Truly great chili recipe. This could almost be a "copy-cat" recipe for the Steak 'n Shake restaurant chili, which is highly regarded. Just finished a bowl of this "Cincinnati Style" and it really took me back to my midwest/upper south roots. I made one pre-emptive change, which is that combining hamburger with chopped steak basically is still just hamburger. I substituted 3/4 pounds of pork loin chops for the sirloin. I chopped them finely in my food processor. Another thing I do is once the meat/onion mixture is browned, I throw it back in the fp for another spin to really mince it finely and bring out all of the meat flavor (creates more surface to mass, basic chemistry). When you combine beef and pork like this the meat sensation will really "pop" - try it in your pasties, shepard's pie, red sauces, etc. Otherwise I went strictly by the book. And what a good book it was. This is a real keeper of a recipe and I can't wait to try it tomorrow after it's had time overnight to "gel."

Reviewed On: Apr. 29, 2009