Not Just for the Superbowl Chili Recipe

(Updated: January 2008) Later this week the entire United States will be consumed with madness as people obsess over football and finger foods. Nothing says Superbowl Sunday like a big bowl of chili, so I thought this week I'd focus on chili recipes I've featured on Kalyn's Kitchen. For years this was my signature chili recipe, and I made it in 2006 for a Superbowl party at the home of my brother Mark and his wife, Lisa, a couple of great cooks. (This is definitely one of those posts where I want to update the photo, but even if the photo isn't the greatest, this is a fabulous version of chili.)

If you're not a native English speaker, you might wonder about the word *chili*. In the U.S. *chile* usually refers to the spicy vegetable peppers used to season foods, while the spelling *chili* means a slowly simmered dish made with meat, tomatoes, onions, spices and sometimes beans. My signature chili is heavy on the meat and light on the beans, and although there's a long list of ingredients, it's actually pretty easy to make. It freezes well, so make the whole batch if you have a pot that's big enough. And although Not Just for the Superbowl Chili may have more saturated fat than the South Beach Diet would prefer, for Superbowl food, this is pretty healthy. (Check after the recipe for a suggestion to reduce the saturated fat.)

Not Just for the Superbowl Chili
(Makes 15-20 servings, recipe can be cut in half or thirds, recipe created by Kalyn)

Ingredients:
2 cups dried red beans (soak 8 hours or more in cold water)
1 T chicken soup base (for cooking beans)
1 tsp. garlic powder (for cooking beans)
1 tsp. onion powder (for cooking beans)
1 tsp. olive oil (for cooking beans)
24 oz. (2 pkg.) low fat pork sausage
(I use Jimmy Dean variety labeled 50% less fat)
2 1/2 lbs. low fat ground beef (ground chuck is best)
3 cans beef broth or 6 cups homemade beef stock
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans water (rinse out tomato sauce can)
3 cans diced tomatoes
2 T minced garlic
3 T ground cumin
3 T dried oregano
3 T ground chile powder
(or more, use New Mexico chile powder if you can find it)
1 T Penzeys Ancho chile powder (optional but very good)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
2 T dried parsley
1 T Epazote (optional but recommended, available from Penzeys)
1 large onion, diced small
1 lb. white mushrooms, cut in quarters
1 T olive oil
1-2 cans black beans (optional, rinse beans and drain in colander)
2 cans olives, drained and cut in half lengthwise
salt/pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional) plus additional cilantro or parsley to garnish (I'm sorry to report my family has some cilantro haters, so I had to skip the cilantro and garnish with parsley.)

Instructions:

Put soaked red beans in saucepan with enough water to cover. Add chicken soup base, garlic powder, onion powder, and olive oil and bring beans to a gentle simmer. Cook about one hour, until barely tender. (The small amount of olive oil prevents the "foam" that comes when dried beans are cooking. You can omit if you prefer.)

While beans cook, in very large frying pan, brown pork sausage well, breaking up with turner as it cooks. Remove from pan, rinse if desired, and place in large soup pot. Next brown ground beef well, breaking up with turner, rinse if desired, and place in soup pot. Add beef broth, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano, chile powder, Ancho chile powder (if using), cayenne, dried parsley, and Epazote (if using), and bring the soup pot ingredients to a gentle simmer.

Wipe out frying pan and add 1/2 T olive oil. Add diced onions and saute 5 minutes, until softened but not browned. Add to chili. Add more olive oil if needed and saute mushrooms 5 minutes. Add to chili.

When beans are barely tender add to chili, along with cooking liquid. Add olives and canned black beans, if using. (Edit: since writing this post I've learned that if you rinse canned beans it makes them less salty and more digestible, so I'd rinse the black beans before using.) Let chili simmer on low several hours. Add cilantro if desired last 15 minutes of cooking time. Taste for salt/pepper and serve hot, with cheese and sour cream if desired.

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South Beach Suggestions:

Chili is a great food for any phase of the South Beach Diet, since dried beans are allowed even for phase one. This version of chili probably has more saturated fat than South Beach recommends, but you can use a fine strainer and rinse the browned meat with the hottest water you can get from your tap, and a lot of the fat will be washed away.

More Great Versions of Chili for Superbowl Sunday:
Black Bean and Beef Chili with Cilantro, Lime, and Avocado Salsa
Turkey and White Bean Chili with Chocolate
Pick Your Chili Recipe for Superbowl Sunday from BlogHer