Cincinnati Chili
March 12, 2011
Margaux says…
Aunt Suzy got me a subscription to Bon Appetit, so you’ll probably be seeing a lot of posts with recipes from it. I love this magazine! It gives me tons of (much needed) ideas for weeknight dinners, and this one was one of them. The minute I saw the photo of it when I turned the page, I knew I had to make it. See, I grew up in Steak N’ Shake country, and this looks exactly like one of my favorites, Chili 5-Way. Of course, once I looked at the ingredients I knew that Cincinnati chili is much different from the Steak N’ Shake classic…I’m sure S N’ S doesn’t put cocoa powder in theirs…but that made me want to make it even more. And it is DELISH (I hate to say it, but worlds better than S N’ S Chili 5-Way)!
There’s only one small change I made to the recipe-I’m not from anywhere near Cincinnati, so I’m not sure if this small step makes it unauthentic-but the recipe calls for mixing the beans with the spaghetti noodles, and I’m recommending stirring the beans into the chili mixture instead. The small beans did not mix well with the long noodles, and it was difficult to get a good ratio of beans-to-noodles going in each bowl. Also, because I was on a budget, I made it with ground beef instead of ground lamb, which is what the original recipe calls for. I’m sure that would be fantastic, and I will be trying it sometime!
Aunt Suzy says . . .
Margaux’s post inspired me to run right out and to get the ingredients for this so I could make it immediately! The recipe had also caught my eye in Bon Appetit – I’m a Steak N’ Shake girl, and I’ve loved Skyline Chili when I’ve had it in Cincinnati . This is a “fancied-up” version – you can see more about authentic Cincinnati chili on this episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I made some adaptions as well. I cooked the meat first without the olive oil, then removed from the pan, sauteed the onions and garlic in a little olive oil, put the meat back in and proceeded with the recipe from there. I used a combo of ground chicken/ground turkey and chicken stock. It worked out well, which I thought it would since I do the same for sloppy joes. Be careful about the spices! I inadvertently added 1 teaspoon of cloves, so the whole thing had slight clove overtones – it’s one strong spice! I agree with Margaux that this is delicious and a fun Saturday or Sunday supper.
Cincinnati Chili
adapted from Bon Appetit
serves 4
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, lamb, turkey or chicken
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- scant teaspoon ground allspice
- scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
- scant teaspoon cayenne pepper
- pinch ground cloves
- 2 1/3 cups (about) low-salt beef broth or chicken stock, divided
- 2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- scant tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tablespoon (packed) brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided
- 1/2 pound spaghetti
- 1 15-ounce cans kidney beans, rinsed, drained
- Coarsely grated goat’s-milk Gouda cheese or goat’s-milk cheddar cheese
- Chopped onions
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Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large deep skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add the meat; cook until browned, breaking into pieces, about 15 minutes. Add cocoa and next 4 ingredients; stir 3 minutes. Stir in 2 cups broth and next 6 ingredients. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered until thickened, stirring often, about 1 hour. Spoon fat from top of chili. Season with salt and pepper. Thin with broth by 1/3 cupfuls. Stir in beans and 1 tablespoon parsley.
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Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper.
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Divide spaghetti among bowls. Top with chili. Garnish with cheese, onions, and parsley.
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