Pause for a Brief Interruption. Chili!

Forgive me, food fans for a...
Tasty time-out in the touring.
Chili!

This week I made a major kitchen investment by way of a Le Creuset Dutch Oven.
7.25 quarts.
Cobalt blue.
Can go from zero to 160 in 3.6 minutes. ;)

And, the best part?
I got a great deal - with a little help from a friend.

If you aren't drooling already -
Here's the chili.


This is a new recipe.
We'll see how it goes over at the "all ages" annual Halloween party tonight.
It's my first time using ground lamb in addition to the ground beef.
(Now that I found a great local butcher, all sorts of meat are in my freezer.)

And, I made my own chili powder - thank you Alton Brown.
Matter of fact, since it's made from Ancho chile's I'm gonna call it Chile Powder -
That's chile with an "E. "
Because it's mine. And, I can.

Here's a brief rundown of the inside.
Kitchen smells yummy.

About 1.5 lbs ground lamb (had it in the freezer)
1.5 ground chuck
1 lb coarse chuck
Homemade chili powder.
Sweated sweet onions and garlic with homemade chili powder tossed in to open it up.
Bottle of salsa.
Whole peeled tomatoes.
Diced tomatoes
Paste
Adobo sauce.
Paprika
Dash of cinnamon
one can of dark kidneys.
And, a handful of tortilla chips to thicken it a bit.

Wow, that adobo sauce is smokey. Brought a lot to the party. As for the beans...I figure one small can of beans to 4 pounds of meat won't send me to chili hell.

The plan is cornbread with creamed corn and just a tad of jalapeño. Serving with finely shredded medium cheddar, finely diced white onion (there's tons of sweet onions already in there), and sour cream.

Disclaimer:
The chili in the picture is cold. I made it last night and wanted to take pics in the morning for better light.

Oooh, last minute update.
Corn bread is out.
OK, back to our regularly scheduled blogging -
Already in progress.