Dylan Buell: March 2011

It's an age old dish of a million varieties with secret recopies handed down through generations. It's the spice, it's the sweet, its that stick to your ribs hearty bowl of homemade goodness. Chilli. Cooked with fresh ground beef, tomatoes and a variety of spices it's one of my personal favorite dishes to prepare, and eat.

My recipe wasn't handed down to me, but the result of trail and error since I cooked my first pot years ago. It's seen everything from jalapenos to pepsi, to tabasco sauce to maple syrup to where it is now. A sweet and spicy, make your eyes sweat bowl of comfort food. I've called this recipe a secret but just for you guys I'm going to reveal what I think makes my chilli unique and extra delicious.

Ingredients
1lb ground beef
medium white onion
3 fresh cloves of garlic
half green pepper
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
2 cans of unsalted tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
1 can of Chilli style beans or regular kidney beans
1 can 6 bean medley
1/2 can of whole kernel corn
30ml brown sugar
30ml chilli powder
15ml cayenne pepper
Louisiana hot sauce
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup pepsi
1-2 table spoon maple syrup

The first thing I do is find a good pot. The bigger the better. This is serious stuff and one cant mess around when making this chilli. Over medium to high heat brown your ground beef while chopping the onion, green pepper and garlic. Once beef is semi brown throw in the veggies and give it a stir. Add salt and pepper.

Let the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic simmer until the beef fully brown. Add tomato paste and stir it into the beef. Then add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir everything together. After adding the tomato drain the caned beans and dump them into the pot. Followed by the corn. The corn lends a hand in achieving that sweet flavor and adds some color to the dish.

Buckle your seat belts because we're heading to flavor country! Here come the spices. Add chilli powder, cayenne pepper, cracked pepper, salt, hot sauce and brown sugar. This may not seem like alot, but all it takes is simple ingredients to get crazy flavor! Stir this all together. If it looks a little thick add about 1/2 cup water as it will reduce during the cooking time and still come out nice and hearty.

Now we're getting a little crazy here but just bear with me. It's worth it. Add pepsi and maple syrup... to the chilli...Trust me on this one! Mix it all together, bring it up go a bubble, reduce heat and let it cook for 2-4 hours stirring occasionally. The longer it's allowed to cook the more flavorful it will be. It's actually good to eat after about an hour but I suggest waiting out the entire 4 hours.

Find a strong bowl and a giant spoon because this chilli needs to be contained! Be very careful. Side effects have shown to be euphoric haze, runny nose, head sweats and an over all feeling of well being :) Thanks for reading.

Congratulations to everyone about to begin their life with their partner! Thank you for visiting my blog.

I'm excited and enthusiastic about the upcoming season, my calendar is already beginning to fill up with fantastic couples who picked me as their photographer. I thank you :) With the experience of the last two seasons I'm ready to take on this year full force and push my creative boundaries. This translates into beautiful, unique photographs that clearly represent your special wedding day.

Due to the high volume of wedding photography inquiries I've been fortunate to receive this year I decided to put together a collection of my 2010 wedding photography for easy viewing. Simply click the link below each image and it will take you to the corresponding series of photos. Thanks, looking forward to working with you ;)