Ben's Beefy Chili

This chili is a bit different than the ordinary beans, tomatoes, and no-flavor chili's that many people make. This chili has loads of tex-mex flavor, a complex taste, and some nice back-heat.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb bottom round beef, cut into cubes
1 lb ground beef
1/4 lb Italian sausage or ground pork
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 bottle (12 oz) of a nice dark beer like Guinness
2 tablespoons finely chopped semi-sweet dark chocolate
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 large red onion diced
4 gloves garlic finely chopped
1 Poblano seeded and finely chopped
2-3 Chipotle peppers packed in adobe sauce (less if you want this to be less spicy)
1 teaspoon Ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon New Mexico Chili powder
1 teaspoon Adobe seasoning
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1 can (16 oz) whole tomatoes, pureed (don't drain)
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions:

1. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a dutch oven type pan.
2. Season the cubed steak with salt, pepper, and brown all the sides of the steak.
3. Sprinkle the steak with the cumin and stir.
4. Deglaze the pan with the beer, bring to a boil, then add the chocolate, let reduce.
5. In a separate pan, brown the pork and ground beef.
6. In a separate pot heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and caramelize the red onion.
   
7. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes.
8. Add the Poblano pepper and cook another 2 minutes.
9. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, Ancho chili powder, New Mexico chili powder, Adobe seasoning, onion/garlic/Poblano mixture, Chipotle peppers, and the reduced beer mixture.
10. Puree this mixture.
11. Add the mole type mixture you just made to the beef, pork, and steak.
12. Add the beans.
13. Add the chicken stock (I used homemade chicken stock so it is unsalted, at this point I add another 2 teaspoons salt, just taste it and see if it needs it)
14. Add the maple syrup.
15. Stir and put in a dutch oven or crock pot and let simmer for an hour or two, or longer. It will just become thicker the longer you let it go.
16. Enjoy!

I made this for a chili cook off we were having at Church, it got 2nd place and as you can see below, this is what happened to the pot I took it in: