Red wine almost certainly has to go in. I doubt that it is in the original recipe tho.

Worcestershire sauce is basically a mix of soy sauce and fish sauce as far as chili goes.

I can't really do the cocoa powder. I lived in Cincinnati for a few months in the early '80s and that's a lot of trauma to deal with.

Onions are absolutely essential in mine. My wife is very fond of cooked onions And if I left them out she'd complain about it. They add sweetness on a long cook and spice on a short cook. Which is why I normally I also top my chili with onions when it's all done. That's why I get both aspects of the onion. The sweetness of the cooked onions helps balance some of the acridness or savoriness of the chili caused by all the spices. But once in awhile I make a Colorado chili where you want all that savory and acridness. No onions there.

I agree that if you're going to add bell peppers skip the green. As it was on this one I added jalapenos but I made sure they were ripe jalapenos because I don't want that green beans vegetableness in my chili unless I'm doing something like a poultry-based green chili. Which I never do.

In venison chili it is very common to add orange juice to the cooking process. It can help mellow any gaminess.

I'm not a fan of corn in most savory dishes.

Spinach is almost non-existent in this house because my wife has kidney stone issues.

If I want a thicker chili, I usually won't reduce the water or broth. I will add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. The exception again being the chili Colorado. That stuff can be almost dense.

I don't normally add soy sauce to my chili but I forget I'd give it a go on this one. That's why I hardly ended up touching the salt. I salted the meat when I put it in for browning but I didn't add any extra. The soy sauce took care of that while adding some extra umami. But since it was on my mind, I almost added some MSG. Almost.

I always end up making twice as much chili as I actually need for any given meal. Then I have to figure out the leftovers. Cornbread? Omelets?

Edit, You mentioned red wine. I thought about it but I wasn't going to buy a whole bottle for that. That was part of the reason I went for the soy sauce. It adds that depth of flavor that red wine can contribute.

Try adding a good fish sauce some time. I like Red Boat.

No raw egg.

Yeah. My jalapenos are too flavorful too.

I grew them with the idea of dehydrating them. I know next year I'll be eating a lot of sun dried tomatoes.

I buy less than tags would cost me.

I've met too many deer to assume that one is vegan. They will eat all kinds of animals if they have the chance.