My Family's Favorite Chili

My chili recipe uses dry beans, which need to soak overnight. I try to avoid store-bought canned products, but feel free to substitute canned beans if you like. Just be sure to drain and rinse them before adding them to the chili and only add them about 30 minutes before serving so they don't get mushy.

Yields - 6 - 8 servings

1/3 lb. dry pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 Tbsp. oil
2 onions, diced
1 bottle lager beer ( I use Sam Adams) + 1 C. water, or 1 C. cola + 1 1/2 C. water
2 lbs. ground beef
64 oz.  (or 2 qts.) tomato juice
32 oz. (or 1 qt.) tomato sauce
1 C. your favorite salsa, or 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
4 dried chiles
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chipotle chile powder
1 tsp. brown sugar (omit if using cola)
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, optional
Salt, to taste

Heat oil over medium heat in the biggest pot you have. Add onions and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add in ground beef, beer, and water and stir to break up the ground beef.**  Cook beef mixture, stirring often, for about 3 minutes, or until the beef has turned brown. Add in beans and all remaining ingredients, except for the salt.

Simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Season with salt to taste and serve.

**Note - I prefer cooking the beef in the beer, or cola, to give the chili a better texture. If your ground beef is very fatty, you may need to skim the fat off the surface of the chili before serving (the fat will look orange). If you prefer, you can cook the ground beef in a seperate pan and then drain it and add it to the chili, but your meat will be chunkier and not have the same texture. Cooking the meat in the liquid produces a smoother chili with the meat distributed throughout, similar in texture to a really great hot dog chili sauce.