No-Tomato Chili

I'm not a fan of foods with chunks of tomatoes in them, so I've had a really hard time finding a chili recipe that tasted good, but allowed me to not have to pick tomatoes out. I love this recipe and only tweaked it a little bit. First, I used a can of Bush's chili beans in place of the caneletto beans. And more importantly I used a 12 ounce bottle of Yuengling lager in place of the beef broth. I can't wait to make more chili for the next big football game.

This, unexpectedly, knocked my socks off! I did make a couple teeny changes: Only had two lbs beef, which I browned with the onion and green / red bell peppers (Penzey's dehyd), Used a bit less chili powder (kids are supposed to eat this for dinner), No cumin (fresh out), and just a kiss of oregano. I used two cans of Bush's Chili beans (MILD) - drained, but not rinsed. And, on my bowl, I didn't add any cheese, jalapeno or sour cream - it doesn't need it!!! Threw it into the crock pot this morning on LOW, then I knocked it down to warm - was ready for lunch and man, this is incredible! I didn't even miss the tomatoes!

This was a VERY FLAVORFUL chili!! I have tried several recipes from this site and always go back to my own cause my family really likes it. However my daughter really dislikes chunky tomatoes in her chili. I usually puree them in my version. This was the main reason for trying this chili. SO GLAD I DID!! This will be my "other" choice on occasion. The CHILI SAUCE, beef broth and worcheshire sauce make this so special. I only had 2 1/4 pounds of beef so I basically cut back slightly on all the other ingredients. However for the chili powder I started with 2 TBLS, tasted after 20 minutes and added another TBLS. My daughter can't eat it too spicy. After she had 2 helpings and LOVED it, I added 1 MORE TBLS. of chili powder (4 total). The flavor was so smooth with the heat slightly at the end of the bite. I was pleasantly surprised how really good this chili was!