We had our first annual Sunwest Trust Chili Cookoff last week and I wrote about it in our monthly newsletter. We have had a ton of requests for the winning recipe. Here is Cary & Marisa's winning recipe. Enjoy!

Cary & Marisa's Chili Recipe:

Ingredients:

6-8 slices of bacon

2 pounds of ground beef

1 large onion (white, chopped)

1 large green bell pepper (chopped)

4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

¼ cup of chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons tomato paste

12 ounce bottle amber beer

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (if you can find cocoa chili powder use that)

1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (crushed by hand)

1 ½ cups of beef broth

2 15-ounce can chili beans (undrained)

1 tablespoon hot sauce (more or less if desired)

Cook bacon until crisp. Crumble to desired size (1/2 inch or smaller), keep 1 to 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, brown the ground beef with your choice of seasoning (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder). Drain and set aside. In same large pan, heat bacon grease, sauté bell pepper and onion under medium/high heat until soft (approx. 5 min.). Add garlic and 1 teaspoon salt (cook 2 min.). Add chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and tomato paste (cook 5-7 min.). It should look “brick red”. Add small amount of water if it starts to clump together. Add beer and simmer until reduced (about 3 min.). Stir in ground beef; add cocoa powder, tomatoes, beef broth and beans and bring to a simmer. Cook under low heat until thick (about 80-100 min.). Add hot sauce and bacon. Season with salt and pepper if desired.