Dad's Chili

After my first post and the fact that the impetus for this blog was the thought going into my dad's chili recipe, the natural progression would be for me to post the recipe (plus some people have also requested it!). I don't think I'm ready to post it yet! As I mentioned before, I have been on a 5 year long quest to perfect my (dad's) own chili, and I don't think I'm at the desired level of deliciousness that would be worthy to share. I find I have two main issues: density and intensity.I have found in the past that my chili tends to be less soup-y than my dad's, and more full of the good stuff (beef, beans, tomatoes). I tried this time  adding a can of water (you can do this with other soups!), which upon eating it I found to be too much. The liquid part of the broth seemed to lack a bit of flavor on its own, something I found disappointing, as I think it's important for all components of a dish to stand on their own, at least to some degree.Add more chili powder you say? That is precisely my other problem! I love the chili flavor, and use two varieties, one the standard chili powder available from any spice provider, and the second a "Hot" chile molido puro to add a bit of kick (if it gets too spicy, add ketchup!). My problem lies in the fact that I haven't found a balance or quantity of the two chiles and don't want the only taste you get is "TOO SPICY!!!!" (different from the slightly-too-spicy-add-ketchup spicy) and overwhelm the flavors of the aforementioned good stuff, and the mustard.It is for these reasons that I am hesitant to post the recipe until I feel a bit more comfortable with my spice balance. Don't get me wrong - this is not a hard meal (or a week's worth, depending on how many people are eating, and how big your servings!) but I feel that for my first recipe there is a lot of pressure for it to be good! On the positive side, I did enjoy the flavor of the beef in this batch - just the right amount of cumin, and soft and tender. Perhaps due to the grain fed organic beef that the butcher gave me as he was out of the cheap stuff??? Lucky me!