How to Make Cincinnati Chili – Round 2

Round 2 of Cincinnati Chili making, just over a year since we last attempted Cincinnati Chili. This time around I made quite a few changes and even brought in my ace in the hole: the slow cooker. To get the right balance of ingredients this time around, I consulted several recipe books, blogs and magazines. You’d be amazed at the variety of Cincinnati Chili recipes there are in the world – all with the same goal in mind. So I took the best of the best this time around and concocted a recipe that is all my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 med. white onion – chopped
• 4 cloves garlic – minced
• 2.5lbs ground beef
• 2 cans (14oz.) low sodium beef broth
• 2 cans (8oz.) tomato sauce
• .5oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. ground tumeric
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 6 tbsps. chili powder
• 2 tbsps. BBQ sauce
• 2 tbsps. cider vinegar
• 2 tbsps. worchestershite
• 1 cup water
• Salt (to taste)

Directions:

Step 1: Onions & Garlic

In a large pan, saute garlic and onions until soft. While the onions are cooking, start getting the dry spices together.Step 2: Broth

Once onions are soft, add broth (plus one can of water) to the pan.Step 3: Add Beef

Add the beef (yeah, not pretty – again, at this point I thought about jumping ship on this recipe.) and the tomato sauce & seasonings. Bring to a boil.

Step 4: Transfer & Cook

Transfer the chili to your slow cooker and allow to cook on low for 6-8 hours. Leave the house if you can to avoid having to smell the goodness that is this chili cooking. Taste test towards the end of the cooking time and add more seasonings as necessary.Step 5: Eat & Enjoy

Serve Cincinnati Chili over spaghetti noodle, along with shredded cheddar cheese, onions and sour cream if you wish. This recipe will feed 2 people for 4-5 days (lunches & dinners)Again, like the first attempt, I consider this recipe a success. The ground cloves and cardamon have a strong flavor so go easy at first. I added a bunch of salt towards the end as well. Excellent stuff! It’s much better after cooling in the refridgerator and re-heating the next day, it allows the flavors to blend a bit more and you can easily remove that layer of grease. From start to finish it took 45 minutes to prepare and 7.5 hours to slow cook.