Smokin' Alder Chili

My oldest daughter Thing 1 asked to watch Ratatouille for her Friday night movie so I indulged her.  I was struck by one of Chef Gusteau's lines in the movie though:

"Anyone can cook but only the fearless can be great."

With that in mind I decided to experiment a bit on the weekend to up my game.  I decided to take a dish that I feel I've truly mastered and (as long as I'm quoting chefs real and imagined) kick it up a notch.  Due to the alder smoke this chili seems to be a bit salty, but it's full of smoky goodness.

Smokin' Alder Chili

2 pounds of stew meat
3 cups of alder wood
1-19oz can of diced tomatoes
1-19oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup of Great Northern Beans (dry measure)
1 orange pepper diced
1 yellow pepper diced
2-3 stalks of celery
2 cups of brown mushrooms
1-2 medium sized red onions (or vidala onions)
1 cup of corn (optional)
cayenne pepper (optional)
chili powder to taste
 sour cream

Prepare the beans the day before, soak for 24 hours in 6-7 cups of water.  Drain, rinse and then add 6 cups of water to the beans, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes.  Forty-five minutes produces a fairly firm bean while 60 minutes produces a fall-apart-I'm-so-soft bean.  Once the beans are ready combine all the ingredients except the meat in a slow cooker on high heat.  Soak the wood chips for thirty minutes and then place in the smoker.  Get a good smoke going and put the stew meat in the smoker.  Try to maintain the heat between 260 and 300 degrees flipping the meat regularly until it's cooked through.  Put the meat in the slow cooker for at minimum an hour.  Serve with a spoonful of sour cream in each bowl.  I highly recommend using the AMaze-N Pellet smoker for this recipe.

Next time I'm going to add a shot  of Scotch and bittersweet chocolate.