— Char Nolan

So, um, my go-to things are kind of what I have on hand a little bit, but usually, um, my go-to beans are gonna be a pinto and I usually do a pinto and black bean mixture. Um, my seasonings are always going to be a chili powder, uh, paprika, um, and cumin mixture. Now the trick is to be able to add the seasonings a little bit at the beginning, a little bit at the middle, and a little bit at the end as well too. And I start with just a basic meis of carrots, onion, um, sometimes celery, depending, you know, if I have it. Um, and then be able to kind of cook those off and then kind of add everything into it. Uh, the tomatoes, uh, your beans. Um, but each time I'm putting something in, I'm adding a little bit of seasoning too. So as I cook my POIs, I'm putting in a little bit of chili powder and a little bit of cumin. And then as I put my tomatoes and I put it in a little different and kind of layering it up as you will, um, you know, um, depending on who it's for, I'll put in jalapenos, I'll finish it off with cilantro. Um, you know, so kind of a simple kind of mix up to those as well too. I do have a, a trick for you though, as well. Um, if you cook it the day before, it's so much better the day after because all the flavors have had time to kind of meld into each other. So, um, little secret tip for you there that's helped me win a couple of chili cook-offs, cook it the day before and let it set.