Time to step back from the "crap you can cook on a bbq" and switch over to "crap you can cook on an open fire". I'm not only an evil taco, I'm also an equal opportunity taco.
This is a classic chili, I pulled it out of a cook book from 1957 and the only changes I made to it are things like translating "no. 2 can" to something that will actually make sense, and adding an ingredient or 2 that it actually made me violently angry the original author omitted.
Ingredients
1 large sweet onion, medium chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tblsp olive oil
1 lb beef tips (pre cut for braising, ground beef will work in a pinch but I prefer the texture of the beef tips)
1 green bell pepper, deseeded and chopped small
2 cups chopped tomatoes (can be canned)
2 cups kidney beans (drained)
1/4 cup corn
2 tblsp cumin
2 tblsp oregano (fresh will make this a lot better)
1 tblsp chili powder
1 tblsp cayenne pepper
optional: 2 shots of whiskey
salt and pepper to taste (I use a tblsp)
Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the onion starts to go clear. Add the meat and stir, until the meat is no longer pink, then 2 minutes past that. Add all of the rest of the stuff. Cover, and cook slowly for 45 minutes or so. Taste it, and mess with the seasoning however you want. If it's too runny, uncover it and raise the heat a bit. Serve either by itself or over rice. Garnish with cheddar cheese.
To do this on a fire, what you want to do is throw the pot on the fire when the fire's built a good ember, and the base of the fire is a bright red, but the flames have died off a tiny bit. You're probably going to have to throw at least 1 more log on the fire while cooking this. My recommendation is use smaller sticks so you can control the temperature better. You'll have to fiddle with it more often, but you'll get a lot more of an even temperature that way.
This chili is like crack, possibly the best I've ever tasted that didn't involve 3 hours of cooking and all fresh chili spices. The whiskey really does jack up (heh.) the flavor a lot. It's optional, but I strongly suggest it.
This dish, more than ANY, I suggest messing with. The type of meat, take out the meat, add some carrots, use red onions, try some chipotle pepper, substitute black beans for the kidney beans, etc.... Chili really is a standard. Every chef should know how to make it, and make it well. Every chef, as well, should have their own chili recipe. Just don't be one of those secret ingredient douchebags. Good food exists to be shared.
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