For those of you who asked (and those who didn't 
)
Richard's Chili Powder
12 Dried Red New Mexico chiles
6 Dried Poblano chiles
1/2 Cup Piquin Chiles
2 T Granulated Garlic
1 T Mexican Oregano, dried
1 T Cumin, ground and as fresh as you can find. (if you can find cumin seeds, roast 2 T with the chiles)
Pre-heat oven at 300 F, stem, split, and seed the first two ingredients, place on a cookie sheet with the Piquins and toast for about 5 minutes. The Piquins (and Cumin seeds if you found them) should be ready first, so remove and make sure they crumble easily, if not, put any overly moist bits back in oven and bake another 5 minutes or so (repeat crumble test). Depending upon how dry your Poblanos and New Mexicos were, one might toast quicker than the other. Allow it all to cool, break up into smaller pieces and place in a blender or food processor with the Garlic & Oregano and hit it with pulsating high speed until it is fine enough to suit you. This should make enough powder for several gallons of chili (I never worried about precision, because I often toss in a little extra later on to adjust the heat.)
note: Many groceries now carry Frieda's dried peppers, so the New Mexico and Poblanos should be no problem. The piquins might be troublesome, but Asian groceries usually carry "birds eye" peppers which should work (both are quite hot).
{chuckling} If all that's too much for you, try Gebhardt's Chili Powder... your chili really won't be as good and you'll likely need to fire it up with a little cayenne, but it will be easier on you.
Richard's Smoked Chili
Fire up a smoker (lots of smoking woods work here, I used plum all this year) and level your heat at about 225 to 250.
1 lb ground meat (beef, pork, venison -your choice)
1 large onion, rough chopped (no pieces bigger than 1/2" x 1/2" or to cover a spoon)
2 28 oz. cans whole/chopped/diced tomatoes
1 T Ric's chili powder
salt to taste (I use Texas Salt, or McCormick's Seasoned with Tabasco Peppers)
Cold beer for thinning the chili if needed, or drinking if not needed for the chili!
Some folks insist on ruining their chili with beans, so if you do, I highly recommend plain "no salt aded" Black Beans such as Kuner's.... a couple of 15 oz. cans drained and rinsed will do nicely in this recipe.
Layer the onions in a foil roasting pan, pull your ground meat into smallish chunks (remember it's going on a spoon with broth, et. al. and into your mouth) and layer it over the onion layer. If your meat is super lean, 1/8th cup or so of oil will be needed. Place in smoker and walk away for at least 30 minutes, then sprinkle a Tablespoon of Richard's Chili Powder over the top of the meat and close your cooker, yet again. When the onions are beginning to turn translucent and the meat is firming up, give it another 30 minutes of smoke (probably about two hours total), then add the tomatoes (and beans if you must). Keep smoking until it thickens to your taste. Kick up the heat in your cooker, if you like and depending upon how thick you like your chili (I like mine thick).
Serving options & toppings are limitless.... the old standards green onions, grated cheese(s), oyster crackers (especially if a little thin at serving time), chives, cilantro, sour cream etc. work well... I like to finely slice fresh stemmed and seeded jalapenos, then cut them into roughly 1/2" pieces... that gets a little hot for some folks, though, so try the same trick with fresh Poblanos.
This is really pretty good without being smoked.
)Richard's Chili Powder
12 Dried Red New Mexico chiles
6 Dried Poblano chiles
1/2 Cup Piquin Chiles
2 T Granulated Garlic
1 T Mexican Oregano, dried
1 T Cumin, ground and as fresh as you can find. (if you can find cumin seeds, roast 2 T with the chiles)
Pre-heat oven at 300 F, stem, split, and seed the first two ingredients, place on a cookie sheet with the Piquins and toast for about 5 minutes. The Piquins (and Cumin seeds if you found them) should be ready first, so remove and make sure they crumble easily, if not, put any overly moist bits back in oven and bake another 5 minutes or so (repeat crumble test). Depending upon how dry your Poblanos and New Mexicos were, one might toast quicker than the other. Allow it all to cool, break up into smaller pieces and place in a blender or food processor with the Garlic & Oregano and hit it with pulsating high speed until it is fine enough to suit you. This should make enough powder for several gallons of chili (I never worried about precision, because I often toss in a little extra later on to adjust the heat.)
note: Many groceries now carry Frieda's dried peppers, so the New Mexico and Poblanos should be no problem. The piquins might be troublesome, but Asian groceries usually carry "birds eye" peppers which should work (both are quite hot).
{chuckling} If all that's too much for you, try Gebhardt's Chili Powder... your chili really won't be as good and you'll likely need to fire it up with a little cayenne, but it will be easier on you.
Richard's Smoked Chili
Fire up a smoker (lots of smoking woods work here, I used plum all this year) and level your heat at about 225 to 250.
1 lb ground meat (beef, pork, venison -your choice)
1 large onion, rough chopped (no pieces bigger than 1/2" x 1/2" or to cover a spoon)
2 28 oz. cans whole/chopped/diced tomatoes
1 T Ric's chili powder
salt to taste (I use Texas Salt, or McCormick's Seasoned with Tabasco Peppers)
Cold beer for thinning the chili if needed, or drinking if not needed for the chili!
Some folks insist on ruining their chili with beans, so if you do, I highly recommend plain "no salt aded" Black Beans such as Kuner's.... a couple of 15 oz. cans drained and rinsed will do nicely in this recipe.
Layer the onions in a foil roasting pan, pull your ground meat into smallish chunks (remember it's going on a spoon with broth, et. al. and into your mouth) and layer it over the onion layer. If your meat is super lean, 1/8th cup or so of oil will be needed. Place in smoker and walk away for at least 30 minutes, then sprinkle a Tablespoon of Richard's Chili Powder over the top of the meat and close your cooker, yet again. When the onions are beginning to turn translucent and the meat is firming up, give it another 30 minutes of smoke (probably about two hours total), then add the tomatoes (and beans if you must). Keep smoking until it thickens to your taste. Kick up the heat in your cooker, if you like and depending upon how thick you like your chili (I like mine thick).
Serving options & toppings are limitless.... the old standards green onions, grated cheese(s), oyster crackers (especially if a little thin at serving time), chives, cilantro, sour cream etc. work well... I like to finely slice fresh stemmed and seeded jalapenos, then cut them into roughly 1/2" pieces... that gets a little hot for some folks, though, so try the same trick with fresh Poblanos.
This is really pretty good without being smoked.
Keep your lid closed, your coals hot, and your smoke wispy.
Silly me! My brain is certainly not in gear this morning. Need more sleep! 
