Food

Gluten Free Thunder Chili

Seriously.  I've literally thrown together this chili recipe for years now but it has shown to be the best chili known to man.  There is a small chance that that is an over exaggeration, but let me explain.  I've had people who swear they don't like chili, they won't smell chili and they certainly will never eat chili - love my chili.  So figure that out!  Anyway, not to be boastful, I think the reason my chili is awesome is because it's just plain simple.

This chili is a just a little spicy, more chunky than it is soupy so feel free to make some cornbread with it.  When I first started making this chili, I didn't worry about gluten-free, but my wife has a wheat intolerance, so I did some small adjustments and research to make sure that all the products are gluten free too.  So at the time this was published, these ingredients were the ones to get to make sure that it's gluten free - otherwise you buy what you wanna:

1 to 2 lbs :: Turkey, Beef, Chicken, Tofu if you're weird, Duck, Frog, Pretty much any meat.. Or a mixture! Ooo! I haven't tried that (Turdunken chili, outstanding!)
2 :: 32oz cans of Contadina Crushed Tomatoes
2 :: 20oz cans of Sun Vista or 20oz cans of La Costeña black beans
2 :: 20oz cans of Sun Vista or 20oz cans of La Costeña pinto beans
1 :: Good sized white onion (or yellow) - julienned
2 :: Good sized tomatoes to dice into 3/4 inch chuncks - don't worry, they cook down
1 :: Good sized Anaheim chili.
¼ bottle :: McCormick Cumin
¼ bottle :: McCormick Chili Powder
¼ bottle :: McCormick Italian Seasoning (Can substitute for the same amount of a mixture of Thyme, Majoram, Rosemary, Oregeno, Savory, and/or Basil)
Black pepper - I get the small grinder and twist in pepper until my forearm hurts, that's when I know there's enough.

Keep in mind that you don't have to follow the proportions to the tee.  As a matter of fact if you do, you may mess something up!  The first and only choice you have to make is what kind of meat you want to use.  You don't have to use meat if you are a hippie.  That's fine too.

Take 1 or 2 pounds of meat - I prefer more meat to make it more chunky.  I've only tried chicken, beef and turkey.  Turkey is my favorite because of the health factor and don't worry about taste - I've had people who say they "hate" turkey chili eat this chili and not even know it was turkey.  Brown the meat in a frying pan.  Simple.

In a large crock pot or a really big pot on the simmer setting, put in your two cans of crushed tomatoes.  Chop up your onion, fresh tomatoes, and Anaheim chili pepper and toss those in.  Then grab your cullender and drain your four cans of beans.  Drop all those babies in there.  Then put in the cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Like Bob Marley said, stir it up.  It should be smelling pretty good by now.

I keep it in the crock pot on high for about 4 hours stirring frequently. When I worked in a restaurant and cooked the weekly chili, we kept it in a 5 gallon pot under low flame so it was just bubbling a little bit. Slow cooking it will make all the flavors meld together into The Thunder Chili.

There you have it. I hope you like it and get the same results as me. Except the time I brought a batch to a pot luck expecting leftovers and it was all gone.

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