My Awesome Chili Recipe Just in Time for the Chili Cook Off in Buffalo Gap on Labor Day Weekend

Every year, at Boys Ranch Chili (Super) Bowl time, my daughters start asking “dad, are you cooking some of your award winning chili?” The answer is always “yes”, because it’s tradition. Like Christmas trees  and Easter egg hunts, some things never change. Labor Day weekend is designated “Chili Cook Off Weekend” nothing else goes better with Labor Day than a bowl of my ‘Dragon’s Breath Chili’.

My girls aren’t the only  ones that ask. Neighbors, friends and listeners are always asking me for my super secret recipe, so I asked myself, “do I really want to reveal my super secret ingredient?”. Then I saw a pictures on Facebook of the local-1044 (Fire Fighters Union) cooking the chili as I showed them, however they’re holding up cans of my “super secret ingredient” that I begged them to never ever tell anybody about.

So, this is your lucky day. How would you like to make your own pot of my “super secret recipe” Dragon’s Breath chili? Here’s my recipe, tell me how it turns out.

Dragon’s breath chili

Ingredients

1) 200 lbs. Chili meat – (sausage grind)

2) 7 cases of McCormick’s Chili Mix – (McCormick’s Chili Seasoning – 13 oz. pouch, 6 per case )

3) 40 – 1gal. Cans “Tomato Sauce”

4) 50 – 32oz. Cans “Low Sodium Chicken Broth”

5) 50 lbs. Onions (peel and puree onions in a food processor)

6) 4 – 16 oz. Containers Ground Cumin

Fry all your meat, all your onions and half of the chili mix (about 21 pouches). After frying the meat drain meat of all the grease and meat juices, this is a very important step if you don’t want greasy chili.

In a stock pot large enough to hold all you ingredients add half of the tomato sauce, chicken broth and the rest of the chili mix. As you add your (fried and drained) meat into the pot, the chili will begin to thicken, thin down the chili by adding more chicken broth & tomato sauce (this is a texture preference it’s your call how thick or thin you want your chili).

Let simmer for about 1 to 3 hours, stirring constantly! If you don’t stir constantly the chili will scorch, so stir, stir stir then stir again. As chili simmers more broth & sauce may be needed as evaporation occurs, again this is a personal preference as to how you like your chili. Adding the final ingredient 45 minutes prior to serving, stir in the powdered Cumin, all of it and then stir it like crazy for the next 45 minutes.

Here are pictures of the local-1044 firefighters union revealing the “super secret ingredient”

Dragon’s Breath Chili – Family Size

Ingredients

5 pounds lean ground meat, coarse ground

10 – 1.25 oz packets of McCormick Original Chili Seasoning Mix

3 cans 14-oz cans Cans “Tomato Sauce”

3 – 32 oz cartons of “Chicken Broth – low sodium” the super secret ingredient

3 medium onions, Onions (peel and puree onions in a food processor)

3 Tbsp of ground Cumin

Directions

Fry all your meat, all your onions and half of the chili mix (5 packets). After frying the meat with the onions and seasonings, drain all the grease and meat juices, this is a very important step if you don’t want greasy chili.

In a stock pot large enough to hold all you ingredients add half of the tomato sauce, chicken broth and the rest of the chili mix. As you add your (fried and drained) meat into the pot, the chili will begin to thicken, thin down the chili by adding more chicken broth & tomato sauce (this is a texture preference, so it’s your call as to how thick or thin you want your chili).

Let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour, stirring constantly! If you don’t stir constantly the chili will scorch. As chili simmers more broth and/or sauce may be needed as evaporation occurs, this is a personal preference you know how you like your chili. Adding the final ingredient 20 minutes prior to serving, stir in the powdered Cumin, all of it and then stir it like crazy for the next 20 minutes.