2013's Entry: Hangover Helper Breakfast Chili...aka STL Hoosier Chili (3rd place winner, 1st in

After two years of Asian-inspired chilis, we knew we wanted to shake things up a bit in 2013. With our 2012 chili being inspired by our favorite food truck, I started thinking about other comfort foods that might translate into the chili bowl. The answer was so obvious for this St. Louis girl I'm shocked it took me so long to think of it: slingers.

What is a slinger the non-St. Louisan might ask? It's yet another glorious example of the gluttonous dishes my hometown is known for. This late night/early morning diner staple consists of the following (in order): a plateful of fried hashbrowns, a burger or sausage patty, a massive scoop of chili, onions and cheddar, topped with eggs (plus toast on the side to scoop up all the slop). As an aside, Jesse threatened to break off our then-engagement due to the fact that I knew this dish existed and had never taken him to get one.

Of course, we had to class things up for the Takedown. Enter homemade breakfast sausage (we even ground the meat ourselves!), homemade ketchup (in lieu of tomatoes), lots of slab bacon and maple syrup, breakfast beer and more. Since the meat is IN the chili, we opted to use a chipotle cheddar biscuit base and top it off with hashbrowns and cheddar. Given the two-plus hours the Takedowns run, we decided it probably wasn't safe to use eggs for the competition, but I have no doubt that would be a yummy addition!

Batch Size: This is what we used for a smaller test batch--so about 5-6 adults servings (assuming you're using the biscuits and potatoes)

Ingredients:

⅔ lb ground sirloin ½ lb breakfast sausage 1lb slab bacon 1 yellow onion, finely diced 1.5 red peppers diced 1 green pepper diced 2 garlic cloves 1+ cup diced tomatoes 1 cup tomato puree 1+ cup ketchup 1+ cup beef stock 1.5 cup breakfast-y beer (breakfast or coffee stout) 1 cup strong coffee 1.5 tablespoon paprika 1.5 T chili powder 1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon spoon ghost pepper hot sauce (or spiciest hot sauce available) salt to taste 2+ T Maple syrup Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits (or any biscuits)

Frozen/refridgerated diced potatoes or hashbroowns Shredded Cheddar for topping

Steps:

1. Brown slab bacon in chili pot until mostly cooked/crispy 2. Brown breakfast sausage in a separate skillet til caramelized (save grease) 3. Add veggies and garlic to bacon, cook 6 minutes or so 4. Add ground sirloin and cook until mostly brown 5. Add 1/2 cup of beer, cover and simmer for 5-10 min (or until most of the liquid is absorbed) 6.. Add all other ingredients (including sausage) and simmer 60+ minutes, until thickened 7. After 45 minutes, check spices and adjust accordingly 8. Cook Ore Ida potatoes in sausage pan, using grease (and butter) until very crisp and brown 9. Serve in the following order: biscuit, chili, potatoes, cheddar