CHILI CON CARNE

2 cups dry pink beans*
3 cups water
4 strips bacon, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
1 pound ground chuck
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Place beans and water in the crock pot, cover and cook on #3 (high) setting 1/2 to 3/4 hour.

Meantime, fry bacon crisp and drain on absorbent paper, reserving bacon fat.

Saute onion and garlic in the bacon fat until lightly browned. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and add, with bacon bits, to the beans.

Cook beef in remaining bacon fat, stirring constantly with a fork to keep it broken up, until it loses its red color. Add to beans with tomatoes, chili and cumin seed.

Cover, turn heat to #2 (low) setting and cook 9 1/2 to 10 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding more chili powder if you like the dish hotly spiced.

*If unobtainable, use dry red kidney beans.

Makes 4-6 servings
From: Recipelink.com
Source: Recipe booklet: Sears Crockery Cooker: Slow Cooking the Old Fashioned Way, 1970's