A spicy chili that Celebrates the American Hotrod that evolved out of the California Salt Flats in the 1930's. Tabasco hot sauce included. Serves 10 - 12.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

cook time: 2.5 hours

American Hot Rod Supercharged Chili

Ingredients to have on hand

• 6 c. cold tap water
• 1 lb. fresh beef chuck or stew beef, cut into small 1⁄2” chunks
• 1 lb. ground chuck
• 2 T. vegetable oil
• 1 large onion (8 oz.) chopped
• 1 T. minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 large green pepper, chopped (4 oz.)
• 1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms (4 oz.)
• Contents of seasoning packet (enclosed)
• 1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 & 1⁄2 c. tomato juice
• 2 T. tomato paste

Directions

1. Sort through and thoroughly wash beans.  Soak beans four hours or overnight in water to cover by 2 inches. Drain beans and rinse well. Place beans in a 4 qt. cooking pot along with 6 c. water. Cover and bring beans to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 1 hour.
2. In a large 6 qt. pot, cook the stew beef chunks over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring meat occasionally. Add ground chuck and cook both meats until they are browned (about ten minutes total). Remove meat from pot, drain off and discard fat. Set meat aside.
3. Return pot to burner, add 2 T. oil and sauté the onions, garlic, green pepper and mushrooms until tender (3-5 minutes).   Add cooked meat to the vegetables along with contents of seasoning packet. Stir completely to mix all ingredients well.
4. Add cooked beans (including all the liquid) to the vegetables/ meat mixture. Add the tomatoes (chopped, including the liquid), tomato juice and tomato paste. Cover and bring chili to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook 1 & 1⁄2 hours longer.
5. Remove chili from heat. For best flavor refrigerate chili overnight and reheat the next day.

The next day, leave your ‘32’ deuce coupe in the driveway and serve our Hot Rod Chili with salty corn chips and iced cold colas.

Serves 10-12. Freezes beautifully. Enjoy!