Bacon Spanish Rice

I orginally found this in a very old Better Homes and Garden cookbook. It's been my family's favorite for years . . . try it and you'll see why! Use hotter chilis to achieve more spice. The brown sugar can be deleted for less sweetness. The Chili Sauce I use in the US, is a slightly sweet (not hot) sauce, believe it's made by Heinz (small fat jar). I have substituted pureed tomatos here in Mexico and it works great!

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 8  slices bacon
• 1  cup onion, finely chopped
• 1⁄4 cup green bell peppers or 1⁄4 cup  poblano pepper, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 1⁄2 cups water
• 1⁄2 cup bottled chili sauce
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  dash pepper
• 1  teaspoon brown sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 cup fresh cilantro (optional)
• 3⁄4 cup  uncooked white rice

Directions

1. Fry the bacon until crisp.
2. Remove bacon and crumble.
3. Save 1/2 of bacon fat.
4. Saute onion and pepper (in 1/2 of the fat from the bacon) until tender. Add rest of ingredients.
5. Stir, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
6. Add crumbled bacon before serving.