Great thread....I love chili and make it often and many different ways. Now that Scovie made this thread I figure I'd contribute.
Although controversial, I like mine with beans.
It was cold and damp here in O-H-I-O today, so chili hit the spot.
I typically always start with the same base ingredients:
1lb of ground chuck
1lb of ground pork
1 cup diced onion
28 oz crushed tomatoes
28 oz diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chili powder, or more to taste
1 large can of Brooks Chili Beans in chile sauce(hot or mild)
15 oz of black beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper to tast
From there I try new ingredients based on the gazillion chili recipes I find online. Today I added the following. Sorry these are not even close to exact measurments but I start out with just a pinch and then modify based on taste.
Red bell pepper
Cinnamon
Cocoa powder
Worcestershire
Fresh garlic
Crumbled bacon(everything is better with bacon, right)
Cayenne pepper
This batch turned out really good, even the wife and kids liked it.
Because my family doesn't do HOT stuff, I have to add this to mine..
Some cornbread and shredded cheese and your good to go...