BEER CHILI.
Chili
Ingredients:
1/2 pound pinto beans (substitutions: black or kidney beans) (in extremis use canned beans)
2 pounds chuck roast (substitutions: ground chuck, hamburger, or that weird TVP product that looks a little like ground beef)
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
1 medium or large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
jalapenos, anchos, serranos, habaneros, or other chili peppers, chopped (quantity depends on size and preference: anywhere between 0 and a few dozen chilis could be used)
2-3 large (28 oz.) cans whole stewed tomatoes (substitutions: tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, or ideally an equivalent quantity of fresh tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and seeded)
a beer -- stout or brown ale
1-3 roasted sweet red peppers (see bottom of this page) (optional)
1-3 chipotles -- the ones canned in adobo are good (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3-6 tablespoons powdered or crushed chili peppers (see bottom of this page) (substitution: grocery store chili powder)
1/2 ounce or so bittersweet chocolate (optional)
1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds (optional)
The night before, wash and pick over the beans, cover them with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for a short time, remove from heat, cover, and let them sit until the next day.
Three or four hours before serving time, cut the chuck roast into thin strips (think fajitas) or 1/2 inch cubes. Season liberally with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and brown the meat, working in batches if necessary. Set the cooked meat aside.
Heat a few more tablespoons of oil and then:
Add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle for a few seconds -- but be careful not to burn them
Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute for a minute or two
Add the chopped chili peppers
Saute a few more minutes, until the onions are a bit soft
Now add:
The meat
The beans (draining first)
The tomatoes -- first run them briefly through a blender at minimum speed to break them up. Don't pulverize them or you might as well be using tomato sauce.
The beer
The roasted red peppers -- chop them or, better, throw them in the blender with the tomatoes to break them up
The chipotles -- throw them in with the tomatoes too
Add salt to taste, a little black pepper, the chili powder, the oregano, and any other spices.
Leave the chili on medium heat until it starts to boil, and then simmer for several hours. Stir often until you find the lowest burner setting that keeps it bubbling, and infrequently after that. The chili is done when beans are at the right texture and the meat is very tender. If it is too thin at this point, some starch is needed -- throw in a handful of crushed corn chips or some corn flour. Adjust spicing before serving.
Serve with crackers, grated cheddar, sour cream, chopped onions, and cornbread.
I'm a chili polytheist rather than a purist -- there are plenty of good recipes out there. I like this one, which I've evolved over the past six or seven years. One of the fun things about making chili is that it's forgiving -- you can be off by a factor of two in the amount of just about any ingredient and end up with a perfectly fine dish. Another nice thing is that leftovers improve over the next day or two and can be frozen. Leftover chili makes a great topping for corn chips, baked potatoes, rice, or noodles.
