Ya... some confusion going on it seems. Chilie is a pepper. Chili is a dish. So in a literal sense you can have chilie powder made out of dried ground peppers. Now... to make the dish most in the U.S. consider chili you have to add a spice mixture know as "chili powder". As I recall Lars has a fondness for Mexico and lives in the South Western corner of the U.S. I'm not surprised that he would think of powdered peppers before a spice mixture. One of the things really interesting about his cooking is that he is doing different things with his food. Much as I'd love to sample Lar's cooking someday I'm going with Arley on the cumin. Cumin is the heart and soul of the dish we call Chili. My pot of chili often contains several kinds of hot peppers but it also takes a load of cumin. People walking into my home will exclaim in delight when I cook chili because of the fragrant cumin. I found whizzing my whole cumin seed in the blender with some tomatoes chops the cumin up pretty good. Not as good as hand chopping. My first lesson with cumin seed was to chop it up on a cutting board with a knife. Still strikes me as the best flavor. Our friends on the CF from India have recommended toasting the cumin... very good but I'm not 100% sold. The seed does require considerable cooking to release the oils that account for the intense flavor. The very best cumin I can purchase at the moment is bulk ground cumin from GFS which is a restaurant supply company. Tops even Penzey's whole seed. Still ground does not get the full spectrum of flavor so I add mostly ground GFS cumin and top note my flavor with some freshly chopped seed. Somehow ground cumin even when fresh and strong still does not have the high aromatic essence of whole seed. Chili powder often contains garlic that I've removed from my chili. Garlic is great and garlic is good but it is also sweet and not the character I want. Maybe sometimes it is alright.... I used to add sliced fresh garlic to my chili. Goodness that warms your entire body when the mood is there for it. Cilantro, in particular fresh cilantro provides an intense aromatic flavor and scent that many associate with north of the boarder "mexican" cooking. LOL!... sorry don't mean to go on so much. Chili is one of my favorite dishes. Fresh garden tomatoes are priceless if you want chili with star power. Different peppers add heat with different characters as Lars noted. Peppers at different stages of ripeness also display remarkably different characteristics. Green habeneras are not ripe but they are milder and have more tang then mature red habs. Then the amount of time a pepper cooks will change the flavor and heat profile of a pepper. My chili is tested and approved by Luna! Suppose I should admit I don't use chili powder in my chili. Not powdered peppers or any branded spice mix. Cumin and cilantro with hot peppers being part of the vegtable mix. I top coat much of my food with salt and black pepper and always do so with chili. : ) lyra

First, for Christineny, here's the vegetable stew, greek style. The recipe comes from "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" by Mollie Katzen. Influenced Vegetable Stew . . . similar to a Greek "stifado/stifatho" but meatless, and containing more vegetables . . . 3/4 cups raw kidney beans, soaked overnight, then cooked in twice their volume of bioling water until tender (1 1/2 - 2 hrs.) and drained. Yeah right. I use a can of dark red kidney beans! 3 TBLSP olive oil 4 med. cloves crushed garlic 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup THINLY sliced potatoes 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground cumin lots of fresh black pepper crushed red hot pepper, to taste juice from one large lemon 2 large carrots, thinly sliced 1 SMALL head of cauliflower, brokien into small flowerettes (good luck finding a small one!) 4 med. sized fresh ripe tomatoes, cubed (I use a can of diced ones most of the time) 2 tsp. honey In a very large skillet, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil, with salt, for 5 min., or until the onions are soft and translucent. Add potatoes, spieces, and lemon juice. Cover and cook 8-10 min., stirring occasionally. Add small amounts of water, if it appears to be sticking. (It almost always does!) Add remaining ingredients exept beans. Cover and let it stew over med. heat about 30 min., stirring occasionally. Add the cooked beans, stir, and cover and let simmer about 10 min. more. Good with tsatsiki, greek olives and crusty bread, or over rice. I only made this dish once out of desperation because I had a head of cauliflower going bad in the fridge. That's how I end up trying most of my new recipes--desperation. I was very leery about the cinnamon in a savory dish too, but I actually love it. This would be a good opportunity to try one of Penzey's fancy "varietal" cinnamons, if you were so inclined. I bought some once, but now in an attempt to get a handle on my spice shelf, I am trying to avoid Penzeys. Speaking of Penzeys and spice shelves, the only reason I am considering this Cinci chili is I have a plethora of chili powder due to a comedy of errors. I lost my chili powder, ordered more, and then of course found it. So I'm looking for novel ways to use up chili powder, other than straight ahead chili. I also have a plethora of paprika, which is another reason some of these recipe appeal to me. I got two kinds from Penzeys and then a friend went to Hungary and brough me back a bag. No more Penzeys!!! :) OK, now for the Cincinnati Chili recipe from Cook's Illustrated Cover and Bake. They bill it as a skillet dish. The ingredients in this one seem a little scary to me. 2 TBLSP vegetable oil 1 lb. 90% lean ground beef 2 med. onions, minced salt to taste 2 med. cloves garlic, minced or pressed 1 TBLSP chili powder 1 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp. ground allspice 3 cups low sodium chicken broth 2 TBLSP cider vinegar 2 tsp. dark brown sugar 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce 1 cup water (here's where they loose me) 1/2 lb. spaghetti, broken in half ground black pepper Heat 1 TBLSP oil in the pan and cook the beef until it is no longer pink. Then drain the meat and wipe the pan clean. Saute the onion and garlic in the remaining oil until translucent. Then add the meat and spices, broth, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato sauce and water. Simmer until the chili is deep red and the beef is tender, about 1 hour. Stir in the spaghetti and continue to cook, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, intil the pasta is tender, about 20 min. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with diced onion, grated sharp cheddar cheese and tabasco sauce as accompaniments. (No mention here about kidney beans). Personally, I would reduce the water and cook the spaghetti on the side. Easier to freeze the leftovers. Since I'm making this with fake meat crumbles, I'm going to brown them, add the kidney beans ahead of time, and cook the whole mess up in the crockpot, with less water and broth. I might not get to this until this weekend. I really hate how hectic my weeks are these days! For even more interesting takes on this style of stew, Google "stifado" or "stifatho." Lots of variations, some with cinnamon, some without. I love Greek food!

I should have posted this one too. Easy to make with fresh ingredients from your garden. Tomato Cucumber Salad This one's a favorite made by a local restaurant called Dinosaur BBQ. The recipe comes from their cookbook. Feeds 6 Ingredients Salad 1 1/2 lb tomatoes Pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper Pinch of sugar 2 medium cucumbers 1/2 large red onion 30 small fresh basil leaves Dressing 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup red wine vinegar Black pepper 1 teaspoon kosher salt 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon dried oregano Core the tomatoes and cut lengthwise into 6-8 wedges. Cut each wedge in half crosswise. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and wake them up with a big pinch of salt, pepper and sugar. Cut the ends off the cucumbers and use a vegetable peeler to make long stripes in the skin. Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Add to the tomatoes. Peel the onion and cut lengthwise into slivers. Dump the onions in with the tomatoes and cucumbers and give everything a good toss. Clean and dry the basil leaves. Stack them on top of one another and roll lengthwise into a tight cigar. Cut crosswise into thin strips and stir into salad. Throw together a batch of dressing. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour over tomatoes and cucumbers. Marinate the salad at room temperature for several hours. Refrigerate any leftovers.

These two posts might help you with the recipe arlinek. The first is from a guy who bought a package of the chili from Cupids and listed the ingredients. The second is from a guy who made a batch with canned chili, beer and canned tamales. You might want to add some of the seasonings mentioned in th e first post, ie cumin and oregano to get a better flavor. I might try this tonight, Hebrew National all beef hotdogs are on sale for $3. "I recently purchased from a Cupids location for $40.00 USD the chili as it is delivered to them from STOKES. The chili is delivered in two separate packages, the first being the Chili Sauce with meat and then the Tamale sauce with beef. On each was a label and here is what the ingredients are; Chili Sauce with Meat Beef Suet, Carrots, Cereal (Oats) Spices, Salt, Garlic Powder Tamale Sauce with Beef Beef, Bleached Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Water, Chili Pepper, Oregano, Cumin, Corn Meal, Salt & Garlic Powder I do not know the proportions of these ingredients, however I am certain that someone can figure that out now that I have supplied the ingredients. The guy that sold it to me instructed be to mix the two packages together and add water to the get the desired thickness. ThatÂs all Enjoy Richard" http://www.recipelink.com/mf/14/25164 and also this.... "I did some experimenting after reading the posts in this forum and came up with a close imitation of Cupid's chili dogs. Listen this. You will need: 1 pack of natural skin hot dogs hot dog buns 1 can of chili with no beans (Hormel's tastes a little strong. Find one that is a bit blander. I used a generic.) 1 can of Hormel's canned tamales some beer (I used Heineken) Steam the hot dogs and buns. Heat your can of chili in a pot. As the hot dogs and chili cook, take your can of tamales, stick them in a blender and liquify them (make sure to include all of the juice and no paper). Add the tamale mix to the chili. Now, what I noticed at Cupid's was a distinctive beer taste. So, I added beer to the Chili. This will give the chili a unique tanginess like no other. Pour in enough beer to taste. Not much is needed to give it that special spike! Stir all of the ingredients. It might be possible that the chili is too thin. Vaporize some of the extra liquid by leaving it on the stove for a bit and then letting it cool when you are satisfied with the consistency. This should thicken things up a bit. Slap a dog in a bun, add liberal amounts of mustard, and slather with the new chili/tamale/beer mix. I was quite surpised at how close this comes to Cupid's. It even has that reddish oily liquid at the top of the chili. Let me know what you think. Bon apetit!" and also this.... Here is a link that might be useful: Jonathan's Cupid Chili Sauce Imitation recipe