[RECIPE] Ben's Famous Cincinnati Chili (plus a SHOCKING REVELATION!!!)

[pinback]

(Stay tuned to the end for a SHOCKING REVELATION!)

Want the full Cincinnati chili experience in the comfort of your own home? No? Well, then this is not the recipe for you, because this is the recipe for...

BEN'S FAMOUS CINCINNATI CHILI

INGREDIENTS
============
32 oz chicken broth
2 lb lean ground beef (see note)
1 onion, finely diced
1 16oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp allspice
.5 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or your favorite vinegar on hand)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS
==========
1. Put chicken broth, beef, and onion in pot. (Yes, you are putting RAW BEEF into a pot of liquid. This looks and is disgusting.)

2. Turn heat up.

3. While the ungodly mixture brings itself to a boil, stir or whisk the meat thoroughly, so that it completely disintegrates into a foul, pink, nondescript sludge. I cannot overstate how gross this is. You will be tempted to throw the whole thing into the garbage at this point. You're free to make that call.

4. Once mixture reaches a boil, turn heat down, add the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine, and bring back to a simmer.

5. Simmer uncovered for about 2 hours, until "chili" reaches the desired consistency, which is not watery, but thin enough qualify as a "meat sauce" that you can ladle easily onto spaghetti or hot dogs or whatever you wanna use it for. Or, again, just throw the entire thing into the garbage.

BEEF NOTE: Lean beef is to be preferred because since we are cooking it from raw in a pot of water, all the fat is gonna end up in the mix, so if you don't want it too greasy, lean beef is the way to go.

And now the...


SHOCKING REVELATION!!!!!

It is my opinion that by adding cayenne pepper to this recipe, and perhaps tweaking the spices slightly, you will get something very, very, very much like Rochester hot sauce. The look and consistency is identical, and the cayenne will just add the expected/desired heat level.

I'm no Rochester hot sauce expert, but I can pretty much guarantee the recipe for that is at least 90% the same as the recipe for this.

SHOCKING!!!!!!

[AArdvark]

Now I want some o dat!

I know there's white pepper in most Roc sauces but don't know how much. Actually, there's a wide variety of recipes depending on the restaurant. You can go from ho-hum Bill Grey's to blow your tonsils out your nose sauce from Jim's Groung Round and everything in between. Coach Tony's is as close to Tahou's or Stevie T's as you can get.

Have you made an entire plate yet?

[pinback]

I have not!

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Is it possible that in your soul, you were one of us the entire time?

[AArdvark]

I vote yes!