot.
Add 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
Add tomato paste.
Add chili powder also to taste. Suggestion would be 4 Tbsp or more of good chili powder.
For vegetarians, eliminate the meat and us a bag or two of ground “Quorn”, a meat substitute chock full of protein, found in the frozen section.
Let the whole thing boil. Turn heat down and simmer until it gets thicker and heavier. Should lose some of the excess water from the tomatoes.
Add sesame oil and stir well into the pot. Great flavor.
Enjoy! Maybe you can win a contest. Let me know!