Altitude Sports’ sidelines reporter Will Jones learned to cook out of necessity, or at least that’s what his great grandmother told him as she schooled him in the fine art of Southern saucing and spicing. “She told me point blank: You are too picky when it comes to women. You better learn to cook because you’ll never find a wife,” he says. Jones, who hosts Nuggets Fast Break, put his skills to the test in a March media chili cook-off to benefit the non-profit Women’s Bean Project and walked away with the People’s Choice award. He started with a bag of the Bean Project’s Firehouse No.10 Hot Chili Mix and added his own Caribbean flavor twist. “I love to experiment,” he says. “My favorite thing in my kitchen is my spice rack.”
Will Jones’ Firehouse Chili
Although Jones had this chili marked M for Mature Audiences when he served it at the Denver Press Club, he insists that the habanero-salsa boosted soup warms the tummy but doesn’t burn the mouth.
Ingredients
- 1 package Firehouse No.10 Hot Chili Mix
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey (optional)
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons habanero hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
Directions
Remove spice packet from the chili mix. Wash and drain beans. Soak beans overnight, or microwave them covered with water, in a partially covered container at 100 percent power for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse. In a 4-quart pot, add fresh water to cover beans. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 90 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Drain beans and set aside. If using meat, brown and drain it. Saute peppers, onions, garlic and spice packet in a 4-quart pot. Add the beans, tomato and browned meat to the pepper mixture, add the habañero hot sauce and extra black pepper and simmer covered for 90 minutes, then uncovered for another 30 minutes. Skim fat from top before serving with tortillas or a slab of cornbread.
