All week long we’ve been getting cozy on the couch with the best comfort food, chili! Owner of Golden Fig, Laurie Crowell shared her favorite Smokey Three Bean Chili.
Ingredients:
- 4 slices thick cut bacon-chopped (Fischer Farms is the BEST!)
- 2 large onions –chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper – finely chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves –minced
- ¼ C Golden Fig Chili Seasonings
- 1 TB Smoked Spanish Paprika
- 1 tsp-1 TB Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
- 3 lbs 85% lean ground beef (Thousand Hills grass fed is what we use), bison, ground venison or any mixture of the three
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 28 oz can tomatoes (we love the Local Folks brand OR the fire roasted kick it up a bit)
- 3 C plain tomato sauce
- 2 C Beer (get good beer so you can drink the rest!)
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce (Colonel Pabst is primo)
- 3 -15 oz cans beans (black, pinto, kidney, etc. Mix it up!)
Description:
- Sauté Bacon in a large, heavy bottom saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until just brown. Don’t let it crisp.
- Add chopped onion, bell pepper, stir, cover and let onions and peppers sweat for about 5 minutes, until translucent.
- Uncover pan, cook a bit longer if onions aren’t yet translucent. Add garlic, cooking about a minute.
- Add ground beef, cooking until beef loses it raw color, about 10 minutes. Break up a little but do leave some larger chunks.
- Add the spices and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the salt, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beer and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cook partially covered for about 30 minutes, until chili has thickened slightly but is still soupy.
- Add beans and cook another 15 minutes (uncovered if you want to thicken it) Taste, adjust seasonings.
Serve with sour cream & cheddar cheese. This is also excellent for a chili dog, nachos, or chip dip
Laurie’s TV series recommendation is The Durrells in Corfu on PBS.
