Chili con Carne II

"So yummy! I made a half batch and put it in my crockpot to simmer all day long. The only changes (other than halving all the ingredients) I made were the following: I left out the paprika and the cl..." See moreoves, because I didn't have any on hand. I used 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon in place of the cinnamon sticks, and I put in much less oregano than the recipe required...I'm not a huge fan of oregano. The really great thing about this recipe is that it is so versatile. You can control the heat by which chile pepper you use (i used poblano and the chili was only mildly spicy), and you can adjust the herbs and spices to your taste. It's a very forgiving recipe! The chili turned out wonderful, and the flavor from simmering all day was amazing. If you use a crockpot to make this recipe, put the beans in only for the last hour of cooking on low heat. That way they don't soften up too much."

"I've made this recipe twice, and I think it's very tasty if you add some more kick to it. I like my chili thick and meaty, so I reduced some of the vegetables. I cooked the meat separately and drain..." See moreed off all the fat. I used only 1.5 tablespoons of oil (asking for 5 is crazy), I didn't add the cinammon, I used only two cans of tomatoes, I used only 1 large onion, and only 1.5 cans of kidney beans. The key to making this recipe great is adding more spice. I put 3 jalapenos, a full tablespoon of chili powder, and 1-2 teaspoons of cayenne powder. I think the cayenne is critical to heating it up. Fortunately, the recipe is very forgiving, and I would taste it every ten minutes and add more cayenne until it reached the level of heat I liked."

"A great chili recipe! We tried it 2 weeks ago and just made a double batch today. Yum! I did find that it was a bit too cinnamony, so when I doubled the ecipe, I only used 3 cinnamon sticks ins..." See moretead of 4. That did it. Also, to add some more heat I added 2 jalepeno peppers and 1 additional chili pepper in the double batch. A nice burn, but not screaming hot. Not so hot that you need a cold glass of water nearby, but a nice smooth heat that you notice. A few extra shakes of cumin and chili powder as well as doubling the garlic made this the best chili I have ever tasted!"