Big Pot Chili For A Crowd Food

CHILI FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• In 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot, cook beef and onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are tender; drain.
• Stir in tomatoes, bean liquid, tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar and salt, breaking up tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 1 1/4 hours.
• Stir in beans. Simmer uncovered about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Cut off the tops of bread loaves. Scoop out bread from the loaves, leaving a 1-inch thick wall. Brush the insides of the loaves with olive oil. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 5 minutes or until light golden brown. Place on serving plates. Spoon chili into bread bowls.

CHILLI FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• If using dried beans and not freezing the chilli, rinse and pick over the beans, then soak them overnight in plenty of water. Rinse again, and tip into a large pan with enough water to cover by 5cm and bring to the boil. Boil briskly for 10 mins, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 30 mins or until tender. Drain and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based lidded pan and brown the pork, then the beef, in 4 batches, scooping into a bowl as you go. Slice the bacon into strips. Add to the empty pan and cook gently to begin with, raising the heat as the bacon crisps. Scoop the bacon out of the pan, stir in the onions, garlic, celery and the bay leaves, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft but hardly coloured - about 20 mins.
• Quarter the lemons lengthways, cut out the pithy core and remove the seeds. Chop into very small pieces, each with a bit of peel. Stir the chilli powder, cumin and oregano into the onions and stir-fry for a couple of mins, then return the meat, adding the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, lemon, wine and stock. Stir as the dish heats up, then simmer, covered, for 1 hr 30 mins. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Can be frozen at this stage for up to 1 month - defrost overnight in the fridge before continuing with the recipe.
• Add the beans to the pan - if you're using canned beans, rinse them first. Cook, uncovered, for a further 30 mins. Can be cooled at this stage and kept covered in the fridge for 24 hrs.
• Tip the soured cream into a bowl, snip the chives into small pieces then scatter them over the soured cream, cover and refrigerate until serving.
• To make the guacamole, halve the avocados lengthways, remove the stone and use a fork to mash the flesh into its shell. Scoop out into a bowl, mashing further if necessary (I like it lumpy). Add the chillies, onions and the garlic crushed to a paste with a little salt. Squeeze over the juice of 3 limes, season with black pepper and add the chopped coriander. Mix, adding extra lime juice to taste. Cover with cling film, allowing it to touch the surface. Chill until required.
• To prepare the couscous, boil the kettle and measure 750ml water into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil and couscous. Stir, cover with cling film and leave to soak for 30 mins, then fluff up with a fork.
• Prepare the corn chips up to 1 hr before serving. Spread the chips on baking sheets, scatter over the cheese and place under a hot grill for 2-4 mins until molten and crusty. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with the chilli, couscous, guacamole, soured cream and chives and some coriander leaves sprinkled over the top, if you like.

CHILI FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• In an 8-qt. kettle or Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. , Stir in the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

KATIE'S CHILI FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• This is a huge batch of chili (432oz) so I recommend using 2 large 15 qt or larger pots, I use a 15.5 and a 22qt, otherwise it will be a bear to try to mix and stir all in one huge pot. Aluminum pots will burn on the bottom very quickly so stir every 5 minutes if using aluminum, every 10 if using good stainless steel with the thick bottom.
• Mix all the dry ingredients (spices) together in a 2qt bowl and set aside.
• Dice all the peppers and onions into about 1 inch squares and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, pour in undrained chili beans and pinto beans, drain and pour in the kidney beans and stir them up well, set aside.
• On Medium-High heat, brown all of the ground chuck in the largest pot or all in one if they're the same size. Adding additional Peppercorn Medley,(2 tbsp) Pink Himalayan salt (1 tbsp) and Garlic powder (3 tbsp) or to taste. You can skip these extra spices but your beef will not be as flavorful. (Skip the extra salt if using Italian sausage or pork.)
• Lower heat to medium. Add diced and stewed tomatoes and gradually stir in the spice mix that you set aside. Once well mixed divide evenly between your pots then add the beans evenly to each pot. Of course if you have a 5 gallon pot and a really good arm you could make this in one pot. Stir well. Divide the peppers and onion evenly and add to each pot. Stir well.
• Cook over medium heat stirring every 5 minutes for aluminum or every 10 minutes for thick bottom stainless steel pots, until it's bubbling hot, it's very important to wait for the bubbling. Boil for 5 minutes, reduce heat to low and cook covered for 1 hour. Don't forget to keep up the stirring or the bottom will burn, if this happens, DO NOT allow the spoon to scrape the bottom as it will pull up the burnt stuff from the bottom and ruin the taste of your chili, transfer to another large pot and continue cooking or into a very large bowl or 2, then clean out the burnt stuff from the bottom and return the chili to the pot and continue cooking after bringing it back up to temperature.
• Uncover and continue cooking on low heat for 15 minutes still stirring every 5 to 10 minutes until heat is turned off.
• Serve hot, enjoy!

BIG POT CHILI FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• In large soup pot, saute onions and green pepper in bacon grease.
• Add ground beef and cook and stir until no longer pink.
• Add all remaining ingredients.
• Bring to a boil, stirring occ.
• Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occ.

JIM'S BIG BATCH SLOW COOKER CHILI

Steps:

• Optional Adds: 1 Green Bell Pepper chopped OR 2 Jalapeno Peppers seeded and chopped for extra added heat. Personally, I do not use either of these, but you may. You may also use 2 (14.5 oz. cans) of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, undrained, if you like a chunkier chili. Personally, I do not use these either.
• Optional Substitution: Although the beer is utilized to give the chili a great flavoring, it is NOT to have any alcoholic content after cooking it for over 2 1/2 hours according to the USDA. If you decide to omit the 12 oz. beer for any reason, use an ADDITIONAL 14.5 oz. of Chicken Broth to take its place.
• Cook the meats in at least 2 separate batches in a Large Skillet over Med-High heat right before it crumbles. Add and mix in the finely chopped onions. When the meat crumbles and no longer is pink; drain.
• Place the meat and onion mixture in the large crock pot (slow cooker). Add the rinsed/drained light red kidney beans and the remaining ingredients.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, may stir a couple times. Since this is a Slow Cooker, it is always discouraged to use the HIGH setting... but if you must and running short on time, can be done roughly around 5 hours on HIGH.
• Remove and Discard the Bay Leaves before serving.
• Condiments and/or Sides to consider having on hand when serving: Sour Cream, Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Rice, Chopped Green Onions, Black Sliced Olives, Crackers, Limes (cut in quarters), Jalapeno Slices, Baguette Bread Sliced, Cornbread (or Jalapeno Cornbread), Salad.
• Beverage Pairing: Milk, Beer, Ripe Zinfandel, or Syrah.
• ENJOY! For whatever reason, a well-made Chili is much like Jambalaya. The leftovers, the day after, is generally better. . Maybe it takes a day for the flavors to truly fuse together.
• Directions for freezing and/or reheating portions:.
• Let Chili cool before freezing.
• Evenly divide chili into 2 (1-gallon) zip-top freezer bags (only 1 1-gallon bag needed if you are looking to freeze only half).
• Seal and lay each bag flat.
• Stack bags of chili in freezer.
• Freeze up to 1 month.
• Thaw 1 bag of frozen chili overnight in refrigerator (or defrost in microwave).
• Pour thawed chili into a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Cover tightly with heavy-duty plastic wrap, and fold back a corner to allow steam to escape.
• Microwave at HIGH 6-7 minutes or until bubbly (stirring once after 3 1/2 min mark).