Cayenne surprise

I didn't want to get caught with my pants down again, scrambling to make dinner.  Last night, I'm embarrassed to say, we had TJ Pizza Magherita and sautéed spinach.  Today, instead of doing whatever it was I supposed to do, I made chili - but first I had to go buy meat and beans.

I bought ground beef (hopefully E coli free) and turkey Italian sausage (just to kick it up).  For a little variety I bought a large can of kidney beans and a large can of pinto beans. I came home and went to work with my onion and garlic sauté - I went very heavy on the garlic and even added a red pepper and a bit of ginger; browned the meat; added tomatoes; seasoned - cumin, chili powder, misc seasonings...then I added the beans and more garlic, seasonings, etc.  After that simmered a bit I added some unsweetened cocoa and cayenne pepper.

I kept thinking that I needed something more but I couldn't figure out what I was missing, so I seasoned again and added crushed garlic and more cayenne for good measure - clearly I was out of control.  I let the pot simmer for a while and then dumped in some frozen TJ corn.

I made a bowlful, topped it with cheddar-jack and scallions - that's when I realized that I planned to use celery, so I dropped two tops (including leaves) in the pot - we'll see if the celery adds a new dimension.  As I was eating, I reveled in the subtle flavors and that's when the cayenne pepper caught me in the back of my throat.