Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Chili Con Cerveza

I got invited to participate in a local chili cook-off, so I wanted to whip up something that would hopefully be an outstanding chili recipe. Today (Tuesday 2/2/10) was rainy and ugly outside and I had nothing else on schedule, so I started cooking. Here's what went in...

Chili Con Cerveza

2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp canola oil
2 diced red bell peppers
1 minced jalapeno pepper
3 roasted, peeled, and chopped anaheim chiles
3 roasted, peeled, and chopped poblano chiles
2 diced yellow onions
1/4 cup of minced garlic
1 pound boneless chuck cut into 1/4" cubes
2 pounds of coarse grind ground beef (chili grind)
1 pound of bulk Italian sausage
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tbsp chili powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup tomato paste
1 bottle (12oz) of your favorite beer
1 cup of chicken broth
2 15.5 oz cans of pinto beans (not drained)
2 15.5 oz cans of kidney beans (not drained)
1/4 cup of brown sugar

Add butter and canola oil to large stock pot on high heat. Add bell pepper, halapeno, roasted chiles, and onion and cook until caramelized - about 5 minutes or so. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute or so. Add chuck and stir until browned completely. Add ground beef and sausage and stir gently until browned - 7-9 more minutes. Add onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, and pepper and cook for one more minute while stirring. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir for about 2 more minutes. Stir in the beer and chicken broth. Add beans and stir for 2 more minutes. Stir in brown sugar and let simmer with a cover on the pot for 2 to 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally.

If you haven't roasted and peeled peppers before, it's not too difficult. I sliced my peppers in half lengthwise and cleaned out the core and seeds. I put them face down on a cookie sheet and brushed the skin side with olive oil and put them under the broiler for 7-8 minutes until the skins turned nice and brown. After they have browned up nicely, take them out of the oven and let them cool a bit. Now the skins are easy to peel off and then you can chop the chiles.

After this chili had simmered for about two hours, I decided to just have a bowl for dinner, and it was delicious.  You can garnish this chili with any of the regulars... Shredded cheddar (or jack) and chopped green onions would be my favorite, but you could use whatever you like!  This chili is NOT a hot chili.  It's quite spicy, but not overpowering in the HEAT range.  If you want to heat it up, you should increase the amount of minced jalapeno peppers or replace the jalapenos with serrano or some other hotter peppers.  If you like the flavor of cayenne peppers, you can also increase the amount of cayenne pepper in the recipe to suit your taste.