Cincinnati Five Way Chili
Cincinnati chili is a unique type of chili that's flavored with not just chili powder but lots of other spices, including cinnamon, allspice, chocolate, and cloves.
Ingredients
- 2 Lbs. Ground Beef Lean
- 2 Onions Medium chopped for browning with meat.
- 20 Ounces Tomato Sauce
- 2 Tbl. Vinegar
- 4 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 2 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Ounce Chocolate Unsweetened
- 1/4 Cup Chili Powder
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Salt
- 1 Tsp. Cumin
- 1 Tsp. Cinnamon Ground
- 3/4 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper
- 5 Cloves Whole
- 5 Allspice Berries Whole
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Tsp. Paprika Sweet
- 1/4 Tsp Nutmeg Grated
- 1 Tbl. Brown Sugar Light & Packed
- 1 16Ounce Can Kidney Beans
- 2 Tbl. Ketchup
- 1/4 Cup Barbecue Sauce Sweet & non-smokey
- 1 Lb. Spaghetti Thick
- 1 Tbl. Canola Oil
- 1 Cup Water
- 1 Cup Sweet Onion Finely Chopped for topping the spaghetti.
- 2 Cups Cheddar Cheese Shredded
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine chili powder, salt, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, cloves, paprika and nutmeg.
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add ground beef to the pot; cook until meat is browned, breaking up into small crumbles with a wooden spoon.
- When the beef is browned, add in chopped onion, garlic, spice mix; stir/sauté 1 minute.
- Add in tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, water, BBQ sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, chocolate, and bay leaf.
- Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer, uncovered, for 2 hour. It should look more like a thick sauce than the chili most people are used to.
- Remove bay leaf.
- While mixture cooks, prepare spaghetti. Distribute between 8 bowls.
- Spoon chili over spaghetti.
- Top chili with cheddar cheese, finely chopped onion, and kidney beans. This is then five-way chili.
Notes
Created in 1922 by a northern Greek immigrant who wanted to put some of the Old Country spices into chili. This chili can be eaten several ways. One-way chili: spiced chili alone. Two-way chili: chili on top of spaghetti. Three-way chili: chili on top of spaghetti, topped with shredded cheese. Four-way chili: chili on top of spaghetti, topped with shredded cheese and chopped onion. Five-way chili: chili on top of spaghetti, topped with shredded cheese, chopped onion, and beans. In five-way chili, the cheese should be on top of the beans and the onion on top of the cheese.