Debi's Chili for a Crowd

This week's recipe is from the Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. My 1982 edition is pretty battered; I love that cookbook! They have some truly great material. I did make some changes to this recipe, so I feel okay about posting it as mine. Mustard and lemon juice in chili? I think not! I also cut out the Italian seasonings and cut down on the other spices and replaced the red wine with beer. And I've cut the overall recipe in half, as the original is supposed to serve 35-40 portions. This chili was a great favorite back when I used to be involved in making student and intern lunches at our old church in Washington DC. We'd have 75-90 people, so I'd actually double the already huge recipe. People would say, "What did you put in this chili?" They were always astonished when I said there was Italian sausage in it.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 20

Debi Simons Debi Simons

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound yellow onions chopped
1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage casings removed (I use hot)
4 pounds ground beef 85% lean works well and is what Costco sells.
1 tsp. ground black pepper
12 oz. tomato paste two small cans
2-3 cloves garlic pressed or minced
1-2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder or to taste
1 tablespoon salt or to taste
2 29-oz, cans diced tomatoes or tomatoes in puree or enough to equal about 8 cups, depending on how thick you want your chili
1 12-oz. bottle or can beer optional; use something light such as Miller's.
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 16-oz. cans red kidney beans drained

Instructions

Saute onions in the olive oil, then mix in the sausage and ground beef and brown thoroughly. This is the most labor-intensive part of the recipe. Be sure you have a big pan. If you're using leaner beef and sausage you probably won't have too much fat, but you can drain off the juices and refrigerate them while the rest of the chili is cooking, remove the solidified fat, and then add the defatted juices back in, if you'd like. Mix in everything else and simmer until thickened and flavors have melded, probably about an hour. Taste for seasonings.

Recipe Notes

You can serve various garnishes, including grated Cheddar cheese, avocado, sliced black olives, additional parsley, red peppers, etc. I usually serve cornbread and a green salad with a chili vinaigrette. Mexican flan would be nice for dessert, as would Mexican chocolate brownies.