I have never tried it but I know plenty of people that do that. It's been a "open secret" for a long time around here.
A guy I know likes to smoke the meat he uses before adding it to the chili. I have got to admit, it's pretty good.
I have definitely smoked brisket and used some of the leftover meat in chili, along with some of the trimmed brisket fat.
I can't speak to the dark chocolate idea though. I have an older co-worker who said he once put some cinnamon in his chili.. initially mistaken for chili powder. He claimed that ever since, he's used some cinnamon. I never determined if he was spewing BS or not, and I've never been crazy enough to test it.
Yeah, Cinnamon is another common one I have heard from people around here. It really depends on how you like your chili though. I tend to keep it simple for the most part.
Whenever I do something that uses browned beef, I've found adding a bit of marmite or Vegemite gives it some depth and you don't actually taste it in the final product. I do it for roasts and chili. I've heard of adding chocolate but I'm not big on chocolate so don't typically have it in the house.
Yeah, people don't eat that stuff in my part of the world. I would probably have to have it shipped from over seas to even get some to try but from what I have seen I don't exactly have a strong desire to ;)
I love Vegemite, but I grew up with it. My mom lived in NZ long enough to fall in love with it. Her parents used to ship it to us. Amazon has it in the states, now, so I always have some on hand for my toast. My bf hates it. He won't even taste it. Says it smells like flaked fish food lol
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