Chicken Sausage Chili

I know it is weird to say, but I am kinda glad the weather is all over the place.  It puts us in limbo between winter/comfort foods and summer/fresh foods.  Since the forecast for yesterday was rainy, chilly and windy, it called for a comfort food kind of night!  I don't know how many more of these I am going to get; I have to take advantage!  I decided to go back to one of Mike and my favorites: chili.  We make it a variety of different ways but this is the one we go back to the most. It's a bit different then traditional chili; I use chicken sausage and ground beef (ground chicken would be really good too).  It adds a lot more heat to the chili...YUM!

What you need:

• 1 lbs chicken sausage (I use spicy)
• 1 lbs ground beef or ground chicken
• 2 medium onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 3 c chicken stock
• 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh as well)
• 2 tbs Mrs Dash extra spicy or chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2-15 oz cans of black beans (rinsed)
• hot sauce (optional)

Heat a large dutch oven or a large stock pot over medium heat, coat with non-stick spray (I used some olive oil too).  Start by removing the casing on the chicken sausage.

Cut a line straight down the middle and peel the skin off.

grosses picture ever!

Drop into the Dutch oven and crumble up the sausage as best you can.

 Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until onions are soft and the meat is browned.

Add in ground beef and breakup.

Add in the tomato paste.

 

Stir and cook for 4 minutes.

Drown the meat and onion mix in the chicken stock.

Dump the can of diced (or if you got fancy and used fresh) tomatoes into the pot.

Add the spices:  salt, chili pepper, cumin.
*add hot sauce at this time if you like it REALLY hot!

Stir and turned down the heat to low.  Let simmer for about 30 minutes.

The black beans are feeling lonely so, add them to the mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

The chili is ready!  You could let it continue to simmer for longer.  It won't hurt anything, actually, it will only help develop the flavors more.

Optional toppings:  Jalapenos, Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese, Goat Cheese, Green Onions

I forgot to get cheddar cheese at the grocery store...waaann-waaaaa

Luckily, we did have crumbs left in the Tostitos bag!!  JACKPOT!

The sausage adds a really nice component to the chili.  Being a lover or heat it really helps kick it up a notch.

I topped my chili with sour cream, jalapenos and green onions.  

My second helping, I added some tortilla chips!  YUM!

The leftovers are great too.  I took them for lunch the next day and I thought it was even better then the night before!  I hope you like this spicy twist!  What is your favorite chili recipe?  I love trying new chili recipes!

Enjoy!