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My secret ingredient?

Love...

My company had a Halloween chili cook off. I entered a vegetarian chili (my first time making chili). The base of it was kidney beans, tomatoes, and lentils. To up the savory quotient, I added several things including:
-carmelized onions deglazed w/ red wine
-roasted corn
-salted, dry-fried mushrooms
-stock made with seaweed and corn cobs (both a big source of natural umami flavor)

My chili turned out really well and I honestly liked it 1st or 2nd best of all the chilies there (out of 20). I ended up losing the vegetarian competition to a chili that had lots of fresh veggies but tasted like salsa.

I have a few different ones, but I always use a bit of red wine, pinch of cinnamon, and recently used black refried bean (typically I use kidney beans), added a really killer flavor and texture.

I typically use a bit of mole, 50% ground turkey / 50% ground sirloin, and a couple cans of green chili. This trifecta delights and stumps my guests, as well as prompts my wife to do the dishes.

My go-to chili recipe contains Coca-Cola and always comes out delicious. I recently tried it with beer instead of the Coke and that was also awesome.

The secrets to my chili depend on what kind of chili I am making, but it almost always involves a really good hunk of beef (think tri tip) cut into 2"x1"x1/2" slices.

I'm a proponent beans in chili. Especially, really good beans like the Rancho Gordo Pinquitos I use in my Chili Con Carne recipe. Tomatoes are less essential - depending.

Some other ingredients I use in my various chilis to give them oomph are:

Red Wine
Cheese - usually Cheddar or Jack
1/2 ground pork, 1/2 ground chuck
1/2 red, 1/2 yellow onions
Plenty of Garlic
Fresh Chili Peppers
Dried Chili Peppers
Really good chili powder, oregano and cumin.

I am not a big fan of chicken chili. But, that's just me.

About a half a cup of strong brewed coffee. It adds a great smoky, meatiness to vegetarian chili. Add a chipotle in adobo sauce and who needs the beef?

I have a fairly straight forward chili recipe to which I add a splash of liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, some cocoa powder and I thicken it with a slurry of cool liquid and masa horina. The latter probably does the most to identify the flavor of my chili creation.
I'm not above spooning it over a bag of Fritos and garnishing with diced onions, shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.

A local farm's spicy italian sausage, a big ol glug of habenero sauce, and right before I serve it I stir in one HUGE diced white onion so it's still raw by the time you eat it.

All over a handful of Fritos.

I have made this literally once a week for the last month and a half. I LOVE FALL!

Ancho chiles, Anaheim or poblano chiles, cocoa powder, bacon and a little masa are my twists on the basic.

Bowl of red or with beans.

But honestly, though similar from time to time, I never make it exactly the same way.

Liquid smoke and worcestershire sauce.

I also use fresh New Mexico green chiles, but that's not so much a secret because I cut them in strips and you can see them.

Chunks of Pancetta.

Good unsalted beef stock or demi, preferably homemade.

Toasted whole cumin seed ground in mortar and pestle.

Dried ancho chiles, toasted, pureed with garlic and strained a la Rick Bayless.

Sometimes low-sodium or no sodiuim V8 that I reduce a little bit. Gives it nice body. Be sure to watch your salt if you use V8.

One half square of unsweetened baker's chocolate. MMMMM