Instructions

  1. Fry the bacon until it starts to brown, then put it into the crock pot.
  2. In the bacon drippings, brown the ground beef.
  3. Put the ground beef, beans, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, chili powder (In Southern California we have a great variety available, but Gebhardt's would work), and the cayenne into the crock pot with the beef broth.
  4. Cut the stems off the fresh jalapenos and cut them in two or three chunks.
  5. place the peppers along with the garlic and whole fresh tomatoes into a food processor and puree the three ingredients.
  6. Put this into the crock pot, stir to mix and let it all cook for 10-12 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high.
  7. By making a puree out to of the peppers and garlic, you get a more evenly dispersed blend.
  8. I used the tomatoes to give some moisture to the puree.
  9. Serrano chilies are three times hotter than jalapenos so don't let their small size fool you.