Chili Recipe, er Sort-of Recipe

One of our neighbors asked us for my chili recipe yesterday. Which poses a problem because I don't really have a recipe so much as I have some general guidelines. But it was a good excuse to make a nice, big pot of chili today, and write it all down.

Ingredients

• 1-2 lbs. beef stew meat, sliced chuck roast, or some other cheap-and-tough cut of beef.
• 1 lb. kielbasa or other tasty sausage.
• 2 bell peppers, diced.
• Hot peppers to taste (I usually use 3-4 cayenne-level peppers, which is quite spicy.)
• 2-3 onions or leeks, diced. (A leek or two makes a nice substitute here.)
• Several cloves garlic, minced.
• 1/4-1/2 cup chili powder to taste (You can substitute some cumin here, if you're looking for a milder recipe.)
• Olive oil.
• 2 big cans (28 oz.) diced tomatoes.
• 2-3 cans kidney, pinto, or black beans, drained. (12 oz. to 19 oz. cans, depending on how beany you want it. You could also used a bag of dried beans instead here, if you've soaked and cooked them first.)
• 1/4 cup sugar (optional).

Directions
As you go through the recipe, the timing is usually pretty good if you add the ingredients in the order below, then prep each ingredient and add it as it's ready. So, start the stew meet browning and slice up the sausage. Toss in the sausage and start cutting leeks or onions. Add the onions and start on the peppers, etc.

• Brown the stew meat in the olive oil.
• Add the sausage.
• Add the leeks.
• Add the onions.
• Add the peppers.
• Add the garlic.
• When the onions and peppers are soft, add the canned tomatoes.
• Add the beans.
• Simmer for 1-2 hours.
• Towards the end you can add the sugar, if you want to give that a try. It sounds like a ridiculous ingredient, but it seems to bring out some depth to the flavor of the peppers and tomatoes. The chili is fine without it.

Once the meat is well stewed, serve with rice, diced onion, cheddar cheese, sour cream, or whatever floats your boat.

And that's about it, really.