I decided to try my luck this year, so Seth and I got to work planning what we hoped would be the winning recipe. We knew we could make a mean chile, but we needed something to really impress the judges. First, we started the chile on Saturday, five days before the cook-off, to really give the flavors time to meld together. Then we decided to add bacon. Everyone loves bacon right?
Sadly, despite all the rave reviews from my coworkers, my chile was not one of the chosen two. However, I was glad to see that it was one of the fastest disappearing chiles. If you too would like to experience the joys of bacon chile, here is the recipe for your tasting pleasure.
Bacon Chile
Serves a whole office of coworkers!
Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp chile powder
3 chipotles in adobo sauce, diced (3 peppers, not three cans!)
2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes w/ chiles
2 quarts canned tomatoes
3 anaheim chiles, diced
8 slices bacon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can hominy
1 TB flour or cornstarch, optional
What to Do
Begin by browning the ground beef and the onion in the largest pot you have. Season with spices, salt and pepper. Feel free to use more or less spices depending on what you like, I didn't actually measure mine.
When beef is mostly cooked and onions are tender, add the diced chipotle peppers along with all the cans of tomato. Make sure to include any liquid in the cans. Add the diced anaheim chile peppers.
In a separate fry pan, fry up the bacon until crispy, then dice. Add to the chile pot.
Dice and add the garlic and bell pepper. Add the can of hominy.
Let cook on the stove for several hours on low. If it is too thick, add some more water. If it isn't thick enough, add a TB or so of flour or cornstarch to thicken it up.
It tastes great to eat the same day you cook it, but the longer it sits, (within reason, of course!) the tastier it gets.
