Kill Devil Chili - Day 2.

After spending all Saturday making a batch of chili for the contest, I ended up with only 4 1/2 quarts. The contest requires 6 quarts. So Sunday was spent doing another batch of chili.

1/2 cup of pinto beans I rinsed the beans and cooked them the way I do beans. No need to soak overnight. Just bring to a boil in salted water, cover, turn off heat, and let sit until water cools. Rinse. Repeat.

Making chili is always a good way to get rid of odds and ends in your fridge. On the left is the other pack of beef stew meat (1.52 pounds) which was buy one/get one free. At top are 7 frozen hamburger patties. Then I have a package of prosciutto and a package of pancetta. And that would be 2 1/2 ounces of prosciutto and 3 ounces of pancetta.

I sliced the stew meat into smaller pieces and cut the pancetta and prosciutto

into bits.

I browned the hamburger meat and added in the prosciutto and pancetta.

Added salt and pepper and a tablespoon each of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.

Then I drained the liquid off and poured hot food into a cold crock pot. Yes, I like to live dangerously. That would be steam you are seeing rising from the hot meat in a cold pot. And you know what? Worlds didn't collide. The universe didn't implode. I wasn't sucked into a black hole. And no mushroom cloud emanated from my kitchen and hovered over the Outer Banks. After Sandra's dire admonitions about hot food in a cold pot and cold food in a hot pot, I was ready for anything. But nothing happened.

Next, I sugared and peppered my beef and seared in olive oil and butter. Just a few slices at a time since you don't want to overcrowd the pan, thus lowering the temperature and steaming the meat instead of getting a nice sear.

Deglaze with a bit of red wine to get up all the goody bits. Too bad you can't smell this.

Next, I prepared my veggies - a large green pepper, 2 onions, and a whole head of garlic.

Again, my tip for those just tuning in: Run your knife under warm water when mincing garlic. It helps keep the garlic from sticking. And the more you mince and work the garlic, the stronger the flavor will be.

I found 2 serrano chiles and one jalapeno hiding in the back of the vegetable drawer.

And here are all my happy little chopped veggies waiting to jump into the pot.

I finished up the bottle of V8 juice, which was 3 cups.

I added 1 28-ounce can of Glen Muir chopped tomatoes.

One 15-ounce can of tomato sauce. Then I decided it needed a little more sauce, so I added in an 8-ounce can.

And the pinto beans went in. I eye-balled out a tablespoon each of cumin, oregano, and coriander.

Wheee! Action shot. And some salt and pepper went in too.

At 1:30, I covered the chili and turned the crock pot to high.

Here, I have 2 tablespoons of hot Hungarian paprika.

At 4:45, the paprika went into the pot.

Finally, at 7 pm, I added in 1 tablespoon each of chili powder and hot Mexican chili powder. At 8:30, I turned off the pot. Oh, and Youngest Hawthorne suddenly appeared last night at supper time with a friend. The first thing he says when he walks up the steps is, "Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry." I had a 1/2 quart of the venison chili left in the fridge which I combined with the new batch of chili and there were no leftovers. This is good. I'm planning on mixing 4 parts venison chili with 2 parts today's chili for the contest for some Kill Devilicious Chili. Ooh... Oooh. Maybe I should change the name.