Monday, March 7, 2011

Sweet Heat Chili (Slow Cooker)

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When I came across this recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe, I immediately wanted to try it. Normally, when it comes to chili, I totally wing it and end up with a new recipe each time. I LOVE it. But there was something special, something unique about this recipe, so I did my best to follow it to a T. I love the wide array of vegetables in this chili. I think that's my favorite part of this recipe. It's not just meat, beans, and tomatoes

The only changes I made to the original recipe (besides slow cooking rather than stove-topping it) were roasted red peppers for sundried tomatoes (as I didn't have any) and I added jalapeƱos--making my chili a bit heavier on the "heat" than the "sweet" side of things. . It was still really delicious, and we're super excited to have leftovers. Chili just gets better with time. 

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Sweet Heat Chili
recipe adapted from melskitchencafe.com
Serves 8-10

Ingredients
1 medium onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 lb ground meat
4 cups beef stock
2 cans (28 oz. each) whole stewed tomatoes
1- 14oz can kidney red beans, drained and rinsed
1- 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1 jalapeƱo pepper, seeded and diced 
3 bay leaves
1 tsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika 
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt to taste


Directions
Heat a medium skillet over medium low heat and brown the ground meat. Drain and rinse off excess fat.
Pour the cans of stewed tomatoes into a food processor and pulse a few times to desired consistency. 

Combine all ingredients into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours, or on high 4 hours. 

Serve with a dollop of sour cream. 

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3 comments:

  1. That really does look like a unique chili. It sounds wonderful and I love anything I can cook in my crockpot :-)

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  2. You should definitely give it a try, Meg! It's delish!

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  3. What a dish, chili is awesomeand very spicy .My brother loves it very much. in other words he is mad for it.i will surely prepare it for him.

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