Marilyn Martin's Recipe

Cincinnati Chili

Category: Recipes

Cincinnati Chili

Onion, 1 large chopped
Garlic, 1 clove minced
Oil, small amount (to sweat onion and garlic)
Water, 1 quart
Ground chuck, 1 pound
Tomato paste, 1 (6 ounce) can
Vinegar (cider works well), 1 tablespoon
Cinnamon, 1 teaspoon
Cocoa, unsweetened, 2 teaspoons
Worcestershire Sauce, 1 teaspoon
Chili powder, 1 rounded teaspoon
Allspice, ground, 1/2 teaspoon
Bay leaf, whole, 2 or 3
Salt and pepper to taste

Other ingredients to make “Three Way”:
Spaghetti, thin (cook about 2/3 of a pound package)
Cheddar cheese, fine shredded, about half a pound
(Side of oyster crackers, if desired)

Sweat chopped onion and garlic until translucent. Add cold water and crumble raw ground chuck into the water. (Do NOT brown meat first.) ‘Mush’ (for lack of a better word!) the meat into the water. Add all other ingredients. Simmer 1 to 3 hours. Using a crockpot would probably work very well. Remove bay leaves before serving as they are inedible/a choking hazard. (Anyone who finds a bay leaf gets to kiss the cook---and old tradition!)

‘Three way’ is our favorite: thin spaghetti, topped with chili and then with lots of shredded cheddar cheese.

‘Four way’ is adding fine chopped raw onion before the cheese top. ‘Five’ way adds warmed kidney beans before the cheese.

We use the tomato paste as the only tomato product in this chili and have no problem with it separating.

I lived in Cinc’y and love this stuff! This is also good by itself or on hot dogs, plain or with cheese, onions, etc.