Eat This Super Bowl of Chili

Superbowl Sunday happens to be chef Tim Passaro's 34th birthday. He'll be celebrating at his mom's house, but he can usually be found in the kitchen of Ridgefield's Little Pub. He showed us how to whip up his Topstone Mountain Chili—named for a local road—in time for the big game.

Tricks of the trade include cooking veggies in Applegate Farms bacon fat and using organic, grass-fed beef—the only type of ground beef Little Pub serves. Passaro's chili blends a bunch of spices. Customers noticed when he mixed said spices with the beef and veggies first, allowing seasonings to be fully absorbed before a hearty pour of Guinness and a dousing of tomatoes and sauce. Passaro then adds kidney and black beans (though he says that the beans aren't essential if you prefer to leave them out). Top your chili with a dallop of sour cream, a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, and pair with chips—just like Little Pub.

Versatility is the name of the game with this chili—Passaro blankets nachos and sometimes burgers with it. Ready for a little bit of heat this winter? He says the medium-octane chili's "not too spicy at the beginning, but it gets you at the end." Sounds good to us.

In Eat My ____, we ask pro chefs to cook us their signature dish from scratch. Do try this at home.

Little Pub Chili

Sauté peppers and onions in bacon grease until soft. Brown beef in separate pot, break up any chunks. Remove from pan when three-quarters of the meat is cooked, reserving some of the grease. Add the beef to the pot with the peppers and the onions. Add all spices and mix well. Add the beer and mix well. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil, add beans and simmer for 45 minutes.

3 lbs ground beef
32 oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 oz. tomato paste
1 Spanish onion chopped fine
1 red onion chopped fine
2 green peppers chopped fine
1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 cup of water
1 pint of Guinness
2 packets of Goya sazon con cilantro
1/2 cup ancho chili powder
2 tbsp granulated garlic
1 cup dark chili powder
3 tbsp granulated onion
1/2 cup Spanish paprika
1 tbsp black pepper
1/2 cup cumin
3 tbsp salt
1 teaspoon chile dearbol
1 cup bacon grease
1/3 cup per crock, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese blend

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