Are You Ready For Some Football?

With the start of both college and professional football upon us, I'm ready to plop on the couch and cheer on my favorite teams with some delicious eats! There are certain foods that just go hand-in-hand with football, and I'd like to pay homage to a few of my favorite recipes over the next few posts. Today's recipe: Chili--I don't use the beans in my chili as original chili didn't call for beans. Beans were added as filler to make the food go further. However, I left them in this recipe because some people like them--I am "old school" and prefer to have real food rather then just filler.

Route 66 Truck Stop Chili

from Famous Dave's Backroads & Sidestreets

Don't let this recipe's hefty ingredient list scare you away, it is worth every single dash of seasoning. The author, Dave Anderson, knows chili like no one's business!

3 lbs (80/20) coarse ground beef

2 teaspoons Famous Dave's Steak seasoning

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

4 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons Maggi seasoning

1 tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 large jalepeno, finely chopped

2 (16-ounce) cans hot chili beans

1 (22-ounce) can tomato juice

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (15-ounce) can tomato puree

1 (10-ounce) can beef broth

3 tablespoons Famous Dave's BBQ sauce

2 tablespoons Kahlua

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine ground beef, steak seasoning, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, Maggi, basil and garlic powder in a stockpot and mix well. Cook until the ground beef begins to turn a crusty brown, stirring frequently. Add celery, onion, green pepper and jalepeno. Cook until the vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Add undrained chili beans, tomato juice, undrained tomatoes, tomato puree, broth, BBQ sauce, Kahlua and Worcestershire sauce and mix well. Simmer until the desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Ladle into chili bowls. Serve with shredded Cheddar cheese, minced onion, corn bread and/or crackers.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings