Lentil Soup with Chorizo -

Ingredients

• 4 dried New Mexico red chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 1 cup water
• 4 thick slices bacon, cut into strips 1 inch long x 1/8 inch wide
• 9 ounces Mexican chorizo sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ½ cups lentils, washed
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery ribs, washed and diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper