butternut squash chili

butternut squash chili, originally uploaded by alienspice.

from Women's Day Special Interest Publications: SlowCooking

1T veg oil (I used bacon grease cuz I had it handy)
1 lb ground beef (I think my package was closer to two pounds. I like it beefy, but you could totally just leave it out and make it vegan too!)
2 onions finely chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 T cumin seeds, toasted and ground (totally do this! if you have a cast iron skillet, just put the seeds in and heat them for a few minutes till they smell good. then you can crush in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder(cleaned!) or even use a glass on a cutting board. it's so worth it to toast and grind the seeds.)
2t dried oregano leaves (I used 1T fresh leaves chopped up cuz I have them in the garden still)
1t salt
1/2t freshly ground pepper
1 cinnamon stick about 2 inches long(this recipe is totally worth investing in cinnamon sticks if you don't already have them around. you'll probably make this again, or else you can mull some cider with them!)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (28oz, the bigger one)
3 cups cubed butternut squash (I think I had way more than 3 cups of squash by the time I chopped up the guy I had. for the record, this batch of chili bubbled over onto the counter a few times. make sure you have some headroom in your crockpot!)
2 cups rinsed and drained kidney beans (1 small can. I made it with white beans once too and I think I liked it even better)
2 dried new mexico ancho, or juajillo chiles (here I just used some ground new mexico chile (NOT CHILI!) powder reconstituted in boiling water)
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (you could leave this out, but don't try to serve it to me!)
In a large(seriously large) skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add beef and oinos and cook,sitrring, until beef is no longer pink. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and cinnamon stick and cook stirring for 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes with juice and bring to a boil.
Place squash and bean in a 5 qt or larger crock pot and cover with meat/tomato mixture. Cover and cook in high 3 hours until squash is tender.
When squash is just tender, soak dried chile peppers in a heatproof bowl in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid.
Remove stem and seeds and puree chiles in blender or food processor with cilantro and reserved liquid. Add to cooker and stir well. Cover and cook on high 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.