Every so often, I do enjoy a nice pot of chili.  I usually make it early in the week so I have a go-to meal whenever I feel too lazy to cook.  I prefer a chili with multiple kinds of meat —it gives it a nice texture, in my opinion.  What do you put in your chili?

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound of organic ground beef
• 2 links of sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
• half of a ham steak, chopped (if you have a boned-in ham steak, keep your bone)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of dark chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1/2 cup of beer (I used IPA)
• 1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained
• 1 15-ounce can of kidney beans, drained
• 1 15-ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 14.5-ounce can of unsalted diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• salt and pepper to season
• Garnish (optional):
  shredded cheddar cheese
  fresh cilantro, chopped
  sour cream

Preparation:

In a large high sided pan over medium high heat, crumble and brown ground beef and sausage.  Once it has browned, throw in the ham steak.  Then add onion, garlic and jalapeno peppers.  Season meat and vegetables with salt, pepper, chili powder, dried oregano, ground cumin and coriander.  Cook for 5 minutes then add beer and let it reduce.  Turn off the heat and pour this mixture (and your ham steak bone if you have it) into a slow cooker.  Then add black beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste.  Mix well.  Let this cook on LOW for 8 hours.  Ladle into bowl and garnish with cheese, cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.