AAC - gotta hand it to you again. This recipe (from page 1) stands the test of time!

This was my first go at this style of chili. I am making a test pot for a little chili competition we are having at a Christmas party next week. It was a HUGE hit tonight!

I changed up the recipe some, but used AAC's advice as my base. Here is what I did:

Simmered the 4 kinds of chili's to make the puree. Smelling this amazing concoction confirmed that I was on the right path to an amazing chili!



I smoked the meat & chili, so I didn't have a pan full of goodness to deglaze with a Shiner. So, I just cooked my aromatics (jalapeño, onion, garlic) in a big cast iron pot.


I seasoned and prepped the meat for the smoker. I had quite a bit of ground venison, so that is what I used. I had some coffee steak rub, and threw a healthy amount on the ground meat.


I made a mistake at this point, and dumped in the tomatoes & sauce (I opted for fire roasted crushed tomato's). I failed to toast the seasoning with a little tomato paste. I think that will deepen the flavor, and I for sure will be doing that next time. But, I added the rest of the Shiner, seasoning (I added smoked salt and smoked paprika to the list), and tomato's and let everything simmer in the pot while I finished the chile puree. When
The puree was done, it went in the pot too, and everything began to smell amazing!



On to the smoker for about 2.5 hours. I made the ground venison into a giant hamburger patty, to increase the surface area and decrease smoking time (I was in a bit of a hurry). I threw the pot of chili underneath. At this point, I added about 3 oz if super dark chocolate chips. I was aiming to cut the spice a bit, and have it lean towards a mole flavor ever so slightly. This ended up working VERY well, in my opinion.



After about 2.5 hours of smoking, the meat was at 160 degrees, with a really nice crust. I pulled it off and crumbled it into the chili.



I adjusted the flavor a bit with a few more spices, and added a little more liquid and it was getting thick, and then let everything simmer on the stove with the cast iron lid on for about an hour. I think it would only get better with more time.



Topped it off with some freshly grated cheddar, Fritos, sour cream, and green onions. It was SSSOOO good! Really deep flavors, that sort of hit you in layers. My whole family loved it (and several don't like spicy things). They just added a little more sour cream, and it was perfect. The mix of chili's created a really great flavor that presented up front- they let you know they were there, but it wasn't spicy. That gave way to hints of spices and smoke and finished with a very smooth flavor and the slightest notes of bitter chocolate. Really amazing!



I will attempt to improve on this by toasting the spices with the aromatics, as AAC recommended. I will also used diced fire roasted tomatoes instead of only crushed, just to provide a little more texture. I might even try to roast the jalapeños, but I'm not sure that would add too much.

If you haven't tried this recipe, do yourself a favor and make a batch! Be warned, it's going to make a big pot.