This is my mother's chili recipe. Some people in our family rave about it while others find it too spicy for enjoyable consumption. When the company my husband worked for announced an upcoming chili cookoff for charity, we decided to enter this recipe (with a little tweaking). My husband named it "Medina's teeth-kicker" and it won in the hot category and second place overall. I am actually not certain of the exact rankings, but I do recall an award. That's all that is required to call this an "Award Winning Chili". I think it is best served with a moist, sweet cornbread. Here's the recipe:
1 pound ground chuck
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
minced garlic (to your taste)
3 cans of Brooks brand chili beans (preferably hot & spicy)
2 cans Rotel brand tomatoes (diced tomatoes w/ green chilies)
Chili powder (to your taste)
Salt and pepper or a seasoned salt
Brown the ground chuck, pepper and onion. Drain off any grease. Add garlic and salt and pepper. Simmer about 10 minutes. In a large pot, add the beans, tomatoes and chili powder. Stir then add remaining ingredients. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes.
MY NOTES: I add a couple of freshly chopped jalapeno peppers (with seeds) to the meat mixture as well as chili powder. Also, depending on the level of spiciness desired, I sometimes add cayenne pepper to the bean and tomato mixture.
