campout chili

we love chili in this house. all kinds of chili, but especially verde varieties. a word on this: to my mind if i put the basic elements in a pot: meat, beans, chilies, i consider that i have made chili. i don't want to hear about how it's not chili with out blah blah blah like your abuelita or auntie so and so made it. one thing i never do is doctor canned chili, i consider that to be cheating, other than that anything goes. so into this pot which this time happened to be precariously balanced on rocks in a campfire ring at the local lake went 1.5 pounds of ground beef to brown with a liberal dose of salt and pepper. once that had sizzled down but was not completely cooked in went one large can of black beans, one roughly diced yellow onion (if it doesn't make you cry, don't use it for chili!), one diced pasilla chili, three diced cloves of garlic, one teaspoon cumin, one and a half teaspoons paprika, and just for good measure a bit more black pepper. all of this simmered for about to ten minutes, you'll have to adjust time for cursing smoke in the eyes and turning the pot because only one side was getting heat. then four large ortega chilies were diced and added to the pot with their juices, the lid was put on and all was cooked until most of the onions were translucent. note that i specified that the onion be a rough chop. it's more interesting texture wise to have some larger chunks of onion that maintain a bit of crunch if you ask me. so, assuming you agree, some onions are still white at the middle while some others have all but disappeared. in goes a large can of pinto beans, mostly but not completely drained. stir and simmer till you just can't stand it! we dug into ours with some saltine crackers while hail pounded the screen tent over our picnic table, but i'm sure it would be good at a nice, cozy dining table too.