recipe from my aunt

i had this while i was visiting my family.  it was really good.  i don't like that the recipe is so imprecise, i thrive on structure when cooking.  having things spelled out exactly lets me know just what the recipe author intends and then i can feel comfortable improvising from there.  oh well.

1. chop a large onion in small pieces, sauté in olive oil until they are very brown and crispy in places.
2. put in water or red wine to cover bottom of pan in 1/2 inch.  it will boil up, and when it does, scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  they will give a good taste.
3. add a large can of chopped tomatoes and a medium can of tomato sauce, and a little more water.  use more cans if you will be making a big pot of beans.  put in seasonal chopped vegetables that you like.
4. add any spices that you like and let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes or so, then add any beans that you like.  depending on my mood i add any of red, pinto, garbonzo, navy for another 15 minutes.  the beans that you tasted also had hominy and 2 cups of cooked barley (put in with the beans just long enough to heat so as not to overcook.)

wow.  how vague was that.  though i think i will have to test it out.  the chili-like substance that this is intended to produce was really yummy.  i don't know how successful i will be at replicating it.  what spices should i use??