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MmmmMm, that sounds delish! I've been thinking of trying out various stews and such in my slow cooker this coming winter. I'd probably switch out the jalapeno peppers for regular bell peppers and some mushrooms, though. Can you post the whole recipe? Sure, but in an effort to stay marginally on track I'll fire it over on the Off-topic section : ) Hai, everybody! As requested, here's my recipe for my infamous "Three Flesh Chili". Might as well get some other contenders in here : ) Post 'em if you've got 'em! Chili Con Carne - adapted from Alton Brown's Pressure Cooker Chili recipe Serves 6 - 8 Ingredients 500 g diced wild goat (lamb otherwise if you can't source) 500 g diced venison (beef as above) 500 g diced wild pork (if you can get it, pork otherwise) 2 600 ml or similar bottles of ale - not dark, just middle-of-the-road. Use a good microbrewery option if you have a favorite and can afford to cook with it. I use Emersons 1812. 1 375ish g bottle of salsa 1 tbs tomato paste 1 tbs cider vinegar 1 tbs chili powder 2 chopped chipolte peppers (could add 3, but this is a fairly mild chili) 1 tsp ground cumin 3 large handfuls of plain corn chips, unsalted if you can get them Optional: Liquid smoke, for instant BBQ flavor. Small quantity of bourbon or cognac to provide a little complexity to the flavor. Preperation Season the meat with salt & oil (go light on the salt, as the corn chips are going to provide a good deal of it anyways). Remove the seeds from the pepper, and chop into thin strips. Crush the corn chips into small fragments. Method Grab a large cast iron or enamelled dutch oven / casserole dish with a tight fitting lid. Brown off the meat in batches in the vessel over high heat - you don't want to crowd the bottom, so work in small batches. Once browned, remove the meat and place a slow cooker preheated to 'High' Next, we need to get the nice tasty cruft off the bottom of the cooking vessel. This is where we use the beer to dissolve it - it's called deglazing, and the cruft is called fond, for the non-foodies out there. Remove the vessel from the heat, pour one bottle + 1 imperial glug of the other bottle into it, and scrape the bottom of the vessel with a wooden spoon to get all the tasty stuff off there and into the liquid. If you're adding bourbon or cognac, deglaze with that before adding the beer. Once that's done, add the other ingredients - the salsa, vinegar, tomato paste, chili powder, the chopped peppers, the cumin and the crushed corn chips, move back onto the heat, and bring to a boil. Add the Liquid Smoke to taste if you want to use it: I usually go with about a capful. Oh, and finish off the 2nd bottle of beer by drinking it - that's why we used the imperial glug, rather than the metric, after all : ). Once at a boil, remove from the heat and pour carefully into the slow cooker over the meat. OK, once that's done, stir the meat so the sauce gets all around it, slap on the lid, and wait for the chili to start simmering. Once it's up there, turn the heat down to 'Low'. Cook for 6 to 12 hours depending on taste (personally, I've never managed to last longer than about 5 before giving in and starting to eat). Stir every 30 minutes or so if possible to prevent burning. The result will be a superb gestalt of smoky flavors and heat. It's not overly hot - it won't make you break out into a sweat or anything, but it'll be delicious. If you wanted to kick up the heat a bit, you could add more peppers to taste or grind in some cayenne pepper, but personally I think that destroys the taste of the dish. This freezes very well indeed. I've usually got 5-6 meals of it tucked away for when I'm feeling lazy. Eat with fresh bread, or corn chips, or just as a bowl of stew with nothing else to distract you. In reference to the changes above by Gentle Giant: bell peppers would be fine, and would knock down the heat a few notches. If you can get them, get smoked bell peppers for the flavor, but fresh would be fine. Mushrooms would disintergrate with the cooking time we're talking about. Add them to the slow cooker about an hour or so before you pull it out.