Because my brain never sleeps I had an idea to make some chili in a different way. It was off the cuff, no recipe, just put some ideas together and see what happened type of thing. Granted, I didn't reinvent the wheel here, just threw some darts to see if they would stick and I have to say....BULLSEYE!
I took 2 garden picked tomatoes and an onion and smoked them for 2 hours. Afterwards, I took a pack of 80/20 and made it into 5 patties, like I was cooking burgers. I gave each side a dusting of peppered cow rub and cooked them over flame to get some nice color and char (hence the mention of "grilled" chilii)
I peeled the skin of of the tomatoes by simply squeezing them into a pot that also had the smoked onion, finely diced, in it. I crumbled the patties in there, added some garlic, diced green chilis, diced jalapenos, kidney beans, pintos, tomato paste, diced tomatoes and a little of this and that, usual suspects for seasoning chili. It was the best "standard" chili that I've ever made. The addition of the smoked veggies and that delicious grill taste from the beef elevated it to greatness I tell ya!
I didn't take ANY pictures of the process as I didn't know how it would turn out but I did take one solitary picture of a little bowl of it, sans cheese and sour cream.
The next time you make chili, give this method a shot, I think you'll love it!
