Turn Up the Heat In Your Freezer, With Chili!

Today, I took a risk of being "blacklisted" by my Alma matter, Indiana University, and tried a new chili recipe called Boilermaker Tailgate Chili. A recipe that obviously from the name, comes from IU's number one rival, the Purdue University Boilermakers.  Now take it easy on me, the recipe has gotten rave reviews by almost 1700 people on allrecipes and I, being somewhat of a  self-proclaimed chili connoisseur, wanted to know what all the fuss is about. 

So with our beloved Colts playing this evening at 4pm, I had plenty of time to fire up my chili pot this morning, to have a deliciously warm, hearty bowl just in time for kick-off. 



The starting line-up.

This recipe calls for 2lbs of ground chuck and 1lb of Italian sausage.  Normally, we don't eat beef in our household, but I thought for the sake of giving the recipe a fair chance I'd follow the recipe. 



Brown and Drain the ground chuck/sausage mixture.




Next, I added the chili beans and diced tomatoes, undrained.



Then, I added some veggies and bacon crumbles.  No green pepper fans in this house, so I subbed with yellow peppers from our garden.



Lastly, I added my spices and remaining ingredients.



Let it simmer.  The longer the better!

The chili appears to not have enough liquid at first, but give it time, the vegetables will start to cook and loosen up, leaving you with perfect consistency.  Don't rush this chili, it really needs to simmer for at least 6 hours.  It would probably be best to cook it the day before you actually need it, and just reheat it in a crock pot. 

Topped with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. The perfect bowl for me!

Now, if you would like to freeze your Chili....hard thing to do in this house because we love it so much, let it cool completely.  Once cooled, place your chili into dated and labeled Ziploc freezer bags.

*Here's a trick to make sure that you get all the air out of your freezer bags: after filling your freezer bag with desired contents, place a straw into the bag, but do not let it touch the food.  Press the bag, and filling as flat as you can manage, closing the Ziploc bag up until you reach the straw.  Now, suck through the straw to remove any remaining air.  Quickly, remove the straw and finish closing the Ziploc seal!

Find the entire recipe at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Boilermaker-Tailgate-Chili/Detail.aspx