Texas Style Sweet Chili - No Beans

I call this a "Texas style" chili since I looked at about a 1/2 dozen different recipes and used my judgement to make up my own. The sweetness comes from brown sugar and carrots that are included.

I am not a big fan of beans so this chili is made without beans.

I was making this for a Super Bowl party at my brother's house so I decided to make two versions... one with Beef and one with Chicken. The recipe was the same... just changed the meat. I am sure you could make Turkey, pork or Vegetarian... experiment and let me know!

Main Ingredients:

• 1 medium Onion
• 3 Cloves of Garlic (Crushed or minced)
• Meat (I made two different kinds... just pick Beef or Chicken or substitute the meat of your choice (or veg))
• Beef:
• 1 1/2 pounds of very lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound of lean "round" beef cut to bite sized pieces
• Chicken:
• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 1 pound chicken breast cut to bite sized pieces
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 - 6 oz cans of Tomato Paste (I usedTuttorosso)
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 2 small-medium sized red Bell Peppers
• 2 small-medium sized green Bell Peppers
• 1 Jalapeño pepper (with the seeds & center removed for a milder Chili)
• 3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
• Salt & ground Pepper to taste
• Enough water to cover ingredients

For Garnish:

• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Crusty Bread (I used Italian Semolina loaf)

Dice the red & green peppers, onion and slice the Jalapeño.

For those of you who have not used Jalapeño before the heat is in the seeds. If you want a milder Chili then remove the seeds as shown.

Add a little oil to the pot and cook the onions on medium heat for a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute until fragrant, then add all the meat to cook in the same pan.

Don't be afraid to cook the meat completely. In the next step you will be adding enough water to cover all the ingredients and believe me it will keep it moist!

Now this is the easy part... Dump all the remaining ingredients into the pot!

Add the brown sugar, tomato paste, carrot, red & green bell pepper, Jalapeño, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika.

Add enough water to cover all the ingredients and give it a good stir.

Salt and Pepper to your taste.

Simmer on low heat (light bubbles on the edges of the pan) stirring occasionally for about 90 minutes until alot of the water evaporates and it gets thicker but still moist.

Garnish with some Cheddar cheese and a slice of crusty bread and enjoy!

This went over very well at the Super Bowl party and what remained was gobbled up by my colleagues at work the next day.