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Over the Top Chili Recipe

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Michigan returned from its bye week with a 33-7 win over Northwestern. The Wolverines started slowly, holding just a 10-7 lead at halftime. But the second half was all Michigan.

Now, the real fun begins.

Michigan travels up the road to face rival Michigan State this Saturday. Not only is it a huge rivalry game, but this year both teams are unbeaten and ranked in the top 8 nationally. ESPN College GameDay will be on-hand. In addition to state bragging rights, remaining in the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff race are on the line.

This week’s recipe doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with East Lansing, Mich. It’s more of a seasonal pick and a representation of the animosity between the two schools — over the top.

Over the Top Chili

What is it?

Over the Top Chili is exactly as it sounds. Chili that is cooked with the meat over top of a Dutch oven containing the rest of the ingredients. It could be done in the oven if you have enough space, or don’t have a smoker, but the real benefit of cooking it this way is the smoke you get from cooking it in a smoker.

Over the Top Chili

The Over the Top Chili Recipe

Start by firing up your smoker to 300 degrees indirect using your choice of wood. I usually use pecan, but any wood will do with this recipe.

In a saucepan, sauté your onions, peppers, and a few cloves of garlic until soft and translucent. Add those to your Dutch oven. In that same saucepan, sauté your frozen corn in a pat of butter. Add to your Dutch oven.

Both of those steps add layers of flavor to your chili, as opposed to simply putting the raw onions, peppers, and corn into your Dutch oven.

Now, pour all of the beans and Rotel into the Dutch oven and mix together. Add a bottle of beer, a bottle of barbecue sauce, a small can of V8, 3 tablespoons of spicy mustard, and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. You want it to be fairly soupy at this point, because it will thicken as it cooks, plus you will add the meat later. Mix it all together and set aside while you get your meat ready.

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 pounds of ground beef with a pound of Italian sausage, plus your dry ingredients (1 tablespoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper, a teaspoon of Kosher salt, and 7 tablespoons of chili powder).

Use your clean hands to mix well and then form into a large ball, as evenly shaped as possible. Place it on a wire rack.

Once your smoker is up to temp, set the Dutch oven on the grate and place the wire rack with the meat on top of it. Also put your Kielbasa on the grate to gather some smoke. Let the chili and ball of meat smoke for about 3 hours until the meat reaches 160 degrees internal.

When your Kielbasa is cooked through, dice it up and add to your Dutch oven.

Carefully crumble the rest of the meat into the Dutch oven and mix it all together. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and mix well to dissolve. Let it continue smoking for about 30 minutes to an hour until all the flavors meld together. Spoon into bowls and serve with shredded cheddar cheese.

You can also add sour cream, cilantro, jalapenos, oyster crackers, Fritos, or any other topping you like on chili.

Over the Top Chili

Our over the top chili is hearty and full of smoky and sweet flavors that stands out from traditional chili.

  • Dutch oven
  • Smoker
  • 2 lbs Ground beef
  • 1 lb Italian sausage
  • 1 package Kielbasa
  • 1 can Dark red kidney beans
  • 1 can Light red kidney beans
  • 1 can Lima beans
  • 1 can Butter beans
  • 1 bag Frozen corn
  • 1 can Rotel
  • 1 jar V8
  • 1-2 bottles Dark beer
  • 1 bottle BBQ sauce
  • 3 TBSP Spicy mustard
  • 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Sweet onion
  • 3 Peppers (green, yellow, red)
  • 3-4 cloves Garlic
  • 2 TBSP Garlic powder
  • 2 TBSP Onion powder
  • 2 TBSP Coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • 7 TBSP Chili powder
  • ¾ cup Sugar

  1. Fire up your smoker to 300 degrees using your choice of wood

  2. In a saucepan, sauté your onion, peppers, and garlic until soft and translucent. Add to your Dutch oven.

  3. In the same saucepan, sauté your frozen corn along with a pat of butter, until soft and slightly blackened. Add to the Dutch oven.

  4. Add your beans, Rotel, V8, beer, BBQ sauce, spicy mustard, and Worcestershire sauce to the Dutch oven and mix well.

  5. In a large bowl, mix together your ground beef and Italian sausage. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and chili powder. Mix until well combined and form into a large ball. Place on a wire rack.

  6. Once your smoker is up to temp and producing clean smoke, place your Dutch oven on the grate and set the wire rack with the meat over top of it. Also place your Kielbasa in the smoker.

  7. Smoke for about 3 hours, until the meat reaches 160 degrees internal. When your Kielbasa is fully cooked, dice it up and add to the Dutch oven.

  8. When the ball of meat has reached 160, carefully crumble it into the Dutch oven and mix in.

  9. Add ¾ cup of sugar and mix until dissolved. Continue smoking for about 30 minutes to meld all of the flavors together.

  10. Serve hot with your choice of toppings.

Main Course
American
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