Chili

I am making crock pot chili.
So I thought I would post the recipe. I have a 3 quart crock pot. This recipe needs to be thought ahead as you have to soak the beans. You could also use canned beans but make sure you drain and rinse them. I am an omnivore though so I use meat. Bacon adds a lot of flavor. If you don't eat meat, I would start with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil then add the onions. Omit the meat and use veggie stock instead. I would also add more chilis and tomatoes.

Chili

3 cups dried beans (I use a mixture of bean types though they are all about the same size).
4 strips bacon
3/4 pounds hamburger
1 small can jalapenos (diced)
1 medium can roasted mild green chiles (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (diced)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock
4 tbs chili powder
salt/pepper to taste

Soak the bean overnight in 2 quarts cold water. Rinse in the morning and continue soaking while you cook meat.
Dice 4 strips of bacon. Brown bacon until crisp. Add onion to deglaze the pan. Cook until soften. Add in garlic and continue cooking until onion and garlic are a golden brown. Take bacon, onions, garlic out of pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add hamburger. Cook hamburger until brown making sure to break up the burger. Add in chili powder and salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add in jalapenos (with juice). Cook and stir for two minutes. Add in chiles with juice and cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add in tomatoes with juice and cook for several minutes. Add bacon/onion mix back into rest of mixture. Bring ingredients to simmer. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.
You are now ready to mix up the chili.
Start the crock pot.
Microwave the four cups of stock and heat it to just below a boil. Making sure that all the ingredients are as hot as possible helps start the chili off right.
Drain beans.
Add a large spoonful of bean and sauce to the pot until the sauce in all gone. If you have a few beans left over add them in. If you have a lot, add as many as you can until there is only half an inch to an inch of space left in crockpot.
Pour the near boiling stock into the pot that you used to make the sauce. Stir to get as much spice out of the pan as possible. Pour the spiced stocked over the top of the bean and sauce in the crock pot until there is 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of liquid covering the top of the beans.
Place lid on pot. Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat. Stir halfway into cooking (though this really isn't necessary if you have to go away)
Test and if not quite done turn up to high heat for an hour.

Serve with favorite topping. I like cheese, sour cream, fresh chopped green onions, crackers, bread, cheddar beer chips, perhaps more hot sauce.