This dish was born the night before Super Bowl 2002. I'm a big fan of barbecue, especially dry-rubbed Memphis ribs and Texas beef brisket, but I don't make it at home because I really don't have the facilities. Nevertheless, I thought I'd try it, and since chili on Super Sunday seems to be a pretty common thing, I thought it might be worthwhile to see if combining the two was workable.
At any rate, this is a rather involved recipe, requiring something on the order of six hours of cooking time to do right. The end result is not a traditional chili (somewhat more like a very tomato-and-beany beef stew), but it's really quite good. Incidentally, the brisket recipe that forms the basis for the chili is rather tasty in its own right; you might want to add at least an hour to the cooking time, though. There are no "secret ingredients" in this recipe, apart from the beef itself; in the grand tradition of chili cooks, feel free to add your own, but I won't suggest any.
chopped cilantro (optional; I don't like it much myself)
water, stock, or good beer sufficient to thin out
Begin by parcooking soaked beans until tender. They won't soften up much when you add the tomatoes, so make sure they have the texture you want first.
Drizzle bottom of pot with olive oil and cook onion over medium heat until softened. Add garlic and cook briefly.
Add tomatoes, meat, and beans all at once, along with chili powder and optional cilantro. Simmer for up to three hours, until the meat begins to flake apart when the chili is stirred. The chili will thicken up as it cooks, so keep adding your thinning liquid of choice.
