Cincinnati Chili - Not from a Packet

So, my mom grew up in Cincinnati and passed her fondness of Cincinnati chili on to all of her children - which we all passed it on to our spouses. And now that we live out East it's quite impossible to find Cincinnati chili packets in our markets.

Since we were out of packets and needed to have our beloved chili on New Years Day (you know it is essential to indulge in Cincinnati chili on New Years Day while watching as many college bowl games as you can!), I had to opt for making a recipe on my own (GASP!).

I had bookmarked a recipe on Coconut & Lime for a slow cooker Cincinnati chili. So I made it, but on the stove top.

The spices weren't that far off, what we are used to is a bit more tomato-y and has a different chili seasoning. I did make some modifications to this recipe to make it as I would our normal Cincinnati chili so I'm linking to her recipe above but putting it how I made it below. It was still good and we enjoyed it, but I know I can find a closer replica.

But in the meantime, my wonderful sister in law sent me multiple packets of the good stuff for my birthday - now that's what I call a great birthday present!! Chili packets, via US Mail - how great is that?!

Steph's Modified Cincinnati Chili Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 can tomato paste

2-3 clove of garlic, minced

1 onion chopped (I did the onion and garlic in the mini chopper together, since in true Cincinnati Chili there are not pieces of onion, more just flavor)

2 T cocoa powder

1 1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce

2-3 T chili powder (we started with 2 but upped to 3 after tasting)

1 t allspice

1 t cinnamon

1 T crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 t cloves ground

1/2 tsp salt

8 cups of water

I tossed the seasonings first with the onion and garlic and let that heat in the pot a bit to get the flavors going. Then I added in the beef and browned that while breaking it up in to very fine pieces. Then I added the tomato paste and water and stirred. I let this simmer on low for the day and then we enjoyed over elbow mac with some green onion and shredded cheese. TASTY... but still needs some work to make it more authentic.