Texas Chili Recipe #1

Last year, I played around with a chili recipe that turned out pretty good, so this year I decided to step up and measure what I've been doing (along with making a few changes), just to see what I could crank out. I've decided to keep track of the different permutations to see what works best. The liquid is what makes it authentically Texas.

You'll need:

1 pound ground sirloin
6-8 slices of bacon
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, chopped and seeded
1 orange bell pepper (go Hippos!), chopped and seeded
2 Tbs. + 1 tsp. chili powder
1 Tbs. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1 lime (just the juice will do)
1 12 oz. Shiner Bock
1 12 oz. Dr Pepper
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
2 16 oz. can of diced tomato
1 16 oz. can of Ranch Style Beans (and, yes, I know that real chili doesn't have beans, but if you're cheap, it stretches the meal)

1. In a large stew pot, add 2/3 can of beer and 2/3 can of Dr. Pepper and reduce. While that's going, chop bacon and place in large skillet to render all the fat from the bacon.

2. Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce to stew pot, as well as rendered bacon. Reduce heat to low. Save about 2 Tbs. of bacon fat and cook onions and garlic.

3. Add onions, garlic, jalapeño, and bell pepper to stew pot.

4. Heat skillet to high and sear ground beef on each side. Lower heat to medium and cook through.

5. Add beef, spices, lime juice, and remaining beer and Dr. Pepper. Cook on medium about 5 minutes or so.

6. Add Ranch Style Beans and send it straight to the fridge.

We'll be eating this tomorrow night, and I'll post some thoughts on if it's any good or not. Before it went in, it was a little sweet at first, with a little back-end kick. We'll see what changes in 24 hours.