DUDES. It's fall. That means it's GETTING COLD. For some of you, it's already cold. For others of you, it's your summer, and for that, you're dead to me.

 But for those of us where it's cold, we're gonna start craving chili. So that means I need to post a chili recipe, right? 

Right. Let's get to it!

2 lbs. ground chuck, browned on the stove with 1/2 cup of chopped onions, salt, and 2 tsp garlic powder
2 cans stewed tomatos
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
2 medium green bell peppers, Iron Chef'ed into the tiniest little pieces you can get
1 small-to-medium jalepeno on a stick, see resulting state of green peppers
Rest of medium yellow onion not cooked with meat.
1 package of texas chili mix (never can remember the name of it, but it comes in a brown paper bag and has 2 variations on how to use it or something)*
1/2 hershey's chocolate bar
1/2 cup spicy barbecue sauce**

I don't like beans in my chili, usually, so I don't use them. :) If you are so inclined, add in a can or two of red kidney beans.

I brown the meat with the onions and garlic, as I said, and I try not to break the meat up too much, leave some big chunks of it. Crucify and torture the peppers, mix them in with the (drained) meat. Take all the cans of various phases of tomatos, blend them in the blender (funny how that works out!) with the spices from the mix, then mix everything together in the crockpot and cook it on low for around 5-6 hours. You can also cook in a large HEAVY pot on the stove  on medium-low for 4-5 hours stirring VERY often.

* Yes. I do often use my own mix of spices and peppers, but this is the easy way. It also saves me the trouble of hunting down dried chilis, because around here those things are hard to find. If you would like to be a purist...I refer you to Mr. Brown:

2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin

OR. You can use dried chilis...again, courtesy of Mr. Brown and Good Eats (all associated copyrights/TMs www.foodnetwork.com and www.altonbrown.com)

 3 Ancho chiles (dried poblano)
 3 Cascabel chiles
 3 Arbol chiles

All dried, stem cut off and seeds shaken out. Cut up the peppers into small pieces, in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Mix in 2 tbsp -whole- cumin, and roast over the heat until the cumin seeds start popping. Shake the pan every few minutes. Let them cool down, mix in a blender with 2 tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, and 1 tbsp oregano (dried). Blend it til it's a powder, and use this in your chili.

Use that for your base seasoning.

** Yes. Barbecue sauce. TRY IT. Trust me. Have I led you wrong yet? No. :)