The General's Chili

Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 4 lbs beef, cut into 1/4 inch cubes or very, very coarsely ground
• 1 lb sweet, mild italian sausage plus 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed or 1 pound breakfast sausage plus 1 ground fennel
• 6 medium tomatoes, finely diced
• 3 cups chopped onions (or two 16 ounce bags frozen, chopped onions)
• 4 cloves, garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 4 dried, medium hot anaheim or" new mexico" chilies, stemmed and deseeded, roasted, then ground into powder (6 to 8 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder, mix (any brand)
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 3 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup wheat bran flakes (optional)
• 2 quarts water

Recipe

• 1 fry, then crumble the sausage.
• 2 add all ingredients except crumbled sausage and beef to a stockpot, bring to a boil. add the beef a little at a time, so that the pieces don't stick together, and reduce to a medium simmer for about 1 hour or until beef cubes are almost tender, stirring every 15 minutes.
• 3 add crumbled sausage and reduce heat to a low simmer until beef cubes are tender, another ½ to 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
• 4 the wheat bran flakes add no taste, but makes the chili thicker, and the fiber content is good for digestion.
• 5 most chili recipes use coarsely ground beef. this one uses ¼ inch cubes of beef, which would be like very, very coarsely ground beef. it gives the dish a unique heavier texture, and this recipe is a little soupier than most chili recipes. i now use a #22 meat grinder with a grinder plate that has 3/4 inch holes to grind the beef instead of spending the lengthy time to dice the beef into 1/4 inch cubes.