Uncle Dirty Dave’S Chili

this is very salty) * 2 md Bay leaves 1 cn Old El Paso chopped green -chiles 1 lg Tomato, blanched, peeled, -seeded and diced fine, -(1/4-inch) 1 cn V8 or house brand veggie -juice 4 tb Cilantro -OR- 2 tb Dried oregano 4 tb Garlic powder 1/4 c Cumin 1 c Strong coffee -OR- 1 tb Nescafe or Yuban instant -coffee 2 tb Hershey's cocoa 1 Stalk celery with leaves 1/4 ts Cinnamon (use caution) 2 c Chilli powder (I've used -Mexene, Chilli Man, Golden -Age, Pocohantas, and Kraft -with good results) NOTE: ALL INGREDIENT MEASUREMENTS ARE APPROXIMATE!

You can substitute Swansons or College Inn Beef Broth.

Use low-salt variety if the beef broth is too salty.

I use a 2 pan method for my chilli.

A cast iron 10" skillet for browning the meat and a 12" Dutch oven for cooking the brew.

Put V8 juice, coffee, bay leaf, beef base, garlic, cumin and chilli powder in Dutch oven.

Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.

Stir in cocoa and let simmer.

Brown meat in skillet and transfer to chilli pot as it is ready.

Stire into the liquid as you add the meat.

Cut the base from celery stalk and cut into 3" pieces.

Peel and quarter onions.

Crumble Anchos into blender, add onion and celery to fill blender loosely.

Add enough hot water to let blender work easily and operate until all ingredients are chopped fine.

Repeat until all onion and celery is chopped, pouring result into chilli pot.

Add chopped green chiles and whole chili peppers,

stir , and

simmer stirring just often enough to prevent sticking.

Seed, de-stem and de-vein the bell peppers and dice to 1/4".

Add peppers and tomato chunks to brew.

Let simmer for 30 minutes more.

If mixture is getting too thick, add some beef broth or V8 juice (your choice).

Sample for taste.

If not fiery enough for your taste,

add red (cayenne) pepper using cautionthat is, use small quantities and

let the chilli

simmer for a few minutes before you re-sample for "

heat ".

It is very easy to get a brew that's too hot for any sane person to eat if you get too free with the red pepper.

(My kid brother is *not* entirely sane.

He eats habanaros straight up).

If you feel that the mix needs more cumin or garlic add some during this time.

Once again, use care.

We're looking for a delicate balance here and it's easy to overload.

Begin fishing the bay leaves and whole chili peppers from the pot as they surface while you're stirring.

Remember, this is a