Cincinnati Chili

Unicorn (Unicorn@Indenial.com)
Sun, 15 Nov 1998 13:53:04 -0500

Thanks to Carol Sue Kidd for today's food funny: A man was strolling
the forest one day and came upon a huge grizzly bear. The man
immediately began praying, "Lord, please let this be a Christian
bear." The bear dropped to his knees and began to pray, the man was
elated until he heard the bear pray, " Dear Lord, thank you for the
food I am about to receive."

I knew it. I just knew it. I opened up a floodgate when I published
the chili recipe yesterday. I don't think I have ever received so
many responses to a recipe, except when I have done something stupid
and my readers write to point it out. Several readers wrote to ask
for a recipe for Cincinnati chili. I didn't have on in my files, so I
searched the web and found this page dedicated to Cincinnati chili:
<http://members.aa.net/~bergamot/cchili.html>. There are several
recipes there, and I "stole" one for you. If the recipe police show
up, someone please feed my dog.

Cincinnati Chili

4 cups (1 L) Water
2 lbs (900 g) Ground beef
4 Tbs (60 ml) Chili powder
2 medium Onions, grated
2 Tbs (30 ml) Vinegar
2 cups (500 ml) Tomato sauce
1 large Bay leaf
5 Whole allspice
5 Whole cloves
1/2 tsp (2 ml) Red pepper flakes
2 tsp (10 ml) Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp (5 ml) Ground cumin seeds
1/2 oz (15 g) Bitter chocolate
1 1/2 tsp (7 ml) Salt
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp (5 ml) Cinnamon

Add ground beef to water in 4 quart pot; stir until beef separates to
fine texture. Boil slowly for 30 minutes. Add all other ingredients;
stir to blend. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered
about 3 hours. For last hour the pot may be covered if desired
consistency has been reached. Chili could be refrigerated over night
so that the fat can be lifted from top before reheating and serving.
Serve over cooked spaghetti, top with chopped onions, shredded cheddar
cheese (either or both are optional as are oyster crackers). Serves 6.