The thing about cooking and jazz music that caused the two to give birth to brunch back in the '80's, is that both are fields in which the creator imporvises upon a foundation. Both idioms have a lot of room for failure as well as recovery and ultimately great success. It's this thought that inspired me to lay upon you my recipe for a great and easy, real Texas-style, no bean, no bullshit, almost competition grade chili. Vegges, you won't really have interest in this as it's really all about how tender you can get the meat with this thing. I mean, I suppose you could substitute with something soy-like, but I doubt it will yield the same effect. But those of you who still do the cow, get your copy and paste chops together! This dish takes time, but is easy to make and i find lots of people really like chili, especially when it's homemade and free. Not the best first date food, but if you're relationship is beyond that stage, this could seal the deal for you!

It all starts with 2 lbs. of nice cubed beef of some sort. I've tried lots of different cuts, but I recently scored big with flank steak from Trader Joe's, of all places. I got it home, unrolled it, beat it like it owed me money, gave it a rub of salt, pepper and chili power, then browned it in my trusty cast iron skillet. This stuff was falling apart before it even hit the crock pot. I browned it with a dash of the 2-3 onions I'd already chopped and a bit of garlic too.
Now, all of this stuff in the recipe I do to taste. If you like garlicky chili, then rock the garlic, but I find 4-5 cloves does it nicely for this size pot.

As always, I did lots of things different from the time before. I used a New Mexico chili powder on top of the usual spice kit I start with (as well as in the aforementioned rub). I also bumped a very little pinch of cinnamon into it for an exotic touch. The base chili spice kit I start with is made by Carrol Shelby (yeah, the guy who soups up all those Mustangs) and you can get it at any grocery store. It's based on 2 lbs. of beef, so 1 should get you through this recipe.

So, after the meat was beat, rubbed, (sorry if you're getting turned on) and browned, it found its way to the crockpot which was already slowly burning up 2 big cans of tomatoes on high. Canned crushed tomatoes are the best. I also crush things up with a wooden spoon for a bit when it gets soft. I recently saw some Food network show about competition chili and how its basically meat and tomato sauce. Thats why I cut the onions and garlic so fine you could snort 'em. This dish cooks so long it all ends up pretty saucy. Not runny, just saucy.

At this point all the meat, onion and garlic are in the crock pot with the canned tomatoes and spices and things should be cooking along pretty nicely. Now its time to add the hot, hot heat. I almost always put at least 1 whole habanero pepper in there, this last time I put that plus 2 serrano's to boot. Just pull of the stem and throw 'em in. It turned out nice and spicy but with no overwhelming burn. Just right.

Finally, throughout the whole process of cooking, which I recommend you do for at least 20 hours, that's right, 20 hours! Anyway, it's throughout this process that I spill fair amounts of Mexican beer in there..Tecate, Pacifico, it doesn't matter. About a can should do it, with a couple sips going to the chef.

After about 6 hours you can start tasting to see where you're at as far as heat and spice level. After about 10 hours, the meat starts to get tender and break into strands and you're wondering how much better can it get. At 15 hours you might think you should have a bowl just to make sure you got the right bowl and spoon. That's when you stop, switch the pot to low, give a final stir and go to bed. Don't forget to give it a stir as long as your up for a midnight pee, too. In fact, stir every hour you remember to and taste often.

By now your whole place will smell like chili. You'll dream of cowboys on the range (not brokeback mountain kinda stuff, unless thats what you're into). If you live in an apartment, neighbors are gonna start asking you questions..but just play dumb and say, "I thought that smell was coming from your place."

Making this chili is as much an exercise in patience as it is a labour of love. You'll have enough to feed 5-6 real hungry folks, maybe more, and still have some to freeze. And on top of the satisfaction you get from feeding people, you'll feel like BB King at the height of the creative musical experience. It's like taking a 20 hour solo over a real slow and tasty tune.

Any questions?