Crock Pot Chili Con Carne With Beans

I just won "First Place" at a country fair with this recipe. The fresh tomatoes and chili peppers give it a fresh and pleasant taste.

• Ready In: 10 hrs 20 mins
• Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 1  lb bacon, cut up in small chunks
• 4  lbs ground beef
• 4 (1 lb) cans canned kidney beans
• 28  ounces  canned crushed tomatoes (Hunts has them spiced for chili)
• 12  ounces tomato paste
• 2  onions, finely chopped
• 4  ounces chili powder
• 4  ounces cayenne pepper (dry powder)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans beef broth
• 2  fresh tomatoes
• 2  jalapeno peppers or 2  serrano peppers
• 3  garlic cloves
• 1  tablespoon ground cumin
• 1  tablespoon oregano
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons paprika

Directions

1. Fry the bacon until it starts to brown, then put it into the crock pot.
2. In the bacon drippings, brown the ground beef.
3. Put the ground beef, beans, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, chili powder (In Southern California we have a great variety available, but Gebhardt's would work), and the cayenne into the crock pot with the beef broth.
4. Cut the stems off the fresh jalapenos and cut them in two or three chunks.
5. place the peppers along with the garlic and whole fresh tomatoes into a food processor and puree the three ingredients.
6. Put this into the crock pot, stir to mix and let it all cook for 10-12 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.
7. By making a puree out to of the peppers and garlic, you get a more evenly dispersed blend.
8. I used the tomatoes to give some moisture to the puree.
9. Serrano chilies are three times hotter than jalapenos so don't let their small size fool you.