Bert Greene's Peppered Chili

Directions

1. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add half the garlic, half the onions, and all the green pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

1. Make a large well in the center of the vegetables and place the ground beef in the center.

Raise the heat and cook, stirring and scraping the skillet with a metal spatula.

Gradually stir in the surrounding vegetables and cook until the meat is evenly browned.

Transfer this mixture to a Dutch oven.

1. Heat the vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in the skillet.

Sauté the beef shoulder, a few strips at a time, over high heat until it is well browned.

Transfer the strips to a plate as they are done.

Lower the heat, then wipe out the skillet with paper toweling.

Return beef strips to the skillet. Stir in the ground chile and cook 3 minutes over low heat.

Transfer to the Dutch oven.

1. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining onions and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, and bay leaf and cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to the Dutch oven.

1. Stir all the remaining ingredients except the beans into the Dutch oven.

Bake, covered, in a 300’ oven for 3 hours.

1. Stir in the beans; bake ½ hour longer.