John Madden's Mess

Total Time: 25 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 24 hrs Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 cup dried red kidney beans
• water, as needed
• 1/4 lb bacon, diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can whole tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon leaf oregano, crumbled
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 lb spaghetti or 1/2 lb fettuccine, cooked according to package directions and drained
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tamales, heated
• 1 small onion, sliced (for garnish)
• dried red pepper, for garnish

Recipe

• 1 rinse and pick over beans; place in a medium-sized bowl and cover with water; let soak overnight.
• 2 the next day, drain beans and place in a medium-size saucepan and add one quart of water.
• 3 bring to a boil over high heat, lower heat, cover; let simmer until beans are tender, 60 to 90 minutes.
• 4 meanwhile, cook bacon in a dutch oven or large skillet until crisp; remove with slotted spoon onto paper towels to drain.
• 5 pour off all but two tablespoons of the bacon fat; saute ground beef, large onion and garlic in bacon fat over high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
• 6 add cooked bacon, undrained tomatoes, chili powder, salt, oregano and cayenne; stir well and bring to a boil.
• 7 lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 60 minutes, stirring every so often; steal some liquid from the beans and stir it in if mixture gets too thick.
• 8 now would be a good time to cook that spaghetti.
• 9 drain beans, add to meat/tomato mixture, and heat just to serving temperature.
• 10 to serve, place hot drained spaghetti on a large platter and spoon all the chili on top.
• 11 cut tamales into pieces and arrange over chili.
• 12 finally, scatter raw onion and dried red peppers over top, and serve.