Car Crash Chili (mild)

Preparatory: cut meat, about half an hour
Cooking time: about 2 hours in steps

Ingredients:

• 0.5 lb bacon, minced
• 2 large onions, peeled and chopped
• 2-4 head garlic, peeled and chopped
• 3 lbs tri-tip or sirloin (use the best meat you can afford), cut into 1-inch pieces (the smaller the better)
• 0.5 cup chili powder

• 1 12-oz jar roasted peppers, drained and chopped
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 T Hungarian paprika
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 12-oz bottle Woodchuck Granny Smith hard cider
• 0.5 cup bourbon or whiskey
• 0.5 cup Frank's RedHot cayenne pepper sauce
• 3 T red pepper flakes (omit for very mild)
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate

• 1 bag Fritos
• shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Cook half of the bacon in large skillet over medium heat. Transfer the bacon (but not the grease) to large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add half of the onion and garlic, and saute in the bacon grease until soft (approx 5 minutes). Add half of the meat and chili powder, and saute until the meat is brown (approx 10 minutes). Transfer to pot.

2. Repeat step 1 with remaining bacon, onion, garlic, beef, and chili powder.

3. In the pot, add chopped roasted peppers, tomatoes, paprika, cumin, cider, bourbon, hot sauce, pepper flakes, and chocolate. Mix well.

4. Place over medium heat and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.

Substitutions and Variations:

You can substitute your favorite beer for the cider.

To save chopping time, I have been substituting store-bought minced garlic instead of the heads. I use about 1 cup of minced garlic.

I do not recommend substituting Tabasco Sauce for the Frank's RedHot, since that might make the chili spicier than "mild".

Omit the red pepper flakes for Church-supper mild.

Serving Suggestion:

Frito Pie: Serve over Fritos with shredded cheese. (For this reason, the recipe above includes no salt and I normally buy low-sodium bacon. If you serve the chili over something else (rice, bread, or pasta), you may want to add salt to taste.)

• Revision November 10, 1998.
• Revision November 12, 2000.
• Revision January 28, 2003.
• Revision May 15, 2005.

Kent Lundberg