But, seriously, a vendor used to send me one each year for Christmas and we’d have that as our Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal centerpiece. They’re really tasty. Been about 15 years since the vender went out of business and stopped sending them around to folks.
The main tolerance to consider is the heat tolerance of your guests. ;)
But some things, like beans, just shouldn’t go into the pot with the meat and chili paste. And, yes: no chilis, not chili. It has to have, at minimum, chili powder. If it’s brown, and not red, it isn’t chili; if it’s any color other than a shade of red, it isn’t chili – it’s just a chunky soup with ground or chopped meat that someone might have sprinkled a bit of chili powder in, or, worse, poured a jar of pickled, sliced, jalepenos in, and said “It’s chili!” Someone basically made a chicken soup that way and called it “chicken chili”, and won the “popular vote” at a friendly chili cook off. It tasted fine, but calling it “chili” was an abomination. :)
As a purist, I won’t use tomato, but if someone puts in some tomato paste to get the red to pop a bit and add some sweetness, I won’t rag on them too much – a recipe using tomato won Terlingua several times and was the basis for two “Two Alarm Chili” many of us grew up with. But, still, no beans.
While I wouldn’t do the cinnamon thing, I would consider a little mole’, which traditionally has cocoa. When not mixed with cocoa butter and lots of added sugar, it provides an earthy note that mixes well with the heat and compliments the cumin (a seasoning I consider a necessity in chili).
It was a popular item at Crown Candy in St. Louis. I didn’t consider it real “chili”, but didn’t mind eating it at times. Liked it over their attempt at tamales. I consider it more of a “chili sauce” kind of thing – like Wolf Brand or Hormel – just something with some of the flavor you use as a condiment.
Chili with beans cooked in it is just meat and bean soup. Chili is a specific thing – beans can be served with and even added to, but they must be cooked separately. They have different seasonings and different cook times. Let me guess: you think chili without beans is spaghetti sauce because you make yours with tomatoes, don’t you? Real chili is chili paste and meat – no tomatoes, no beans. The only vegetation other than the peppers from which the paste was made is onion and garlic, and you dice the onion small so that it disappears after being sweated down.
I make Texas Red, usually. Will not generally use bell peppers of any description in the chili paste. I will use ghost or other very hot at times to push up the heat a little. Never use tomato, either – just meat, chili paste, a bit of onion and garlic, and freshly toasted and ground cumin – have to add some about a half hour before serving to get the best result.
The one time I did use bell pepper, it was the red ones. I realized my chili would be too much for my Godson, and probably his mom, so I made a “look alike” batch with a little chili powder and cumin for the “basic flavor” and pureed roasted red bell pepper for the color. It looked almost identical to the “real” chili. The Godson only ate the “faux”, his mom did about half-n-half; his dad ended up doing about 75/25 real to faux after starting 100% real and realizing his chili-head was about to explode – never thought I’d make it too hot for even him. XD
And it presented the way the cartoon does – good flavor on the front end, but the heat hits you on the back end (and then several hours later on the other “back end”). It was fine for me, but a little warm for most.
No beans – beans are a condiment that can be added to a bowl, but must be cooked separately. Different seasonings, different cook times.
You need a pretty big ash tray. ;)
But, seriously, a vendor used to send me one each year for Christmas and we’d have that as our Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal centerpiece. They’re really tasty. Been about 15 years since the vender went out of business and stopped sending them around to folks.