Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati Chili

3 pounds lean ground beef
3 quarts water
3 cups chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
12 oz can tomato paste
3 T salt
2 T cinnamon
1½ T whole allspice
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T celery seed
1-2 tsp. in total black and/or white ground pepper
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. whole cloves
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. crushed red pepper (italian style)
¼ tsp. marjoram
½ tsp. dried mustard
5 bay leaves
2 oz unsweetened chocolate

Boil (yes, boil) the beef in the water in a large heavy pot and start adding everything else you see here and simmer on low heat (it will scorch if you’re not careful) at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. The final product should be thick and deep red, the beef should be in very fine pieces.
Tips.
You can use whole or ground spices but you will need to adjust the quantity based on freshness, etc. The whole spices get more interesting reactions around the table. White pepper is hotter than black so adjust the proportions and quantity of black and white pepper accordingly. Heat can be adjusted primarily by increasing or decreasing any of the peppers but the cayenne pepper provides the most bang for the buck—er, quid. If you have trouble finding some ingredients, try “chili powder” which (over here, anyway) is a combination of cayenne pepper, salt cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and sometimes oregano. Check the label and you can get by with this instead of some of the other constituents.

Serving Cincinnati Chili:
One-Way: Serve over steaming spaghetti or other pasta
Two-Way: Spaghetti, grated cheddar and chili
Three-Way: Spaghetti, cheese, chopped onions and chili
Four-Way: Spaghetti, cheese, onion, canned red kidney beans and chili

Also good on burgers (chili-burgers) and hot dogs (chili dogs)