Nothing Says St. Patricks Day like Chili

I've been meaning to post a recipe once a week this year--its March and this is my first. Most the time when I cook I don't really follow a recipe, its just throw things together etc. I'm not much of a red meat eater, but when I get a chest cold, I crave beef. Here's a recipe I've tried twice with great success both times. Kell is a big fan of this.

I don't cook the chili in a dutch oven, I use my cast iron skillet.


As adapted from Cook's Country

Cincinnati Chili
Serves 6 to 8
Use canned tomato sauce for this recipe-do not use jarred spaghetti sauce.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon oregano
1 and1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
salt
3/4 teaspoon peeper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups canned tomato sauce
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high until shimmering. Cook onions until soft and browned around edges, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and allspice and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth, tomato sauce, vinegar, and sugar.

2. Add beef and stir to break up meat. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chili is deep brown and slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and serve. (chili can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)

Cincinnati Chili is rarely served by itself (one-way); there's five ways to serve it. Personally I like four and five way.

Two-way: Served over spaghetti. (just cook spaghetti noodles and put the meat on top..like spaghetti)

Three-way: served over spaghetti and topped with shredded cheddar cheese.

Four-way: Served over spaghetti and topped with onions and then cheddar cheese (raw, finely chopped--I prefer red because they are milder)

Five-way: Served over spaghetti and topped with onions, red kidney beans (drained canned work fine, they don't need to be reheated), and cheese.