Smokey Chili

It’s cold, it’s snowy, and your getting restless. Well here’s your chance to get outside and dig your grill out. What could be better on a cold winter day than smoky chili? And what better excuse to get outside and fire up the grill than to make a big pot of chili?
There’s probably more chili recipes out there than there are people, so I figured I’d just add one more.
Be warned this makes a BIG pot of chili, so you can either feed an army or have leftovers for a couple of days. If you want to use it to make chili dogs later on, go ahead, I won’t tell.
Please note: This is not a spicy chili recipe. To spice it up a recommend adding 2-4 chipotle peppers. I needed to keep it mild for the wifey.
What you will need:

Please note not all ingredients are pictured.
Solids to be grilled and smoked:
2 lbs bulk sausage
2 large red peppers
2 large green peppers
2 large yellow peppers
2 large white onions
Seasoning:
1 head garlic roasted and finely minced
1/4 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
3 tbls ground black pepper
1 tbls garlic powder
1 tbls dried onion flakes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp celery seeds
Wet ingredients:
2 10.5oz cans tomato puree
2 6oz cans tomato paste
2 4.5oz cans green chilies
4 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
2 12oz bottles of beer minus 1-2 sips
How we did it:
Begin by carefully removing the sausage from the package, to maintain it’s shape.



Set up your grill up for indirect grilling and add a couple of nice wood chunks for your sausage to get it’s smoke on.

Weber grill set up for indirect grilling.
Place the sausage on the grill as far from the heat as possible and cook to an internal temp of 160f.

Once your sausage is done set aside and set the grill up for direct grilling, and cook your peppers and onions. You have two options here:
If you have a grill pan then cut your veggies to 1/2 inch dice and place in grill pan and cook until al-dente and slightly charred about 16 minutes stirring once.

If not 1/4 the onions, and peppers and place directly on the grill and cook until they show a nice char turning occasionally. Once done scrape off the skin and cut into 1/2 inch dice.

Direct grilling the peppers.
By now your sausage should be cool enough to handle. Coarsely chop it and add it to your LARGE chili pot.

Now in a bowl mix:
1/4 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
3 tbls ground black pepper
1 tbls garlic powder
1 tbls dried onion flakes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp celery seeds
Add ONLY 1/2 CUP of this to the chili pot with along with your roasted, minced garlic and stir in thoroughly.
You can use whatever you have leftover as a rub for meat on another cook sometime.
Mix in your grilled peppers and onions.
Add your:
2 10.5oz cans tomato puree
2 6oz cans tomato paste
2 4.5oz cans green chilies
4 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
2 12oz bottles of beer minus 1-2 sips

Cover and place in the refrigerator for up to two days to let the flavors meld or cook for 1 hour over medium heat stirring often.
Serve with your choice of toppings and sides. I personally prefer a nice hunk of Smoky Jalapeno Cornbread a little sour creme, some jalapenos and some smoked sharp cheddar cheese.