"Slaved all-day" Chili with Beans short-cut

This is my --"I slaved all-day" Chili with Beans fake-out!

It tastes like you slaved all day in the kitchen but its as easy as going to the local fast food drive-thru (Which is  part of this recipe--i.e. "Wendy's").

I came up with this recipe because I needed  to put together a quick slow-cooker meal for dinner.  It was a cold fall day and I thought chili with cornbread sounded nice.  But I didn't have time to make  homemade chili from scratch. My husband is a big fan of Wendy's chili but I wanted something better than just fast food. I had some red wine left over from a Bolognese recipe I made a while ago.  (I don't drink wine but I love cooking with it, it adds the most intriguing boost of flavor to your dish that people can't quite put their finger on.).  I added 2 different brands of canned chili, 2 different kinds of heat, also added corn meal and corn, and sweetness from the Agave nectar to balance out the wine and heat. And viola! Gourmet Chili Short-Cut.

Cooking it in the Crock pot melds all the flavors together and keeps it warm.  I love to serve this with corn bread and garnish with cheddar cheese, red onion and avocado, and my kids favorite 'Fritos' corn chips. Or use to ladle over a baked potato with cheddar cheese and sour cream topping.

Total slow cooker time: 3 hours
I cook big with a 5-6 quart Crock Pot/slow cooker, for left-overs and freezing, so feel free to cut the recipe in half and use just 1-38 oz. can of your choice of chili and 2 lrg.Wendy's chili.

Ingredients:

3 large containers of Wendy's Chili

1 Family size 38 oz. can of Stagg Classic Chili with Beans

1 Family size 38 oz. can of Dennison Beef and Bean regular chili
1-small red onion; minced. Or for a short cut order your Wendy's chili with extra onions.

1 cup of dry red wine or 1 cup of Campbell's canned beef consommé

1 squirt of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce-less if you don't like a lot of heat. 

2 to 3 shakes of red Tabasco Sauce-again less if you're a spicy light-weight!

2 Tablespoon of Agave nectar
1/4 cup corn meal and 1/2 cup warm water whisked together till smooth.

 Optional: 2 cups of frozen corn; add about 15 minutes before serving.

Directions:

 Mix all the above ingredients, except the frozen corn, into Crock Pot. Heat on high until the Chili is simmering or bubbling about 3 hours, stirring 1/2 way thru the cooking time.  If adding the corn, mix it in about 15 minutes before serving to heat it thru.  Turn your Crock pot to warm if ready to serve.

garnish:

shredded cheddar cheese

minced red onion

diced avocado

corn chips or tortilla chips

Serve with corn bread or over baked potatoes then top with cheese & sour cream.