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Yesterday, my roommate David and I made some Firehouse Chili, which turned out pretty fantastic.  I’m warning you ahead of time, this is a SPICY chili.  Plan accordingly.  i went through 2 tall glasses of milk while eating my bowls.  You’ll want to do this recipe in a crock pot, for that full day simmering spice of death effect.

Cook time: 8 agonizing hours of mouthwatering aroma.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. beef stew chunks, cut small (bite-size) (we used thin cut steaks for brazing)
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 large can stewed or cooked tomatoes (we used 2 small cans)
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (hot)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 packet hot chili seasoning

Preparation:
Brown the steaks, no need for seasoning.  Since we used the thin cut steaks, we got away with doing them for a couple minutes on each side in a frying pan.  Set aside for a few minutes.  Brown ground beef, add entirety of hot chili seasoning packet.  This may look very thick.  If this is the case, add a couple tablespoons of water.  You won’t need much more than that to even it out.  While beef si browning, cut steaks into strips (going along grain) and then cross cut into small pieces.  Set all meat aside.

Drain liquid out of both cans of beans and tomatoes.  Dump into crock pot.  Add can of condensed soup.  Dice up your green pepper and set aside.  At this point, you’ll want to add your spices into the crock pot.  We don’t really like measuring things exactly, so we guestimated to an extent, but fairly accurately.  That’s what makes cooking fun!  Give the beans, tomatoes, and spices a stir, then add your meat and stir again.  If your chili looks really thick, add some water.  We filled the condensed soup can and added that, but felt it was a bit too much.  Add the green pepper at this point, but only a little at a time, stirring in between.  Green pepper is a strong flavor, and adding too much can throw off the chaotic balance.  We used a large green pepper, and only about half of it went in.

Throw your crock pot on, and let it sit!  We made a cornbread to accompany the dish, which turned out fantastic.  We used a Penguin brand bagged corn bread, just add oil, milk, and egg.  Not bad for pre-packaged!