Daddy’s Homemade From-Scratch Chili

1. Start by cutting the meat into 1.5-inch to 1-inch pieces. (Huge tip: place meat in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour, depending upon thickness, to allow the meat to harden just a bit. Makes it so, so much easier to cut. Oh, and use a really sharp knife.) Toss the little bits into your flour. Roll them around, then put them into a large stockpot.(Make sure the heat is OFF.) This step is the most labor intensive, so consider yourself warned.
2. Chop your onion into fairly small bits (1/4-inch to 1/2-inch, depending on whether or not your family has picky eaters like mine).
3. Chop your habanero as finely as possible. No one wants a dime-sized bite of fire in their mouth. (If you have a Cuisinart, or any other food processor, steps two and three go a lot quicker. You can also process your meat, but then you don’t get that nice cubed effect.)
4. Brown the meat in the large stockpot. Don’t cook it all the way through, okay? You’re going to simmer it for a long time, so it’ll get there. Trust me.
5. While the meat is going (or before, if you plan ahead), throw your onion and habanero into a large skillet with a dab of oil or butter if you like. Keep the heat at medium, and cook them until the onion is soft and translucent.
6. Add the onion/pepper mixture to the stock pot. Mix it well.
7. Add the water, the bay leaf, and a little salt.
8. Simmer for an hour. Don’t let it get to a rolling boil, people. Unless you like tough, chewy stew meat.
9. While that’s simmering, start some water boiling in a medium saucepan.
10. When the water is at a full-tilt boil, put your tomatoes in for about 1-3 minutes depending on ripeness (less ripe = longer in the water, really ripe = less time in the water).
11. Take them out and run them under cold water.
12. Peel the skin off, and dice them as big or small as you like.
13. After the first hour of simmering is done, add your tomatoes and more salt.
14. Simmer for another hour.
15. After that second hour is up, add your kidney beans. (If you like your chili thicker, just do the beans. If you like your chili soupier, add the bean juice from the can. This chili never gets too thick, however, so you probably won’t need to add the juice.)
16. Simmer for 20 minutes, and put some cornbread in the oven if you can’t live without it. I know I sure can’t.
17. Season to taste. Serve in a ridiculously large bowl, with an insane amount of cheddar cheese . Also, please buy some yellow corn tortilla chips to dip or crumble into your soup. It’s heavenly.