The best chili recipes are easy, serve up spicy heat and make enough for a few meals so you don’t have to cook every night of the week. That’s why we love Art’s Easy Fire House Chili recipe.
Art Snyder is our warehouse manager at Duplin Winery in North Myrtle Beach, but before that Art was a firefighter for 37 years. When it was Art’s turn to cook at the firehouse, chili was a favorite.
Art’s recipe is spicy, but feel free to adjust the heat to suit your taste. It also gets a splash of Duplin Winery Burgundy. “Burgundy, I think, has a lot more body, more flavor,” Art says. “It adds a lot of flavor.” Alcohol in the wine cooks out, so this recipe is family-friendly.
When making the recipe below, Art advises cutting onions chunky and don’t skimp on the seasonings. This chili is triple-threat with a chili spice blend, chili powder and crushed red pepper. Art also likes a bean trio: kidney, pinto and black beans.
As for beef, go lean. Art likes a 93 percent lean blend, with just 7 percent fat. An 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio would be a bit too much fat, Art says.
You won’t use a whole bottle of Duplin’s Burgundy wine in this recipe, which is great because of the wine’s hint of sweetness pairs perfectly with the chili. Serve leftovers over pasta, rice or crumbled cornbread.