In one of my favorite episodes of "Good Eats" on the Food Network, chef Alton Brown plays a cowboy with a sidekick named Rusty. Together, the two -- dressed like bad actors at a dude ranch -- explore the history and the making of a good "bowl of red," or chili. (That's chili with an "i," as Rusty reminded viewers throughout the show in his exaggerated cowboy twang.)

It was a deliciously funny send-up of cowboys and their love of chili, that wonderful concoction of meat, chiles (that's chiles, with an "e") and sometimes -- purists don't agree here -- beans. Cook it in a slow-cooker, over an open fire pit in a cast iron pot, or even in a pressure cooker; it's all good.

And regardless of how you like your "red" -- with or without beans, made with beef, lamb, chicken or just vegetables -- you can't argue with the way it satisfies you on a cold winter day.

OK, so it doesn't look like we'll have winter this year, but you can still whip up some chili for The Durham News' Super Bowl Chili Contest and walk away with a $100 grand prize.

For contest rules, check out the opposite page (see the guy with the big ladle), or go to the Bull's Eye blog at www.blogs.newsobserver.com/bullseye/.

And remember: that's chili with an "i."