Smokey Mexi-Mocha Chili

My hubby makes great chili! I know a lot of guys (even gals) claim they have the best, but my hubby's is kind of different & so good. He makes a chili that's sweet & spicy.

OK...he tones down the spicy so I can eat it, but he puts in his own special ingredients. And I'm a sucker for the sweeter side of foods. Creamier, too. And his chili is more of a stoup (a Rachael Ray term for "thicker than soup & thinner than stew"). It's got a good, bold flavor that is sweet & savory.

It's important to know this about my hubby's chili, but let's jump to my own  ingredient search:

I love chocolate. No really...I. Love. Chocolate. And I will try all kinds to see if it's to my liking or not. One day, as I was searching the candy aisle at the grocery store, I discovered something that began my brain's wheels to start turning on overdrive. Lindt has a dark chocolate bar that contains chili pepper in it! Did you know that? And I questioned why...

Quite some time later, I learned that there are people who have added cocoa to their chili recipes. wha-WHA?? I know, right?

Then I got thinking about that chili chocolate bar from Lindt...
I had already been adding a square of it to my Spicy Mexi-Mocha (recipe HERE).

My hubby has talked about trying a Tex-Mex seasoning in his chili, and I remembered him saying that...so I got thinking about the whole spicy chocolate in chili, much like my Mexi-mocha. And, mocha includes coffee...so I thought I'd throw in some coffee, too! Because...well...I also LOVE coffee!! I. Love. Coffee.

Then a friend of mine put her vegan chili recipe out there. Imagine my shock when it, too, included coffee!! Since then, I had seen where a couple of chili recipe demos, on news segments, that also included coffee.

But...none of those recipes had included both chocolate AND coffee!! I had even tried to research other recipes that had those ingredients. Guess what I found! Nada...nothing...zip...zero. So, I was on my own.

I also love a smokey flavor to my chili, along with a lot of other soups & meats. So I thought I'd include it here, too.

So, after some research of spices & other chili recipes, and finally getting all the ingredients I needed for what I wanted to use, here's what I came up with:

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SMOKEY MEXI-MOCHA CHILI

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or turkey; browned, drained & rinsed
1 14.5 oz cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1-2 can(s) black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, drained (I used a can with no salt added)
1-2 sweet red bell pepper, deseeded & diced
1 beef bouillon cube
1½ cup dark roast/strong coffee, brewed
½ cup minced onion or 1 small sweet yellow onion, diced - divided
½ chili dark chocolate bar; broken into much smaller pieces
3 T cumin
2 T parsley
2 T oregano
3 T flour
3 T cinnamon
1 T nutmeg
1cup brown sugar
2-3 T vinegar
3 T liquid smoke
3 T smoked paprika
3 T chili powder
3 pinches ground cayenne pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes
garlic powder to taste
3 T honey
3 T vanilla extract
½ tsp anise extract (you seriously don't want too much of this, but just enough to give umph)
2 tsp cardamom
2 T each: unsweet cocoa & dark cocoa
2 T sugar
1 T salt
1 T ground black pepper

Directions:

~ in a large pot, brown meat thoroughly, adding half the onions; drain, rinse & add back into the pot

~ turn heat to mid-high heat, then add the beans, corn, bell pepper, the rest of the onions, and tomatoes (sauce, diced & paste) to the meat; stir

~ add in the coffee, liquid smoke, honey & extracts, then stir

~ begin to add all the other ingredients, stir & allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes

~ stir again & take a test taste to figure out where you might want to adjust seasonings & such, depending on how spicy, sweet &/or smokey you want it, then allow to simmer again to get those flavors all blended

* if you cannot live without a couple shimmy-shakes of tabasco sauce or chipotle seasoning, put it in...they are very fitting for this dish
* serve with cornbread or tortilla chips; sprinkle the top with cheese &/or sour cream, if desired

* use it as a hearty dip at your next fiesta

*serving suggestion: ladle the chili into a pottery mug (or any mug)...cuz...mocha should be in a mug

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This a different, yet yummy flavor for a chili. Perfect for a cold night (cuz...uh...chili) &/or for something like Cinco de Mayo, Dios de los Muertos, or even a different twist to for your Navidad fiesta...or any other night.

There are some surprising ingredients in this chili, but I really did take lead from my hubby's chili & a yummy Mexi-mocha. I even used the mocha idea as the basis for my Mexi-cocoa cake, too (recipe HERE)!

I mean...in ancient times, cocoa was mixed with spices & peppers before sugar & cream. So this is right on track with all of that!

As for the pepper, you can also mix it up by adding orange &/or yellow to make it more festive, too.

ENJOY!