Slow cooker chili

What's this?  The founder of the Nookery is back with an all new post?  The recent resurgence has inspired me.  Britta's most recent post on Paula Deen chili and the cooling weather has also inspired me to make some chili.  Here's my version for the crock pot!

This recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen which I love more than any other cooking source.  The only gripe is that some of their recipes are a little more "futzy" than others.  However, those extra steps often result in some amazing eats.  The advantage of making chili in the slow cooker is that it involves a lot of hands-off time.  You get it going and then wait all afternoon and then eat some delicious chili.  I can't really vouch for this, but my reasoning also tells me that chili and stews taste better the longer they sit (leftovers are more awesome than the original), so my assumption was that a chili cooking for 6-7 hours is going to get this added benefit.

Anyways, an easy chili that tasted awesome.  My chili powder is on the spicy side so my chili was packing some pleasant heat.  I also made some no-knead sandwich bread to eat with it - also amazing and will be its own post.

Finally, this made a boatload of chili.  This was my goal.  For the recent past I've been super lazy.  My mom gave me a bunch of soups frozen in quart sized containers.  I've been extremely spoiled when I don't know what to eat for dinner and just pull out a soup.  I wanted to make a bunch of chili and store some away for later.

Slow-Cooker Weeknight Chili
serves 6-8
prep time 30 min
cook time 6-7 hours low, 4-5 high

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/4 cup chili powder (I used 2 Tbsp chili powder and 2 Tbsp "Chili 9000" from Penzey's Spices)
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds (85% lean) ground beef (the recipe states this is important, too lean beef will be tough and dry after so much cooking)
1 28-oz can tomato puree
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 15.5-oz cans red kidney beans, rinsed (I used one can each of pinto and light red kidney beans)

1. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 15 seconds.

2. Add beef and increase heat to medium high.  Cook, breaking up the beef, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in tomato puree and diced tomatoes with their juice, scraping up browned bits.  Bring to simmer and pour into slow cooker.

4. Cover and cook, either on low (6-7 hours) or high (4-5 hours) until meat is tender.  Stir in beans during last hour of cooking.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I should add, I used 80% lean beef because it was on sale and way cheaper at the store.  To accommodate for this, I browned it in a different pan, removed some of the fat and then finished cooking in the other pan.  Unlike Britta's recipe, two pounds of beef was good here.  The slow cooker keeps things moist and liquidy so it worked.