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Ghost Pepper Chili

Time: Prep - 30 Minutes, Grilling - 40 Minutes, Total Time: 7 Hours Serves: 10

This beautiful Ghost Pepper Chili recipe, courtesy of Napoleon Grills, is so good it’s spooky. Spicy, but not overpowering, it can be topped with cheese and sour cream to tone down the heat. Serve in a COBS Bread Sourdough Demi for a fun and edible bread bowl.

Ingredients

Ghost Pepper Chili

  • hickory smoking chips
  • Napoleon stainless steel smoker tube
  • 2 lbs. top sirloin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 to 3 ghost peppers
  • 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1 green pepper, roughly chopped
  • 2 large carrots, sliced into rounds
  • 2 stalks of celery, sliced
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 12 mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 12 to 16 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped, (OR 1 can of diced and 1 can of crushed tomatoes 28 oz. each) 1 can of tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tsp. coriander
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • pinch of rosemary
  • 8 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 cups of red kidney beans (optional)

COBS Bread Bowls

  • 10 COBS Bread Sourdough Demi Cobs (or as many as desired)
  • ¾ cup of melted butter
  • ¼ cup roasted garlic oil
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 2 tsp. dried parsley

Directions

1. Fill the Napoleon Stainless Steel Smoker Tube with wood chips. Don’t soak them; you want smoke to appear quickly.

2. Slice the beef into 2-inch cubes, then skewer and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Preheat the grill to high, after placing the smoker tube over one of the lit burners.

4. Sear the beef and ghost peppers until the beef is browned on all sides, but not cooked through, and the ghost pepper has some fantastic grill marks. You can also smoke and sear the peppers and onions, even the tomatoes if you like.

5. Remove the beef and peppers from the grill once grill marks appear. Remove the beef from the skewers, slice the cubes into bite-sized pieces, then put them into a 6-quart slow cooker or cast iron dutch oven – juice and all.

6. Chop the vegetables and add all of them to the pot.

7. Wearing gloves and using a non-porous surface like a plastic or glass cutting board, remove the top of the ghost pepper and split it open for chopping. This is where your preference comes in. You can remove the seeds and membranes to cut down on the heat, or you can leave them in. The capsaicin is concentrated the most in these parts of the pepper and do not forget that this pepper has a heat rating of over 1 million. Mince the pepper and add that to the pot.

8. Turn the slow cooker on to high. Or place the dutch oven onto the grill, heated to 350°F. Add the tomatoes and simmer everything for an hour.

9. Add the garlic and spices, adjusting to taste.

10. Let the chili cook until the carrots and celery are tender, about 6 hours on high, or 8 to 12 hours on low in a slow cooker, stirring every once in a while.

11. When you are ready to serve, use a serrated blade to cut the top off of the COBS demi loaves. Remove the insides of the bread and chop the chunks and tops into crouton-ish shapes. Mix together the butter and oil. Brush the inside of the bread bowls with the melted butter mixture. Toss the croutons with the garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, and the remaining butter mixture. Spread the croutons in an even layer on a baking sheet.

12. Bake the bread bowls and croutons for 15 to 20 minutes, using indirect heat, or until the croutons and the insides of the bowls are nice and toasty. Fill the bowls with a boat-load of the delicious chili, top with croutons, cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

For additional pictures and grilling tips, visit Napoleon Grill’s Ghost Pepper Chili Blog Post.