Chili Cook-Off

We had a chili cook-off at Huber today. I fixed two types, and was pleased with both of them. The first was Lazy Man's Chili Soup with Beans. It was great, brown some ground beef, open a few packages of this, a few cans of that, throw it in the crockpot to cook overnight, and it was ready for work in the morning.

Lazy Man’s Chili Soup with Beans

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
1 package (1.0 oz) ranch dip mix
1 package (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix
1 can (10 oz) tomatoes & green chilies (mild) – drained
2 cans (14.5 oz/ea) tomatoes with onions
1 can (12 oz) chili beans
1 can (11 oz) golden, whole kernel corn – drained
1 Tbsp TABASCO® Brand Pepper Sauce
1 package (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 package (8 oz) sour cream
1 bag (any size) corn chips – optional

Directions
Brown the ground beef in a large pot. Drain the beef and return it to the pot. Add the ranch mix, taco seasoning, drained tomatoes and chilies, tomatoes with onions, drained chili beans, drained corn and TABASCO® Brand Pepper Sauce to the pot with the beef. Cover and cook on medium heat for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pot from heat and spoon into individual serving bowls. Add 1-2 oz of cheddar cheese and ½-1 Tbsp sour cream. Serve with corn chips if desired.

The second chili was Jamaican Jerk Chili, which was by far the favorite of the two I made. I got so many compliments on it.

Jamaican Jerk Chili
1 large red onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 Jamaican hot pepper
¾ lb hot Italian sausage (approx 4 links)
1 lb ground beef
1 heaping Tablespoon Jamaican dry jerk seasoning
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 can fresh-cut diced tomatoes (1 lb 12 oz)
1 cup ketchup
2 cans small red kidney beans (15.5 oz each)
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
8 small round breads

Chop up onion and all the peppers. Remove the skin from the sausage and brown in a skillet, chop up as it browns, approx 5 min. Then add ground beef, while browning add jerk seasoning, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Add ¾ onion and all the peppers, then add crushed garlic, continue cooking about 5 min, or until completely brown. Add tomatoes and ketchup, cover and simmer 20 min. While the chili simmers, cut and scoop out the bread to hollow for bowl. Save inside bread to be toasted and served with chili. Add kidney beans and simmer 10 more minutes. Serve in bread bowl topped with grated cheddar cheese and remaining onion. Enjoy! Serves 8

I got both recipes from the Marlboro Chili Roundup Cookbook.