Varsity-esque Chili for Chili Dogs

Well, Mike and I missed going to Atlanta to see Tech beat up on the 'Noles. It would've been a fun game. Since I was going into Varsity-withdrawals, I decided to do some research and see if I could procure the V's recipe for chili dawgs. It turns out that's a very carefully guarded secret. But I found one recipe on Recipezaar (what a peculiar name) that's pretty close.

This is not really chili - more of a topping for the best chili dog you'll ever eat.

4 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1-2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
6 Tablespoons chili powder
2 cups water(plus more to taste, optional)
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package chili seasoning mix
4 ounces vegetable or olive oil (optional)

1. Brown ground beef in skillet and drain fat.
2. Add all ingredients and combine in crockpot, stirring to mix thoroughly.
3. Cook on high for 2 hours.
4. Stir well, reduce heat to LOW and continue cooking for 6-8 more hours.
5. Serves 18-20.

Personal notes:

I had enough ground turkey in the freezer to make this recipe, so to avoid an extra trip to the grocery, that's what I used. To make up for the more lean meat, I upped the onion content to 1 onion and added 1 tablespoon of chili powder because my good friend Linda reminded me that turkey doesn't take on flavor like beef does.

To give it the authentic greasey-spoon texture, I also added 3/4 cup of water and 1 ounce of vegetable oil every hour for 3 hours while I stirred and checked on it.

Goes great with onion rings.

And there are a million ways to cook a hot dog, but here's my new favorite:

1. In a large stock pot (depending on how many dogs & buns you want to stack up), put enough chicken broth and water to come just under a vegetable steaming basket. (Broccoli? What?)
2. Put dogs on the basket, cover, and steam for 7-8 minutes.
3. Using tongs (Watch that steam! It's the most painful burn!), place buns on top of dogs and replace lid on pot for the last 2 minutes or so.
4. Remove buns, carefully open, place dogs inside, and hand them off to go down the chili/condiment line.

All you need now is an FO.

And for chili storage, use your Pyrex, Ladies. This stuff stains the heck out of Tupperware.