I recently joined the Homestead.org Forums and was compelled to post my chili recipe there. I thought that I may as well post it here, too. Enjoy, you lucky bastard.

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef
• 1-1/2 lbs flank steak, cut into  1-1/2 inch wide strips (against the grain, will be shredded later)
• 1/2lb onions, diced medium
• 1 lb peppers, your choice, I like to use a combination of poblanos and red bell with a jalapeno or two for heat
• 5 or 6 BIG “Em-Effing” cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tlblsp chili powder
• 1 tblsp onion powder
• 1 tblsp garlic powder
• 2 tblsp oregano
• 2 tblsp cumin
• 1/2 to 2 teaspoons ground cayenne, depending on your heat tolerance
• 1 bottle dark beer (I prefer Dragon Stout, made by Red Stripe)
• 2 tbslp corn meal

Directions

1. Brown the ground beef and flank steak in a pot.  Remove from pot and strain all but 2 or 3 tablespoons of the fat.
2. Saute the onions, peppers, and garlic, adding to the pot in that order with about a minute between each addition.
3. Mix all the spices together with salt and pepper to taste, and stir 1/2 the mixture into the pot with the veggies.
4. Add the meat to the pot and stir in the rest of the spices.
5. If you were using tomatoes, I would add a 28 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes at this point.
6. Add enough of the beer to just barely cover.
7. Simmer for at least two, but as many as six to eight hours.
8. About an hour before the simmering is over, remover the strips of flank steak, let them cool a bit, and shred them up with two forks. Add the shreds back to the pot.
9. If using beans, I would add 2 small or 1 large can of pinto beans during the last hour of simmering.
10. About 1/2 hour before the end of the simmering, stir in the corn meal to thicken.

I garnish my chili with brunoise (finely diced) raw white onion or scallions, shredded cheddar or pepperjack and some sour cream. Oh and plenty of hot sauce.