This chili is a bit more involved than a simple ground meat and powdered spices version but the difference is definitely worth the effort. Using a slow cooker means that you can get lots of other things done while the food is cooking and the finished dish is versatile enough to impress dinner guests or provide quick, microwaveable meals over the course of a week. Serves 8 Preparation time: 2 hours on the stove OR 9 hours in a slow cooker Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes 4 dried chiles (can use Pasilla, New Mexico, Ancho, Mulato or any combination) 1 dried chipolte chile (optional - see Note) 2 cups water 2 medium onions, chopped 5 cloves garlic, peeled Juice of 1/2 a lime 2 tablespoons ground cumin 1 tablespoon ground paprika 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon olive oil or other vegetable oil 2 15 ounce cans of pinto beans 2 cups fresh (or thawed frozen) cranberries, roughly chopped Fresh cilantro for garnish Salt & Pepper to taste Note: Use caution when handling spicy chiles, such as chipolte, as they may irritate the skin on your hands as well as any skin that your hands subsequently touch, such as your eyes and face. You may want to use rubber gloves while handling these chiles or wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. To prepare: In a small sauce pan, bring water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cut off the stems of the dried chiles, cut them in half, lengthwise, and shake out as many of the seeds as possible. Add the chilies to the water and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, coat the bottom of a large pan or chili pot with oil and set over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook for one minute. Then add the cumin, paprika, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and cook till the onions are soft, about 5 or 6 more minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Remove the chiles from their poaching liquid, shaking off any remaining seeds, and put them in a blender. Some chiles, like New Mexico or Pasilla, have a thick skin which can easily be removed after simmering by laying them skin side down on a cutting board and scrapping the inner flesh away from the skin with a paring knife or fork edge. If using one of these varieties, only the flesh should be added to the blender since the skin can add a slightly bitter taste. With the chiles, add the cooked onions to the blender as well as the garlic cloves, lime juice and a little of the chile poaching liquid (careful to strain out any seeds). Blend till smooth adding more of the poaching liquid if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the chili sauce is too spicy, add up to 1/2 a cup of the chopped cranberries to the blender and blend till smooth. In a slow cooker: Put the cut pork shoulder in a slow cooker and just cover with the chili sauce. If needed, rinse out the blender with a little water or beer and add till the meat is just covered. Cook on low for 7 hours. Add the pinto beans and cranberries and cook for 1 additional hour. On the stove top: Coat the bottom of a large pot with oil and place over high heat. When hot, add the pork and stir till evenly browned, about 5 minutes. Pour the chili sauce over the meat. If the meat is not covered by liquid, rinse out the blender with some water or beer and add that to the pot. Once it starts to bubble, reduce the heat so that it just simmers and cook for about 1 hour, stirring once or twice. Add the pinto beans and cranberries and cook another 15 minutes or till the meat is done. Serve over rice garnished with chopped cilantro.