SOP Chili

I'm in charge of dinner for a campout this weekend that includes 20 men and boys. I picked up some hot dogs for the non-chili eaters and I'm making a pot of chili to serve up. There's another guy in the group who's making another pot of chili so we'll see how the two compare. This is pretty much my standard operating procedure chili, I typically add various things to it to spice it up. For instance, my favorite additions are smoked sausage and roasted chiles, especially if I can get some Hatch, NM peppers.

Since I'm feeding a ton of guys, I double the recipe tonight, but you're getting the standard amounts. 6 qt. dutch oven will get the job done.

2 Pounds ground beef
1 Med. Onion
1 Bell Pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 24 ounce can pinto beans
1 24 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/8 C. Chile Powder, more if you use the store bought stuff

I make my chile powder by grinding up a blend (typically ancho and chipotles) dried whole chiles and whole cumin seeds that I usually try to roast in a dry pan before grinding. That didn't happen tonight. I have an old coffee mill that I use for spices. Here's a tip, after grinding, let it settle before taking the lid off, you don't want a cloud of chile dust up the nose.

Brown the hamburger in a skillet.

Place beans, tomatoes, chile powder in the dutch oven, bring it up to medium heat.

Add hamburger, reserve a couple of TBSP of fat.

Toss diced bell pepper and onion and crushed garlice cloves into the skillet on medium, let it saute' until soft. Toss that into the chile pot.

Salt to taste, add more chile powder if you need it.

More about chile powder.
I'm a little picky about the dried chipotles I use. I prefer the ones that look like they have tree bark on them. Here's a closeup. I use a blend because the chipotles can be really hot if you don't blend them with a milder pepper. I typically use anchos, which are dried, ripe poblanos, so they pack a lot of flavor and milder heat.

Update: Chili cookoff variation: To a doubled version of this recipe, add one pound of bulk pork sausage. I made my own, here's the recipe:
1 pound ground pork
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
2 diced smoked tomatoes (which I have shipped here from Texas)
1/2 tsp salt, more if you like
Mix it all up, form into balls and brown in a hot pan.

Braise one smallish (1.5 - 2 pounds) well-marbled beef roast.

After browning it in a hot pan, braise it in a dutch oven at 325 degrees in a malty -- not hoppy -- beer, Sam Adams Oktoberfest was what I used in this case. Cook for at least 2 hours, 3 is better, you want to be able to shred it. Carrots, celery and onion can be added to the liquid at the start if you want.

Once it's done, shred it and add it to the pot. The leftover liquid can be added to the broth to improve your depth of flavor.