About the Recipe
Although this chili is by no means an authentic Mexican chili recipe, it is a very bold flavored Canadian version that can be made as mild or as hot as you like. Nothing will warm your body and spirit on a cold winter day like hearty chili with toast or garlic bread.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
1 Kg of lean ground beef
3 x 540 ml (19 oz.) tins of red kidney beans, or equivalent
2 liters of tomato sauce
1 green bell pepper (about 170 grams), diced into 1-2 cm pieces
1 red bell pepper (about 170 grams), diced into 1-2 cm pieces
2-3 sticks of celery (about 112 grams), diced into 0.5 to 1 cm pieces
1 medium sized yellow onion (about 160 grams), diced into 1 cm pieces
I medium sized carrot (about 140 grams), diced into ½ cm pieces
4-5 cloves of garlic (20-30 grams), finely chopped
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil (or other cooking oil)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Seasonings
3 tablespoons of chili powder
1 tablespoon of ground sage
1 tablespoon of beef bouillon concentrate
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of thyme
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
Preparation
Tomato Sauce Prep
The purpose of this step is to concentrate the tomato sauce. Canned tomato sauce is often watery and needs to be reduced to achieve a thicker consistency.
Some brands of tomato sauce, like Hunt's, are very thick to begin with and do not require reduction. Depending on how thick the sauce is, you can either reduce the simmering time or you can skip this step entirely and move on to “Making the Chili”.
Put 2 liters of tomato sauce in a medium sized saucepot.
Bring to a light boil over medium heat.
Once the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and let it lightly boil for about 80-90 minutes to allow some of the water content to evaporate.
Stir the sauce periodically throughout the cooking process.
Making the Chili
In a separate saucepot (about 7 liter capacity), pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of cooking oil.
Set the temperature to medium, throw-in a few little pieces of garlic and let the oil heat until the garlic begins to brown.
Add the celery and onions and stir-fry for 9-10 minutes.
The celery and carrots take a long time to cook. Frying them ahead of time reduces the overall cooking time significantly.
Add the remaining garlic and continue to stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
Add the ground beef and increase the temperature to medium high.
Break-up the ground beef to make it granular and continue stir-frying until the beef is fully browned.
Add the peppers along with the following seasonings:
3 tablespoons of chili powder
1 tablespoon of ground sage
1 tablespoon of beef bouillon concentrate
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of thyme
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
Continue stir-frying for about 5 minutes.
Drain and lightly rinse the kidney beans using a colander and cold water.
Add the kidney beans to the pot and lightly stir.
Reduce heat to medium and add the tomato sauce.
Bring to a light boil then reduce the heat to low. CAUTION: Anything but a very light boil could lead to burning the chili.
Continue cooking for 50-60 minutes, or until all the vegetables are fully cooked.
Make sure to stir the sauce frequently or it “will” stick to the bottom of the pot.
Serve.
This particular recipe has a bit of heat to it but does not have the kick that some love in a chili. However, it can easily be tweaked to be as hot as you want it. Just add cayenne, jalapenos or red pepper flakes to your taste.